Bandsaw

It comes with a 3/8 blade, but my first use is resawing wood down to thickness, so I figured why not, before I cut the legs Ill have to change it up.

came really early

tried a few slices of hardwood, just to see how it feels, nothing like making sawdust before morning coffee.

allen, when it comes time to take that blade off and put on a smaller one count your turns to loosen it up to get it off and write it down somewhere,, that will help you get back close to the correct tension next time yu need the big blade back on. nice looking saw and so next thing your gonna be doing is bookmatched panels and lots of bandsaw boxes

Looks great Allen! Congratulations. I think you'll find lots of uses for that saw that you were not expecting.

Nice looking saw Allen. With all the furniture projects you do, that machine will be very handy and make life "mo betta bra!" as they say here!

I WANT ONE That is one nice band saw Allen yep booked matched panels to come for sure. With that addition you sure are running out of assembly space, good thinking using roller bases.

just buy one tom there on sale and i wil help you get it down stairs...seeya in the am Bud

Great looking saw Allen all the best with it. That garage is starting full up now. Next you will be expanding the "Shop"

Enjoy it. Looks like a great blade you got there. Nice size table on that yellow mellow.

I would love to, just not in the budget at this time, besides if I need one, I do know where to find a few, you leave when on your tour-de-wood . Yep 6:00 yer place

I glued together some pieces of small cuts I had thrown in the truck the last visit to the wood guy.
He didnt charge me, it was all 12-14 inches pieces of ends, cracked, warped, so I jointed whatever I could, glued up some, took a piece of my cuttoff, made a chunk of wood.

Im not quite finished, but instead of slicing it up to see how the side sliced would look with different species of wood(mahogany, beech, maple,), I cut some curves with this thing, took out the belt sander, and decided to make a lamp, Ill head over whenever and pick up some cheap lamp kit.
Thought Id shoot a pic with a shade on it unfinished.
My wife thinks its cute, my kid said not to try to even it up, it looks great.
Im sure they are just being nice, but now its time to go outside and find out if I can slice up those big 3x6x 8ft beams of mahogany I have for the chair.
I cant cut them down in length, as it will take away how many chair legs Id be able to get out of each one, so Im going to set up the outfeed roller to support the end.

Larry, there is a tension guide, that you adjust to the width of the blade, then tweek it according to what you feel and need.

I havent taken the blade out, but will probably after this weekend to make the leg cuts.

Looking into the Genies crystal ball I see a lathe and the turning vortex on the horizon Allen. Be careful thats one area that will cost you more than the bandsaw and all the tools you have.

resawing wood?

when I resawed the mahogany, I planed it down to perfect size.
I had to resaw some white cedar decking today, 5/4 stuff, to 3/4, needed to repair 2 chairs,didnt have any pressure treated, but had the cedar decking.
It was 6 inches wide, and I couldnt hold the board steady for a straight cut against the fence on the bandsaw while resawing. I tried another pieces, same thing, it drifted a bit, almost liked pulled off of fence.
Is there a little trick Im missing?

I changed back the blades and used the 3/8 and cut darn near perfecto curves for 2 adirondack chairs I was repairing. didnt even need to sand the curve, but could not get the 3/4 inch blade to slice it even.

Any help?

Hey Allen- I am a totally newbie to woodworking, so my tool suggestions won't be worth a pile of sawdust (as a matter of fact, I will be soliciting tons of advice in the near future...especially about how to manage a new passion for woodworking with a wife who likes a clean and tidy house and zero balances on the credit cards (;-)) But since you are in the mood for a bandsaw and powermatic came up, Woodcraft is having a 20% off sale on Jet and Powermatic equipment May 15 and 16. That may be of some use. 20% off seems to be awesome on Jet stuff...I haven't shopped much, but I seem to usually see them at no more than 10% off retail, so 20% is pretty good, I think.

Welcome to the family Tim!

tim kilroy said:

Hey Allen- I am a totally newbie to woodworking, so my tool suggestions won't be worth a pile of sawdust (as a matter of fact, I will be soliciting tons of advice in the near future...especially about how to manage a new passion for woodworking with a wife who likes a clean and tidy house and zero balances on the credit cards (;-)) But since you are in the mood for a bandsaw and powermatic came up, Woodcraft is having a 20% off sale on Jet and Powermatic equipment May 15 and 16. That may be of some use. 20% off seems to be awesome on Jet stuff...I haven't shopped much, but I seem to usually see them at no more than 10% off retail, so 20% is pretty good, I think.

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thanx tim, but i went with the powermatic when they were running a small promotion around 2 months ago.(free mobile base, riser block etc)
I saw a sale on Jet this week when i went in there to get some router bits, I didnt pay much attention though, I only want a sliding mitre, looking for one used, but thats a tough deal.

I dont understand why it takes me 25 minutes to change to a 3/4 inch blade, and only 2 minutes to put on a 1/4 inch blade.
Seems I have so much trouble getting the wider blade to line up.
(making a bandsaw box)


and if someone can answer this-anyone? How do I know what correct tension is.
I know if Im resawing something with the 3/4 inch blade, and if its not tight enough, the blade seems to drift more.
On the powermatic, there is a tension dial that gives a gauge that one turns to blade size for approx tension.
I just turn till the red line goes to the blade width. But how do I know if Im getting maximum performance?

I wish I had an answer. Could it just be the size of the blade making it more difficult to handle and not as flexible?

allen levine said:

I dont understand why it takes me 25 minutes to change to a 3/4 inch blade, and only 2 minutes to put on a 1/4 inch blade.
Seems I have so much trouble getting the wider blade to line up.
(making a bandsaw box) and if someone can answer this-anyone?

Click to expand...

I change blades frequently so maybe some of it is practice (I hate it when people tell me that) and some of it is method. My larger bandsaw has the spine close to the wall and I hate the Shop Fox base so I am reluctant to move it unless really necessary. The doors are designed to swing completely out of the way but the wall gets there first.

My procedure is something like this and any blade takes about as long as another:
- Open and lift both doors off (this is stupid-simple on my machine).
- Remove table pin and throat plate.
- Back the guides off, front to back and side to side.
- Swap blades (detention lever is normally "loose" when the machine is "down" so this take just a moment or two).
- Pull tension lever to apply light force on blade and turn top wheel to center.
- Fully engage tension and do a flutter method to set.
- Position guides, replace throat plate and table pin.
- Drop on the doors.

I've never timed it but ten minutes seems like it would be long, probably closer to five. I keep my tools that are used for blade changes and the blades right by the saw so they are always ready:

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http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=22664&d=1217907191

The gloves are for handling blades only; too clumsy for anything else. The small flashlight I shine from the opposite side of the blade from my face when setting the thrust bearing or peeking at the lower guides. With everything needed to change blades always at the ready, it is quick and easy enough that I do it without hesitation.

glenn, every time you post a picture Im envious of your organization and uncluttered shop.
I actually crossed state lines today, went to the left into Jersey earlier today, over to the harbor freight store and bought some items for when Im done with my current box build, Im going to reorganize and reconfigure my entire shop/garage.
I picked up a hose reel, for the air compressor, (still havent got that flexible hose), they had rubber hose for 8.99, couldnt resist, and most important, I picked up a lift table to lift up my planer cause my back cant handle the hoist anymore, now I can roll it anywhere, and lift it right up to table height.(and it was on sale for 130.00)
funny thing though, I was not allowed to buy a flashlight or work gloves, they have blue laws still in bergen county. I dont quite get why I could shop and buy the other 1000s of items, but certain items are not allowed to be sold on sunday. I asked the girl, what happens if theres a blackout, you cant sell flashlights, she laughed and said, no, only candles!
I wont discuss what I think of the local policy and that law that should have dissappeared with the dinosaurs, in todays poor economy and high taxes and liability insurance, and sky high health insurance, and why blue laws still exist, but Im sure if flashlights arent allowed to be sold, if they do have a blackout, the fire dept must be kept very busy.I hope one day someone reallizes alot of people are working 2 jobs, working 6 or more days a week, and their shopping time is limited.
back to regular programming, I do tend to drift.

I had to stop my current build to build 2 chairs and a small table.
The bandsaw made life easy, cutting two boards at a time, cutting angles for the back......quick, just gotta hold on, but really improved time.