Jealous of my sweet new... Ryobi?! BS-360NR Dedicated Resaw

[Marty Jacobson]

Here's my "new" Ryobi BS-360 resaw. I call it the "Little Giant", because it's a small saw -- 12" wheels, believe it or not.

But those wheels are cast iron and 3" wide, and it slices through curly maple leaving a planer-like finish quality.

It cuts quickly and makes shavings, not dust. I make a lot of laminated sides, so this will save me at least four weeks a year on the drum sander, and will make many formerly difficult or tedious milling operations a snap.

The 3" stellite tipped blades are still readily available from specialty toolmakers, and quite inexpensive.

[JHumphrey]

Wow, that is sweet! I have been looking at that saw and the similar Hitachi CB75F.

Congrats!

[Michael Lewis]

One of the major causes of band breakage is due to flexing around a tight arc. The larger the wheels the longer the bands will remain unbroken. The thinner the bands the tighter arc they will accommodate, so if you have small wheels get thin bands. I used to break bands more frequently when I had a 14" saw, now with a 16" saw I have broken maybe two bands in fifteen years. You will know the bang is coming soon when you hear that 'tick, tick, tick"

[Pete Jenner]

Nice one Marty. Until now I thought Ryobi only made budget tools like my belt sander and thicknesser.

[Dan of SC]

Marty, where did you buy that saw? How much? Are you saying that Ryobi doesn't sell blades for it? Thanks, Danny Gray

[David Houchens]

Very cool Marty. I've never seen these. What's the max height it will saw?

[pfox14]

I love Ryobi's tools. I think they make really good stuff. Your bandsaw looks nice. Hope you enjoy it.

[billhay4]

Is it CNC driven? :-)
Nice saw, Martin.
Bill

[Marty Jacobson]

Thanks guys -- David, it will resaw up to 12" deep and never skip a beat.
Pete, it's a very nicely made machine, almost identical - maybe better in some ways- to the Hitachi Josh mentioned. But it's from the 80's when Ryobi still offered their pro line tools in the US. They still make pro tools for other markets.

[Pete Jenner]

Yeah it looks well made. In fact I think my thicknesser is pretty good but the belt sander ain't so great. I do use the One+ range of Lithium Ion tools too.

[Steve Sorensen]

Jealous.

[barry k]

Yup, another jealous one here...BK

[Bluetickhound]

Count me in... way jealous!!

a.) You have that incredible saw!

b.) You have the shop space to have that incredible saw!

[Bluetickhound]

Whoops! Double post....

[belbein]

Hey, Marty--I'll be over with a stack of wood shortly.

[OldSausage]

Yeah, me too!

[belbein]

Nice one Marty. Until now I thought Ryobi only made budget tools like my belt sander and thicknesser.

The knock on Ryobi for most of my life has been "budget tools," "poor reliability" and "poor quality." And my older woodworker friends won't have them in their shops, period. But when I started getting seriously into woodworking--boats, then instruments--I found Ryobis to be as well built and to have as good or better features--for a lower price--than any of the old standards. Not to mention their lifetime warranties on their sister Ridgid. And since Craftsman has now become strictly mediocre*, seems to me Ryobi is the new pretty-damn-good-for-the-price choice. I have various pieces of their equipment and I do not treat my tools kindly, but these things are really holding up.

*I just learned from Professor Internet that Ridgid, Ryobi and Craftsman are all siblings, divisions of Techtronic. Makes me wonder why Craftsman has hit the skids. Hmmmm.

[Bluetickhound]

I haven't had any issues with my Ryobi tools either... maybe I'm just lucky but for the money, they have proven perfectly acceptable for a hobbyist like myself. If I were ever to "go pro" I'd step up but for where I'm at currently I'm happy with Ryobi.

[Pete Jenner]

This thread got me curious so I took a closer look at my belt sander/linisher. Does anyone know if it's normal for the rollers to bulge in the middle?

Sorry about the hijack Marty, you can do the same to me any time.

P.S. Can we get a closer look at the blade guides on that bandsaw?

[Marty Jacobson]

Pete, the blade guides are just eight blocks of phenolic. They don't do a whole lot, the 3" blade is so rigid by itself that they're just there to keep it from twisting. I'm finding that this is a completely different animal than a normal bandsaw. It's more like a miniature sawmill than a beefed-up bandsaw.



Brad, bring your stack of wood over any time.

[Pete Jenner]

I see - very cool.

[Bluetickhound]

Marty, did you get that saw from the guy in Lawrenceville who's ad stated he didn't get enough use out of it to keep it?

Yeah... you got me looking for a resaw now!! I can use one for more than just instrument building...

[Marty Jacobson]

Yep, this saw was in Lawrenceville. The seller was a nice guy with a slick basement woodshop, well set up for furniture.

He'd never changed the blade.. I was glad he'd never seen how it could cut with a new blade, or he'd have wanted to keep it!

[Dale Ludewig]

Pete, it's normal for sanding rollers to be crowned, slightly larger in the middle. It helps with tracking.

[Pete Jenner]

Thanks Dale. It also explains a few things about my 'work'.