Two power woodworking equipment brands familiar to professional woodworkers are Grizzly and Woodstock International. These sister companies share similar line-ups, but different ways of bringing their tools to you. Grizzly sells directly to woodworkers through its catalogs, display ads, and online promotions. Woodstock channels its distribution through dealers.

Established in 1989, Woodstock International is a wholesale supplier of woodworking tools and accessories for retailers. (It also sells metalworking lines.)

Within a few years, Woodstock’s rapid growth earned it a spot on the Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest growing companies. The company has two centrally located distribution facilities (Springfield, MO and Williamsport, PA)and nearly 300,000 square feet of warehouse space to support its network of several thousand dealers worldwide. All Shop Fox machinery carries a two-year warranty. Many of the products in its line are, patented and proprietary and exclusively available under its brand.

Among Woodstock’s most popular product lines are its Shop Fox line of woodworking machinery and its selection of dust collection fittings and accessories. These machines include table saws, jointers, planers, wood and metal bandsaws, shapers, wood lathes, and stationary sanders, as well as accessories and after market products.

Woodstock’s Shop Fox 21-inch band saw features micro-adjusting rack-and-pinion cutting table tilt, and ball bearing blade guides  for precision guidance of the wood.

One recent addition to Woodstock’s vast array of power tools is the Shop Fox 21-inch bandsaw, which features a 5-hp motor to power blades up to 1-3/8 inch wide through hardwood up to 14 inch tall. Woodstock says it is rigidly constructed to tension the wider blades.

Features include a micro adjusting rack and pinion table tilt, ball bearing blade guides, blade tension inidicator, foot brake, deluxe fence with dual-height adjustable resaw fence attachment and
precision ground cast iron table.

The Shop Fox 21 is the largest of Woodstock’s family of bandsaws, one of the most versatile cutting tools. Shops use them for:

• Miters and Angles
• Compound Angles
• Resaw Cuts
• Rip and Crosscuts
• Curves and Circles
• Stacked Cuts for Duplicate Parts

The basics of any bandsaw are detailed in Woodstock’s product manual for the Shop Fox 21. Its blade is a flexible steel band with teeth on one edge that fits around two aligned wheels with slightly crowned rubber tires. These tires help the blade track in the center of the wheels during operation.

One wheel stays in a fixed position and is driven by a motor. The other wheel spins freely and is adjustable toward or away from the fixed wheel, which controls the blade tension.

Tracking control
This wheel also features a tracking control that allows the wheel to tilt forward or backward to adjust how the blade rides on the wheel. The rotation of both wheels pulls the blade downward toward the table.

When wood is pushed against the moving blade, the downward force of the blade teeth scrape across to cut it.

Blade guides on both sides of the cutting area keep the blade from flexing or being pushed off the wheels from the horizontal pressure of the workpiece while cutting.

For blade guides to provide support while cutting, they should be as close as possible to the blade. However, the blade guides should only touch the blade while a workpiece is being cut — otherwise the constant friction will reduce the life of the blade. The upper blade guide assembly should be adjusted as close as possible to the wood being cut, advises the to provide maximum support and keep the unused blade area covered with the
blade guard.