Share your experience with bandsaws
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Michael Fortune’s bandsaw videos are excellent, and he talks about eliminating drift through tracking,of the blade or through the use of the fence. I was hoping to find a way that didn’t require accessories, as I don’t have them. Gift horse and all that.
The reason I am trying to do it this way, is that I want to make a wider wooden table to go on top of the standard iron one, and the design I like involves attaching a runner to a piece of hardboard or ply, and then putting the runner in the miter slot and cutting a kerf in the new top.
I guess I can make a simple fence for the standard table, use that to align the blade and mitre slot, then a better fence for the wooden table.Colin, Czech Rep.
The bandsaw creates dangerous airborne particles of woods that are toxic and lodge in the lungs. They are so small that they remain inside the lungs and build in toxicity over time. Some woods are very noxious, but all create inflammation and eventually will kill you. Using a dust collector is a must and I always put on my dust mask, too.
I have a Rikon 10-326 and am deeply satisfied with it except for the cost. And I can’t cut a straight line to save my life.
After breaking my elbow about 4 years ago, even after it had healed I found anything that needed a lot of sawing a bit of a problem. So, I decided that even though I wanted to be true to hand woodworking and as Paul used one as well, to buy a bandsaw. As we all know, bandsaws of any decent size and quality are not cheap, even used ones requiring travelling hundreds of miles to collect or needing a van to transport it in. I have very limited funds and searched for over two years, but as they say, patience is a virtue, because a month ago I came across a brand new, never used, still boxed (nice and easy to put in the back of the car) Sheppach Vario 3.0 for a price that I had to check, in case the seller had made a mistake. It took some putting together as it was very heavy and I had no help, but with a little ingenuity and the use of fulcrums I managed it. Okay, it may not be a Startrite or some other preferred brands which are just too expensive for me, especially with a decent cutting depth, but with an 800w induction motor and a maximum 8 inch depth of cut, quick blade release and stand with wheels to boot, it will do me just fine. I’ve ordered a couple of blades from Tuff Saw and already have a Record dust extractor. There will be a steep learning curve I’m sure, but I’ll use the Alex Snodgrass set-up technique to help me on my way.
I have quite a small workshop and will have to move it out of a corner whenever I need to use it, but that’s a small price to pay for being able to cut any large piece close to my guidelines quickly, accurately and with little waste. I have a really nice log from an old Walnut tree just waiting to be cut to size that I can hopefully now turn into something beautiful.
Paul - A southern lad living up north - Nr York England
I have a 14″ Delta that I bought new 30 years ago. I struggled with drift for years. Then I learned to square the table to the blade. I have aftermarket (Carter) guides. I wanted to be able to rip a board straight. I usually leave my line and plane it afterwards. For years I did re-sawing on the table saw. It worked but it is tedious and waste a lot of wood and can be dangerous. Your band saw will come for the factory under powered. That is why it stalls when re-sawing and sometimes on sharpe curves. I upped the horsepower on my saw just a year ago and kick myself for not having done it years ago. The speed is the same, but now it doesn’t stall on a re-saw. Also, when I install a new blade, I take a small whet stone and rub it and forth on the back side of the blade with the saw running. This dresses the blade’s back edges for a smother cut. I also wax my table once a week.
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