Check out the new General Int. 14" Bandsaw

**Murray M** · 06-26-2004, 01:20 AM

After managing a school woodshop for several years, I'm finally putting together my own garage shop. My goal is to get as close to same quality I'm used to at the university woodshop while trying to keep the cost as efficient as possible. Thanks to this forum I've just bought the much-lauded General International contractor TS and look forward to setting it up tomorrow.

This afternoon I just assembled their brand new 14" Bandsaw (90-150 M1) which has been completely redesigned from the ground up. My General dealer just got them in this week and I was lucky enough to be first to see it.

I'm used to working on premium Deltas and I'm familiar with JET and Powermatic versions (at least walking around them at the stores) and oh my gosh, if you're in the market for a premium 14" bandsaw you should check out this General International.

It features a unique new body, built in dust collection (with fan and large bag), ball bearing guides, a much better fence then delta (slightly less good then powermatic, which IMO is the undisputed 14 bandsaw king, however just out of my pocketbook) and a unique one-sided massive table trunion which allows you to angle the table with a single large knob. Price I paid: $620 with a free mobile base. They designed this saw to win an award, I'm really impressed with the fit and finish.

It's not on their website yet but it is in their posted specials (look at the bottom):

http://www.general.ca/images/circulaire/US/5.jpg

**scottspencer** · 06-26-2004, 06:38 AM

Congrats on scoring the new saw Murray! My GI TS is 18 months old now, and I appreciate it more now than when I bought it. Nice machine, nice company to do business with. Be sure to clean all the cosmoline out of the miter slots, and you may want to back off the adjustment bearings on the miter. Mine was pretty tight at first, but will work in nicely and have no slop. I also added a link belt b/c the stock belt had a set to it.

What blade(s) are you installing on your TS? I bought a Freud LU84R011 just prior to getting my GI. IT was a big improvement over the Oldham I was using. Then a good friend bought me a TS "shower"/BD gift....a Forrest WWII 40T TK. Gotta admit it cuts cleaner than the Freud, but costs twice as much. It's still sharp after 15 months and lots of hard maple.

Good luck,
Scott