RIKON Power Tools 10-353 14" 3 hp Professional Bandsaw

The first unit shipped via Pilot was not secured to the truck and the shipping container was destroyed and the product damaged. Amazingly, Amazon had another unit shipped on the same day that I rejected the first unit. The second unit arrived in good condition. This was the first Rikon product I have purchased and therefore took my time and checked the unit out entirely. The table was flat, less than .001" deviation over the entire table. The wheels were co-planar as close as I could measure. The blade guides were excellant and easy to adjust. The entire unit is built like a tank. I immediately tried resawing some thin veneer and was totally impressed by the fact that there was no drift and the blade went through the wood like butter. I am now considering replacing my current table saw with a Rikon unit.

THIS MACHINE HAS POWER TO SPARE. IMPRESSED WITH THE RESAW CAPABILITY. IN THIS PRICE RANGE YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER VALUE.

The 240/120 volt Rikon 10-353 has adequate power and is attractive. The foot brake is useful even though it takes a firm effort to stop the blade quickly. Unlike some 14" competitors, it has a relatively long bandsaw blade length. This can mean fewer blade changes for those who stay mostly with one blade. The factory installed blade cuts well in the softwoods I most often use. Potential buyers should be aware of a key technical fact: The bandsaw has a 120 volt accessory outlet in back. Under the National Electrical Code that will require a four wire 240 volt supply circuit. Many garages come with only a three conductor circuit that is intended for use only with single voltage use. After previously paying substantially to extend my shop''s 240 volt system, adding the fourth conductor from the shop power panel to the bandsaw cost $447 dollars more. The trunnion worked very poorly when received and required considerable metal finishing to make it work with marginal ease. In this price and cost range several alternative choices exist which should be considered..

Update: two years later the broken saw still sits in my shopI’m not in the business of writing bad reviews but there is no way I can recommend anyone buy this saw. It will absolutely not keep a blade on the wheel. I’m a professional woodworker and understand how a bandsaw should be set up and this thing is unusable. It’s too bad I sold my older bandsaw to get this one...

You need this bandsaw if you want to do any proper resawing. Resaws ipe and other hard woods with no problem. Its cuts scary fast with a 1” ripper37 blade on logs that aren’t dry. HP is definitely king.Ships on an upright pallet almost fully assembled, just need to attach heavy top, which is lower for better tall resawing. Doesn’t come with a plug and they recommend a 4 prong so you can use the on board 120v plug. I just used a regular 250v plug and skipped the neutral wire. 142” blade is an odd size, so you may need custom made ones. Dust collection is excellent. The fence is the best I’ve used and has a drift control setting.Though made in China, this is a well built heavy machine with good manufacturing quality controls. No sharp edges and everything fits nicely. Quiet with no vibrations when on. Parts are constantly upgrading so make sure you have the right manually with your serial. Customer service is excellent. Then again, I’m comparing to Delta and General... you get what you pay.I wish there was speed control and the foot stop used disc brakes. But I have a 10” bandsaw and Hegner scollsaw for slower and precise cuts so it’s not a problem for me. Otherwise no complaints, I’m glad I got this over a 14bx Laguna, then again Laguna released some new models, which I didn’t want to wait for.All blades whether Lenox tri-master, resaw king, wood slicer, little ripper, or whatever smooth resaw blades need to pass through a planer or drum sander. I have yet to see something right off the bandsaw to glue up. Carbide blades are so worth it if you do a lot of resawing. Just make sure you take care of them and not let them rust.I haven’t had this much enjoyment with this a bandsaw and the 16” helical planer. Pay once, cry once? I just keep telling my self the time and lumber cost savings.I’m a hobbyist and no means a professional. I like high end tools. You spend on where you need it because with young kids, I just don’t have time and space to tinker with my machinery.But I do spend a lot of time tuning and using my vintage tools. They don’t make them like they use to.

Hi all,I began researching and shopping around for a shop Bandsaw after reading "The Fine Art of Cabinet Making" by the Poet Woodworker James Krenov. I felt that spending the $8000 on woodworking school would be better spent on a repitoire of tools and machines to learn on my own terms, given the vast array of information freely available out there. Anyways- back to the review: I researched many different models before deciding on the Rikon 10-353 from Amazon. The major perk is they deliver to your door, which from other stores may be extra few hundred $ in freight, or the pain of moving 350 lb machine on your own. However, the availability online is sparse, so you might wait a while.I knew minimum I wanted a 14" bandsaw with a tall throat capcitiy to curves as well as veneers. Compared to decades past, most modern bandsaw come stock with amazing features that were previously expensive add-ons. I looked at Laguna, Rikon, Stallion, KMS tools Magnum Industrial, General, and others and there appears to be a rough split into two classes for 14" of 1-2 HP motors with a lighter machine body and run on standard outlet 120v, and those with 2-3 HP motors that are floor mounted on 240v. I concluded that a bandsaw was to be the nexus of my shop so I chose a heavier, more powerful model. The next consideration was electrical, as I was lucky and had an electrician for a roommate who wired my shop for the necessary 240v 4 wire for free (which will cost you more). With the potential of 240v I choose the 3 HP motor just in case, as I planned on using it to as log mill too. In hindsight, nearly all of the features of the 10-353 are available on the 10-326 and I would buy that one instead, as 1.75 HP on 120v costs nothing. Tho the extra outlet directly off the machine to run my dust collector is nice. I have never stressed the 3 HP motor in any way; the only issues were with how I was feeding material thru. More importantly is TPI of your blade.All of the advertised features on these machines are great. I rested easy knowing that the engineering of this machine was top of the line. I ended up choosing Rikon over Laguna because of the 5 year warranty as I expected to break a few things learning on it; but phone them because they don't reply to emails.All-in-all, most woodworkers would not need a 3hp motor, and for half the price the 10-326 is your best bet. But for what it is, the 10-353 machine is a thing of beauty.

The fit, finish and power of this saw cannot be beat for the dollar.Had trouble with getting the saw to start initially but the Technical service from Rikon was unparalleled and they were able to work with me over the phone to get it up and running in minutes.Couldn't be happier with this purchase.