# Give Me the Straight Dope on Band Saws **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2006, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041 "2006-10-11T12:03:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/21 "2006-10-12T12:57:44Z")
Well, he just called and I asked him what, specifically, he was going to do with the band saw. He said he’s going to “fabricate stuff” with it. When pressed for more details, he said, “ya know…‘stuff’.” Hooookay… I did get thim to agree to look at the ones at Sears. I’ve learned my lesson with regard to surprising him with stuff. The only one that worked was The Tool Box That’s Bigger Than Kalhoun. Everything else has been returned for one reason or another. He’s not a whole lot of fun during the holidays. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/22 "2006-10-12T13:07:55Z")
Well, it IS his present, so I suppose if he wants a $1,000 sculpture in the corner, that can be used to cut something once a year, that’s what he wants. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/23 "2006-10-12T13:17:40Z")
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak] Well, it IS his present, so I suppose if he wants a $1,000 sculpture in the corner, that can be used to cut something once a year, that’s what he wants. [/QUOTE] That’s how I look at it. He’s one of those “I want that!” kind of guys. We have an air compressor that’s bigger than me. He uses it to air up the tires on the cars. Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/24 "2006-10-12T13:26:28Z")
Geez, lucky you. ☹ Hey, I have an 80gallon air compressor, but I use it to not only blow up tires, I also use it to chase dirt around the shop. It takes those clumps of dirt and spreads them uniformly over everything. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/25 "2006-10-13T10:11:10Z")
[QUOTE=cj finn] Regardless of whether you are going to get him a bandsaw, you should look at [grizzly.com](http://grizzly.com). They have wood and metal working tools at reasonable prices. cj [/QUOTE] Nein! Nein! Nein! Grizzly has a **bad** rep in the metal trades! The stuff they buy is Chinese made, Grizzly slaps their name on it, sells it for a couple of months, then dumps it, leaving you with no way to get spare parts if you need 'em. This isn’t always true of their stuff, but unless you know what you’re dealing with, better to avoid them. I’ll add my voice to those saying WTF does he need a band saw for? Just about all the shops I’ve worked in have had one or more, but they weren’t used all that much. I can’t imagine he’d be using one all that much to justify the expense of one, and unless he’s going to be cutting up things like bar stock or tubing, he’ll **not** want to use it for cutting sheet metal. Band saws are to metal cutting what an axe is to wood working. They get the job done, but not in a very pretty way. My advice would be to buy him [this book](http://lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/band/index.html) which will tell him how to build his own band saw. Point out to him that he can build one as powerful as he likes for a lot less money than he can buy one. Or, get him a subscription to his favorite hot rod mags or to [a metal working magazine](http://www.homeshopmachinist.net/) and tell him to shut his pie hole. For Christ’s sakes, I’ve got my “babies” and I may be an absolute idiot when it comes to wimmins, but even _I_ know better than to hassle my SO (when I’m lucky enough to find one) over a fancy toy I’ll hardly ever use. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/26 "2006-10-13T11:50:36Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] Geez, lucky you. ☹ Hey, I have an 80gallon air compressor, but I use it to not only blow up tires, I also use it to chase dirt around the shop. It takes those clumps of dirt and spreads them uniformly over everything. [/QUOTE] (I’ve seen him do that, but he’ll never admit it.) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/27 "2006-10-13T11:55:52Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Nein! Nein! Nein! Grizzly has a **bad** rep in the metal trades! The stuff they buy is Chinese made, Grizzly slaps their name on it, sells it for a couple of months, then dumps it, leaving you with no way to get spare parts if you need 'em. This isn’t always true of their stuff, but unless you know what you’re dealing with, better to avoid them. I’ll add my voice to those saying WTF does he need a band saw for? Just about all the shops I’ve worked in have had one or more, but they weren’t used all that much. I can’t imagine he’d be using one all that much to justify the expense of one, and unless he’s going to be cutting up things like bar stock or tubing, he’ll **not** want to use it for cutting sheet metal. Band saws are to metal cutting what an axe is to wood working. They get the job done, but not in a very pretty way. My advice would be to buy him [this book](http://lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/band/index.html) which will tell him how to build his own band saw. Point out to him that he can build one as powerful as he likes for a lot less money than he can buy one. Or, get him a subscription to his favorite hot rod mags or to [a metal working magazine](http://www.homeshopmachinist.net/) and tell him to shut his pie hole. For Christ’s sakes, I’ve got my “babies” and I may be an absolute idiot when it comes to wimmins, but even _I_ know better than to hassle my SO (when I’m lucky enough to find one) over a fancy toy I’ll hardly ever use. [/QUOTE] 1. He’ll never build one because he devotes all his free time to the car. This would seriously cramp his style. 2. Already have the subscriptions. 3. I know…I know… he’ll use it a handful of times and then it will get dusty. On the other hand, if we can afford it (which is questionable since we got the bad news on the other car repair) and it makes him happy, why not? Plus, more stuff to sell when he’s dead and I have my Great Guy Stuff Garage Sale. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041/28 "2006-10-14T10:04:49Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] 1. He’ll never build one because he devotes all his free time to the car. This would seriously cramp his style. [/quote] I kind of figured that, which is why I suggested it. You see, you could sell him on the idea by saying that if he spent $200 to build a band saw that would have cost him $1K to buy, that gives him an extra $800 to spend on things for the car, like a supercharger or some rad tires. > [@](#): > > 1. Already have the subscriptions. Get him one to _Import Tuning_ or similar, and tell him it’s so he’ll know what **not** to do! 😃 > [@](#): > > 1. I know…I know… he’ll use it a handful of times and then it will get dusty. On the other hand, if we can afford it (which is questionable since we got the bad news on the other car repair) and it makes him happy, why not? Plus, more stuff to sell when he’s dead and I have my Great Guy Stuff Garage Sale. 😉 Yeah, but _waiting_ for him to kick off could take _decades!_ Are you _sure_ you want to wait that long? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-the-straight-dope-on-band-saws/376041.md?page=1)