And as I typed this, I see that the Rikon does indeed have cast iron
wheels... Hmm, that machine is looking better and better....

"Brian" wrote in message
...

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" wrote in message
news:kJbMc.178446

Woodtek 118-199:

They scored it as good in the resaw test, excellent in the curve
following
test,
and very good in table lock effectiveness. On the negative side, it
scored only
a fair in blade changing ease and was ten out of eleven tested in frame
deflection (lower is more desirable).

Found the article. Here's a direct link:
http://www.dropship2u.com/rikon/10-340review.pdf

They must be hosting that page from a dialup connection. Anyhow, give it
a
chance to load.

Now a couple things... (1) I honestly think these machines are now so
similar (minus the higher end makes, Laguna, Agazzani, etc) that the
deflection is going to be roughly equivalent. And any variance you see
from
brand to brand is also likely to be seen from machine to machine within
the
same brand. I have no way to verify this, but I'd bank on it being true.
(2) I think there are other considerations when shopping for a bandsaw. I
do believe that the Woodtek has cast iron wheels and trunions while the
Rikon has aluminum wheels and stamped steel trunions. Would need more
info
from Rikon to be sure, but to me this is significant. (3) I think the
equivalent Grizzly model to the tested Rikon is in fact the G0514. Not
the
more expensive G0506 they actually tested. Check the specs. I wouldn't
be
surprised if the G0514 and the Rikon were in fact the *identical* machine
with different name tags with the exception of the slighter larger Rikon
table. The Grizz currently runs $925, and I can't find the Rikon online
for
less than $999.

FWIW

Brian.