Wilton 8201K 14-Inch 1-Horsepower Metal and Wood Cutting Bandsaw, 115-Volt 1-Phase

Comment: I bought this as an addition to an existing cheap 10" Ryobi wood band saw. I needed a saw to cut metal prior to working with it on my metal lathe and milling machine in a home shop. I also use it to do wood work. The Ryobi was a surprisingly decent saw with some nice features despite the cheap price. Although it had light constuction it had a nice table extension, quick tension release and ball bearing guides in back and sides of upper and lower guides, it even has a LED work light. But there is no way you would want to use it for metal cutting beyond ultra light duty on aluminum.

The Wilton is an expensive tool compared to other similar capacity band saws...but that is because it has a very high quality gear case and belt system that allows you to have at least 8 speeds. This ranges from a very low speed of around 60 fpm to 3400 fpm. This lets you cut just about anything you can feed it. You can cut up to 6" thick material although you can get a riser that increases this to 12" for resawing timber. I will probably get one of those in the near future. Wilton also makes a version that is only for metal that is a variable speed (no belt change required) but that doesn't have a fast speed for wood and actualy has less useable speeds on the low end. You can also get the same thing with a 220 volt motor...mine is 120 volt.

What it doesn't have is a table extension like the Ryobi, tension release, a work light, and ball bearings in the side guides although it does in the rear thrust bearing. I will see how long the side bearings will last but thus far after 6 months of use they don't seem to have any wear at all.

I got the optional fence which is a good one. The fence comes with a resaw guide which is the way you SHOULD do resawing rather than just feeding it in along a flat fence. You can use miter gauges from other tools since it is a standard 3/4" wide. The stock one is fine although I occasionally use an aftermarket exotic fence from my table saw. The saw is quality construction throughout and base is substantial and one piece heavy construction...but sadly not enough to avoid UPS gorillas. Mine suffered a bit of a dent in the door from UPS handling but figured it was so slight that it wasn't worth dealing with UPS insurance. The door access to the belts is on the back of the saw as is the cabinet door for the clutch knob so if you intend on placing this close to a wall you must do as I did...put it on a roll around caster set.

I did a minor tweak to make it easier to adjust tension. The stock knob is a small knob which is OK but a bit cramped... I thought it would be nice to have a faster easier adjustment. I turned a new knob on my lathe with three rods for adjusting. This made a huge improvement...it now is very easy to adjust the tension...so much so that it is just as fast to adjust the tension as a model with the tension release lever.

Bottom line...it cuts through just about anything AS LONG as you get rid of the stock metal cutting blade and get a proper BiMetal blade. It is nice to be able to cut through 4" thick aluminum plate to get material close to final dimensions thus reducing the amount of lathe metal removal needed. I have used it for various other metals...steel, brass, plastic, cast iron. the trick is the correct feed and speed. Don't force the work and use too high of a speed. And of course any wood cutting is a piece of cake.

Would I make any changes...a work light would be handy and a tension release. I am not convinced there is any advantage to a ball bearing guide. The table is a nice size and cast iron with angle adjustment and a fine tuning adjustment so you can make sure the table turns back to 0 degrees after angle cutting. Make sure you keep that table oiled so it doesn't rust.

One thing not discussed in advertising is that there are actually more than 8 speeds. The included setup decal shows that if you swap the two pulleys top to bottom and turn them around you have a few other speeds so you could find a speed for just about anything you can imagine. The blade size is listed as a 92 1/2" however, 93"-93 1/2" blades are more common in catalogs and work fine. I use 93" blades. There is a scale on the back and an indicator that you use to set the tension for different blade widths. This too requires access from the back so again...don't put this against a wall...or put it on wheels.

For what this saw was designed for...metal and wood cutting it meets all my requirements. I also considered a horizontal type band saw but those are very limited in maximum capacity unless you get a VERY large/expensive version. You also wouldn't be able to cut elaborate curves and compound curves like you can with a vertical bandsaw.

By the way...I believe Jet and Wilton are owned by the same company and I have seen a Jet bandsaw that is identical in every way.

Bob Berta

Comment: This is the first bandsaw I have purchased but I find it an excellent choice and it has met or exceeded the capabilities/specifications stated by the manufacturer. Very functional with the optional accessories for both metal and wood!

Comment: I already have the Powermatic wood bandsaw, I bought the Wilton to use strictly for metal, this one is quite capable for both, but personally I would rather have separate, dedicated machines. The quality is that of the Powermatic, since both are from WMH Tools and probably made in the same factory (Taiwan). These saws are packed very well, I had no damage. It went together quickly (less than 1 hour) and ran perfectly with only minor adjustments to dial it in. Its too bad they don't include the blade tension quick release like the Powermatic, that was an additional expense for the Carter release, but this is not a must for some people. As for the operation, so far has been great. I leave the high speed belt off as I will only be using the low speeds. The saw has 8 low speeds but you must switch the pulleys from the motor to the gear box which gives you 4 speeds one combination and 4 the other. There is no way to get the low speeds without the gear box on this saw, I heard of some people thinking they can just change the pulleys on other wood saws, it just doesn't work. The variable speed version of this saw is $290 more, it will not achieve as low a speed as this one, do your homework to decide which is best for you, I couldn't justify the extra expense. If you leave the high speed belt installed, you will have 5 speeds at your disposal by merely moving the clutch drive in or out. Overall I recommend this saw if you are cutting metal and/or wood. I would have given it 5 stars if it came with the blade tension quick release.