Replies

1. 
   roc | Oct 19, 2011 09:26pm | #1

   Buy the tool you like best. ( and get some big friends )

   Having set up shop in a basement with a few five and six hundred pound power tools I can tell you the problem is getting them OUT again not getting them in.  My stairs were not that steep but with the tool on the pallet skids and three inch steel channel spanning the stair treads top to bottom I had to PUSH the big tools down the stairs.  Under their own weight they would just sit on the slope / stairs and not move.

   To get them out I used an auto engine hoist and some creative english.  See the white door I have my foot on in the photo ?  That's the basement door.  I have a way cooler shop now with big two car garage door.

   I like this Laguna bandsaw.  

   http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaws/bandsaw-lt14se

   The larger ones are even better.

   
1. 
   Westchester | Oct 21, 2011 04:24pm | #2

   Aging

   Roc forgot to mention how much older he was when trying to push those machines up the staircase

   SA

2. 
   roc | Oct 21, 2011 08:46pm | #3

   I hear ya . . . but not a an issue

   Twenty five when they went down; thirty five when " I tried to push them out ".  I didn't even try, actually, I just went straight for the hoist.  Built as I am levers, jacks, comealongs, hoists and pipes to roll stuff across the floor have always been friends that I keep close by if you know what I mean.

   :   )

3. 
   Mageddo | Oct 23, 2011 12:57pm | #4

   Try Out The Saw You Buy

   Sort of a side item to your post, but if you can possibly try out the SAME SAW, and then take that one home, it could make  more difference than how difficult it is to move it around. The saw i tried out at the store was a gem.  The one i took home of the same model was not satisfactory -- nothing but alignment issues .

   Just a thought.

4. 
   user-152548 | Oct 25, 2011 10:07pm | #5

   Down is easy. . .

   I bought a 17" grizzly bandsaw and find it much more enjoyable to use than the 14" cast iron one I had before. Getting it down the stairs wasn't too bad, although your "steep and narrow" may be worse than mine. I partly opened the crate in the garage, removed the doors, upper wheel, and table, then reassembled the crate. Tipped the saw to get down the first few stairs, then stood it back up on the landing where the stairway turned ninety degrees. Without trying to turn the saw, we then sort of pulled out the bottom while tipping it back, and slid it down the remaining stairs on the frame of the crate. Not graceful, but not too bad. Stood it up at the bottom onto a waiting rolling base. Hopefully I can sell it with the house. . . David

5. 
   bones | Oct 26, 2011 02:54pm | #6

   Been there done that

   Well I can speak to your situation and have both types.   With the recent purchase (sunday) I'm now up to 3 bandsaws.  I have a Grizzly 17" HD BS I bought almost 7 years ago.  It's a steel  frame saw.  I've moved states 3 times now and at about 650-700 lbs ist was not bad with an appliance dolly.  You can remove a lot of things to reduce weight if you wanted to i.e. the table top & motor & wheels.  I only took off my top just to make it easier to negotiate.   The second saw I bought is a Walker-Turner  16" from the 30's It's a beast of cast iron that came in at about 1000 lbs.  I took it down the steps in pieces and the base (think of it as a delta 14" base on sterioids) alone was around 500 lbs. the other parts were around 100 lbs a piece so it was not bad just multiple trips down the steps.   The last one I bought sunday was a 1934 delta 14" on a stand with the original 1/3hp motor.  I just took the saw off the stand and took it down in two pieces.   They all cut good!   I have the steel frame grizzly set up with a carbide blade for resawing.  I'm setting the small delta up for tight cuts with a 1/4 or smaller blade.   The Walker Turner I aint decided yet. I bought it for a hundred bucks and I'm replacing the bearings and she will be good as new.   I will either put a medium range blade on it or just sell it and make some money. 

     If I could make a reccomendation that I wish someone had shared with me a long time ago, GO WITH OLD AMERICAN IRON.  

   1) you will save a bundle, 2) there is no,  i repeat no , comparrison to the quality of machines, and 3) it will last forever.   Like i said that delta from 1934 is still running, you wont see that in the new stuff made today.    I bought my Grizzly and for the money its ok, but for less you can find much better machines you just got to look.   In december i paid 1500 for a 1964 18" northfield planer that new is going for 15k new today.   It weighed 1000 lbs as well, but she will take a 1/4" off in a single pass if you want it to.     Good luck on the choice.  Hope I gave you something to think about.