Delta Horizontal Band Saw

[bug_hunter]

Thoughts on a Delta 20-330 horizontal band saw for hobby/garage use?

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Illinoyance]

The saw itself looks like a copy of what everyone sells including Harbor Freight. Properly tuned up it should do well. I wouldn't pay a premium for the Delta name.

 

[MrWhoopee]

From the picture I found, it is exactly the same as all the rest. $150 max used.

 

[bug_hunter]

Thanks guys. I'll let you all know how things go.

 

[Janderso]

It seems Delta drank from the Kool-aid too.
My recent exposure to a modern Delta bench grinder left me thinking it was a Chinese piece of crapola.

 

[bug_hunter]

He was asking $135, offered $100. He took some offense . No deal on this one. Wished him a good day, and moved on. I'll keep looking.

 

[Aaron_W]

It seems Delta drank from the Kool-aid too.
My recent exposure to a modern Delta bench grinder left me thinking it was a Chinese piece of crapola.

Delta started getting cheaper in the 1970s and you start to see a lot of metal replaced with plastic. Delta has gone through several owners since the 1980s and is currently owned by a Taiwanese company. Quality has come a long way since the 1960s and not in a good way. Luckily they built stuff solid into the 1960s so there is still a lot of vintage Delta machinery out there at reasonable prices.

He was asking $135, offered $100. He took some offense . No deal on this one. Wished him a good day, and moved on. I'll keep looking.

Unless the saw had issues $135 seems a fair price, even the Harbor Freight version is nearly $300 these days.

 

[Janderso]

Delta started getting cheaper in the 1970s and you start to see a lot of metal replaced with plastic. Delta has gone through several owners since the 1980s and is currently owned by a Taiwanese company. Quality has come a long way since the 1960s and not in a good way. Luckily they built stuff solid into the 1960s so there is still a lot of vintage Delta machinery out there at reasonable prices.



Unless the saw had issues $135 seems a fair price, even the Harbor Freight version is nearly $300 these days.

My Delta 14" metal/wood band saw was made in the 70's in Canada. That may have been another attempt at cost savings.
The saw is identical to earlier models = good quality

 

[Aaron_W]

My Delta 14" metal/wood band saw was made in the 70's in Canada. That may have been another attempt at cost savings.
The saw is identical to earlier models = good quality

I recently picked up a mid 1970s Delta radial drill press and 1950s 4" jointer. Whenever I buy something older I tend to go down a rabbit hole looking for info and reading up on Delta the cheapening started in the 1970s but accelerated in the 80s. Many of Delta's tool designs go way back, that drill press was introduced in the late 1950s and the jointer in the 1930s. The 14" bandsaw was also introduced in the 1930s.

The only significant difference between the drill press I got and the older ones seems to be it has a plastic belt guard instead of one made from sheet metal. Buying used Delta is probably pretty safe even into the 1980s as long as it is a tool based on an older design and not a new one designed to be cheaper to make.

Delta is currently owned by the same company that owns Ryobi and Homelite, and also manufactures many of the tools for Stanley Black & Decker, and by extension Craftsman, Dewalt, and Porter Cable. It gets kind of convoluted as Stanley Black & Decker was the prior owner, and Delta owned Porter Cable which SBD kept when they sold Delta. Supposedly Delta tools are now manufactured in South Carolina.