powermatic 14" model 140 purchase advice

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any reason I shouldn't jump all over this buying opportunity for $350?
wood cutting

from the listing
"This bandsaw is of the highest quality construction, with cast iron deck, frame, wheels, etc. and steel body. The wheels have like-new rubber and the saw runs perfectly. Powermatic makes some of the finest woodworking tools in the world, and this is an example of the quality of construction that goes into Powermatic tools.
Comes with 2 blades"

I think I have seen those go for $600?
It's about a 90 min drive away from me.
I don't know too much about saws but I know what older USA made is

 

[12345678910]

Powermatic makes some of the finest woodworking tools i

Buy it if you want to, but it's not a steel cutting bandsaw

 

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Buy it if you want to, but it's not a steel cutting bandsaw

yes I understand
I know enough about bandsaws to know there are metal cutting and wood cutting blades and that they run at different speeds.
this would be for handles of course.

 

[woodwrkr221]

Powermatic builds excellent tools. I don't know anything about prices for used tools so can't help there.

I'd check the tracking mechanism and blade guides real close. The rubber tires on the wheels should be arched instead of flat. It'll track better that way just like a grinder will track better with arched wheels. Blades are expendable, or kinda at least, so don't worry to much about the condition of the blade.

 

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Powermatic builds excellent tools. I don't know anything about prices for used tools so can't help there.

I'd check the tracking mechanism and blade guides real close. The rubber tires on the wheels should be arched instead of flat. It'll track better that way just like a grinder will track better with arched wheels. Blades are expendable, or kinda at least, so don't worry to much about the condition of the blade.

thx for the tip on the rubber tires

 

[Salem Straub]

I would buy that if I was you. It is a much better saw than a new RIDGID or Delta, which would cost you significantly more.
I just bought a used 20" Powermatic, also green and with the McMinnville sticker, and it's a wonderful, heavily made saw.
I think Powermatic (the older ones) are some of the best shop-size bandsaws ever made...

 

[Karl B. Andersen]

........I think Powermatic (the older ones) are some of the best shop-size bandsaws ever made...

And table saws.
If it was intact and worked well, I'd be on that like a duck on a June bug.

 

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I would buy that if I was you. It is a much better saw than a new RIDGID or Delta, which would cost you significantly more.
I just bought a used 20" Powermatic, also green and with the McMinnville sticker, and it's a wonderful, heavily made saw.
I think Powermatic (the older ones) are some of the best shop-size bandsaws ever made...

i grabbed it yesterday afternoon. The seller is a part time woodworker and just really wasn't using it enough.
He threw in some Brazillian cherry and this piece of ironwood that had been sitting here for 15 years!

 

[Salem Straub]

Way to go! Congrats on the saw. I checked last night, and like I thought, in "How to Make Knives" Bob Loveless recommends getting a Powermatic bandsaw, which is pictured several places in the book.

 

[Brock Cutlery]

Looks like a very nice saw. I love buying the older tools and fixing them up vs. buying the junk imports. Much better quality and keeping the old ones alive.
Nice wood too! That's a deal sweetener for sure.

 

[NStricker]

If you don't mind me jumping in with a follow up question. . .

My wood bandsaw was stolen last summer. There are a couple of farm auctions coming up in the next month or so in my area. One has a Powermatic bandsaw (as well as a Powermatic table saw for that matter, Karl), the other auction has a Delta Homecraft bandsaw. The pictures of the Powermatic show it sitting in a barn, dirty, expected wear for its age. The picture of the Homecraft show it to be in pretty good condition.

Any suggestions on one vs. the other? Both appear to be from the same era, same all-metal American quality.