I've recently joined EMGW as a member; my primary interest is wood carving but am also interested in increasing my general woodworking skills.

In the near term, I would like to begin resawing rough hewn wood. To that end, I'd like to acquire an appropriate band saw, and would appreciate any recommendations regarding minimum specs (e.g., dimensions, hp, speed, speed, cutting capacity, etc). I'm not building houses or furniture; I'm a hobbyist and I'm primarily interested in turning nominal lumber into material that can then be carved for various projects I work on. I have appropriate hand planes already to accomplish that that purpose. I think I should be looking for a stationary saw rather than a bench top. I'm very open to acquiring a good used piece of equipment, but will also consider new.

Thanks for any suggestions the membership can offer me.  

The best band saws on the market now are the Rikon 14 inch and Laguna 14 inch. You could go bigger, I had room for an Grizzly 18 inch and not sorry I did. Grizzly is also as good a quality product as the Rikon and Laguna. Only downside is that Grizzly is internet sales only in this area.

I work part time at Woodcraft in Woburn, we carry the Rikon, Laguna, Jet, and Powermatic, but have a hard time getting inventory from Jet and Powermatic, they're always on back order. 

With a 14 inch or bigger size band saw you will have the ability to us 3/4" to 1" blades that make resawing easier. Smaller band saws are limited to 1/2" blades that maybe good for resawing softwoods, and hardwoods a real challenge.

Good luck on your search.

Jim Allen

I've been very happy with my Laguna 14BX.  It was recommended to me by Rolly Johnson from Fine Woodworking.  He has done band saw reviews and wrote a book on band saws.  Please get the 14BX over the 14-Twelve if it is in your budget.  The full cabinet and foot break with switch is a game changer.

Thanks to you all for your valuable and rapid responses. I've got adequate shop space (including a fixed bench and portable Dewalt table saw and Dewalt compound miter saw) for a stationary band saw set up. This will be a jack-of-all-trades piece of equipment for me in terms of resaw capability, so looking to handle up to 12" or so material width; hardwood and softwood, with green and kiln dried. As much as possible, I don't want to limit my choice of work material by being too narrow with my choices of equipment.