I own a Jet 14" bandsaw and do not own a table saw.
When buying machines, I decided to buy a bandsaw before a table saw. Now I may never purchase a table saw. What I like about a bandsaw:
- Quiet. A bandsaw is quiet compared to a table saw.
- Small. A bandsaw takes up much less floor space than a table saw.
- Versatile. Here are some of things you can do on a bandsaw: rip, resaw, cut small pieces without jigs, taper a table leg without a jig, saw a log into boards, cut tenons with only a fence, cut curves, and perform free hand cuts.
- Small kerf. Bandsaw blades are thinner than table saw blades, so you waste much less wood, particularly when ripping and resawing.
- Safer. Of course a bandsaw can injure the operator, but I feel it is much safer because you are less likely to have a catastrophic injury. For a comparison, read the WWA Accident Survey. In particular, a bandsaw will not kick back work at the operator like a table saw can. However, cutting a dowel on a bandsaw is very dangerous.
In general, a bandsaw is not good at dealing with sheet goods (plywood, MDF, etc.) simply because the sheets are usually much bigger than the capacity of the saw, but I really don’t like using plywood, so that has worked out well.
