"Toller" wrote in message
...
I just sold my 14" Delta because it really wasn't up to cutting big turning
blocks. So now I am under the gun to order its 3hp replacement.

The two choices seem to be the 19" Grizzly and the 18" Jet. Any reason to
pay a few hundred more for the Jet?
(I am planning on the old Grizzly 19" because it is cheaper than the new
ones. The main differance seems to be the cast iron trunnions, but those
can't be worth $200, can they?)
I know the Rikon is well regarded, but they don't seem to have a 3hp.

There are better saws out there for bigger bucks, but if I use it 50 hours
a year that will be a lot; so industrial quality would not be a good
investment.
I know, I know, here I go bashing the Rikon again. Because this is not
your first band saw purchase and because you are indeed looking for more
power I would advise against the Rikon. Actually the Rikon is a lot of saw
for the money however IMHO it is a very nice "entry level" saw. If you
will be cutting turning blanks many of them will probably be green. The
roller bearing guides that come on the Rikon are IMHO not the best choice
for guides. They tend to load up with wet saw dust and you get vibration
and banging.
This is not a unique problem with Rikon, it is a problem IMHO with any saw
that has roller bearings. Rikon just happens to only come with roller guide
bearings.

As far as what to look for, I would pay more attention to the mass of the
upper and lower wheels. The more mass the more smooth the saw will operate
in heavier cutting. You might want to go to the Laguna site and take a
look at those saws. I do not know what your price range is but the Laguna
will probably be your last BS and probably has a 99.9% chance of satisfying
all your needs with out compromise. The Laguna BS's come with 10 point
ceramic guides that tend to be self cleaning and don't vibrate.

I went through this in the Winter and Spring of last year. I had an old
Craftsman, bought the 18" Rikon, kept it for about 10 days and returned it.
A couple months later I bought a Laguna.