Popular Woodworking 2006-12 № 159, страница 46
★ Laguna Drift Master Band Saw Fence With so many premium band saw fences to choose from, it takes something pretty special to catch our eye. Laguna Tool's new Drift Master fence was obviously designed by someone who demands a lot of their band saw. There are three standout features that make this fence a winner. First, you can make repeatable resawing cuts with great ease (and without having to face-j oint your stock after every cut). The fence's micro-adj ustment lets you move the fence in exact increments toward the blade after each pass. Second, the way you adjust the fence for blade drift is the easiest I've ever seen. You simply turn a knob below the fence and it pivots left or right to compensate quickly for any blade or tension setup - no tools required. And the third feature is the aluminum fence itself, which can be locked in two positions, high or low, much like a Delta Unifence. The fence costs $295. Contact Laguna for details as to which band saws it fits on. 800-234-1976 or lagunatools.com ★ Rikon's Newest 14" Steel-frame Band Saw When the Rikon 10-325 arrived in our shop, we thought we had a winner on our hands. When we started putting it to work, we knew we were right. This saw won an Editor's Choice award in our November test of steel-frame band saws (issue #158), and our enthusiasm for this 14" machine has yet to peter out. Rikon redesigned this saw for 2006 and added many important upgrades. We're quite fond of the saw's guide system, especially the way the thrust bearings are mounted. Changing the saw's blade is easy with the slot in the table up front instead of on the side. And we really liked this saw's tension-release lever. But we were really impressed with the machine once we started resawing with it. This thing has some real guts and was able to handle 11"-wide oak with ease. Priced at $750, the Rikon 10-325 is an excellent value for a tool with this sort of resaw capacity and fit and finish. 781-933-8400 or rikontools.com ★ Grizzly's 12" Cabinet Saw with Riving Knife Most home woodworkers think a 12" cabinet saw is out of their reach. I thought that too until I encountered this saw at the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta. Less than $2,000 will get you a ton (actually .375 ton) of cast iron, welded steel and (wait for it ...) a quick-release riving knife - our favorite safety accessory. A riving knife is a splitter that travels up and down with the arbor. The bottom line is that you almost never have to remove the saw's safety equipment for non-through cuts, such as rabbeting. It's standard equipment on European saws, and it should be here. The G0605X offers a 5-horsepower motor that runs on 220-volt household current (the G0606X, shown above, is the 71/2 hp three-phase version). Both saws come standard with an outfeed and extension table, and there are specially designed toolboxes that can be purchased as an accessory that fit neatly below the tables. The saw also includes a nice T-square rip fence and a digital gauge that indicates blade tilt. Grizzly officials had to redesign the interior of the saw's cabinet to accommodate the riving knife and indicated that the feature could start trickling down to the company's 10" table saws in time. Until that happens, we recommend you look closely at this big-boy saw, which costs just a few hundred dollars more than a comparably equipped 10" Delta Unisaw. 800-523-4777 or grizzly.com popularwoodworking.com i 63 |
