Inland DB-100™ Diamond Band Saw

[Geomaniac]

Hello everyone! Has anyone used the Inland DB-100 diamond band saw? I am thinking of buying one to use to cut out knife scales. If you have used one I would love to know what you think. Kingsley North has them for 221.00 each free shipping.

[hulagrub]

Geo, alls I know, are that I "think" Inland products are cheaply made. Check out Gemini, I believe rockmanken has one and likes it.

[Michael S Hoover - Redrummd]

I have bought 3 different brands and the DB-100 really is a terrible saw.  The problem is the motors which fry in just a few months in my shop and I change the saw blades frequently.

The Gryphon is by far the most durable but even it has issues.  I raise the tray to slope a bit to the back as it wants to leak water heavily down the front of the saw. 

The company makes the absolute worst blade guides, they are just about worthless as they are way too soft and when cutting curves in hard agates the back of the blades rubs and gets a knife edge quickly.  So, the back of the blades cut quickly into the soft guides which ends up eventually pinching the blades so that you cannot use any pressure on the blade.

So, to get around the junk guides i first cut one in half and drill a hole in it big enough for pushing in and using the DB-100 style guides.  You will need to cut off the stub of the DB-100 guide that sticks out through the drilled Gryphon guide but it works well.

The lower free spinning wheel on the Gryphon wears out easily too.  I get about 100 to 150 hours on one but they are not too expensive to replace.

The biggest cost will be the blades, especially if you are cutting agates.  Heck,  when cutting Psilomelane I go through 1 blade for every set of knife scales. I only get about 3 to 5 sets of hard agate or porcelain Jasper scales cut per blade so I buy 200 blades at a time.  Yes, I got the number right -200 at a time.

[Rockoteer]

I would take Michael's advice/info as gospel Geo.  He has helped me and others on this forum a lot.

TOG

[slabbercabber]

Mine is not an Inland,as one look told me to stay away from that brand.  I very rarely use it unless I am cutting very expensive material or need intricate shape.  The blades wear out extremely fast and are way overpriced.  No doubt Michael buys his direct from China.  Even then, they are not cheap.

[Michael S Hoover - Redrummd]

Direct from the maker they cost me a bit less than $9.00 each but to get that price you need a minimum order of 200.  If anyone wants to buy direct I can give you the name and email address of the company's export sales manager.   

They ship by Express mail and there is no import taxes due.  They do not like to take PayPal but if you insist and offer to pay the 3% cost they will take PayPal and that is how I do the transaction for the PayPal iron clad insurance.

I have found no US manufacturer to buy directy or even indirectly from so this is one of the few China purchases I make.

[Rockoteer]

CHINA????  CHINA?????


Oh no..........

TOG

[Geomaniac]

Thanks for all of the info guys, I think I will hold off on buying a saw for now and just save my money for something better.