band saw setup - square cuts ???

[tusses]

ok - so I read and see how to adjust the fence square to each blade you use. This give the impression that the blade will dictate the cut.

If so, what good is the miter slot ?

[andy]

For cutting mitres ;D

You should be able to zero the arrow mark on the mitre gauge once you have it adjusted so that it cuts at 90 deg

[davyowen]

Narrow blades require the fence to be adjusted to take into account blade drift, with wider blades (>3/4") the drift is negligable so the mitre slot is of some use. Ultimately a bandsaw isn't the right tool for accurate mitres anyway, and I can't think of one time when I've needed it

[engineerone]

in principal, the mitre gauge slot on any tool
band saw, table saw, or even router is only a guiding point.

the actual accuracy of a cross cut item, ie mitre gauge, etc
depends on the final set up after the blade has been installed and set up accurately. either blade may not be quite accurate
in relation to the spindle or the table, hence an adjustable mitre gauge.

paul

[tusses]

for those that say you can adjust the miter gauge .

Taken to the extreme so you can visualize. lets say the blade drift is 45%
so you can set your fence parallel to the cut. and that is fine

but if you set the miter gauge to 45, the slot is not parallel to the cut and you are pushing the wood into the side of the blade.

if you are using the miter gauge for anything - not just miters , then in theory at least, it doesn't work.

the obvious solution is to align the table to the blade drift. do any saw's have htis option ? I haven't looked at mine closely

[engineerone]

never having had a band saw mate i could be accused of talking
dogs ****** however, i have read a number of articles and a book by one of the older established experts.

it is almost impossible to have the blade at 45 degrees, and i know that you were being somewhat over the top, but

from what i have seen, in terms of learning about adjustment,
the max your blade should be drifting is about 10 degrees, because beyond that i would think that the blade might well come off the wheels, and not run through the blade guides properly around about the table entrance.

from the ones i have inspected, the table does not move, because it tends to be part of the structure, although it can
often move in the horizontal plane ie tilt, but the table carrier is fixed to the rest of the band saw framing. if not the machine would not work properly.

anyway long winded way of saying that you are in fact over stating the problem i think.

because the blade in general moves on wheels that are slightly rounded it is likely that each different blade would take up a different angle to the hole in the table, even if you have both wheels vertically and horizontally in line with each other. the balance of the blade, and its welds will cause each to sit in a different way on the wheels.

so the perceived wisdom is that the main fence is set against
the blade. once you have sorted the cut and the drift there,
you could then set your mitre gauge against the fence, and
the slot would still work without sticking because you would
not be moving the gauge very far, hence any innaccuracy
would be minimal.

but like many of the others, i wonder why you would want to mitre on the band saw

anyway all the above may be bogus, but it is what i believe is logical.

paul

[tusses]

Jul 6, 2008 11:05:00 GMT engineerone said:

but like many of the others, i wonder why you would want to mitre on the band saw

paul

I wonder too !
Tenon shoulders ?

Surely the slot is there for a reason

I know some people only have a band saw and always wondered what they use it for.

I've had a Delta 8" for a few years and used it for curved cuts mainly, and cutting small pieces. it is very nice to use, very quiet and cuts surprisingly fast.

I've just got me a proper big band saw and want to use it for what it is good at ... what ever that may turn out to be ?

At the moment re-sawing and making tenons will be its main use.

but like I said - the slot must be there for a reason

[engineerone]

a slot in a machine tool, with a reason

think you are imagining things ;D

paul

[mrgrimsdale]

Band saw is very general purpose so some may use the slot and mitre gauge often, others never. I've used it a lot for cutting various rods and laths to length, when I used to make toys. I 'd add a bit of false fence to the fence, stopping it just after the cut, so stuff wouldn't jam between blade and fence.

I use it (band saw, not slot) a lot for firewood - cutting all waste into 10" lengths for the wood-stove. And tenons, (cheeks not shoulders) saving new blades for tenons only, until they start to wander.

cheers
Jacob
PS I never adjust the fence. Can't be done on Startite 352. Blade cuts straight or not, in which case it's dowgraded to general rough cutting.

[jfc]

I thought the mitre slot was for holding your fag ;D

[robo]

Before checking it out, I made an adjustable fence for my 325 which turned out to be was a waste of time as it cuts straight!

R

[modernist]

On my 352 I set the blade tracking until it cut square against the fixed fence. Ain't no other way on a 352.

I do use it for mitres (scribed shoulders on window stiles most recently) with a mitre fence and it is OK but I agree it is not the ideal mitreing kit.

Ps recently swapped the 352 for Hammer 4400. Nice machine but the mitre fence is a joke. - and costs extra

Brian

[modernist]

Jul 6, 2008 21:47:06 GMT robo said:

Before checking it out, I made an adjustable fence for my 325 which turned out to be was a waste of time as it cuts straight!

R

Sorry didn't see it was you - glad it's working well for you. ;D

Brian

[robo]

Yes Brian - it cuts like a dream.
I bought a few blades from Dragonsaw and a couple of Meat & fish types from Sharpquip (after reading David C's article). They are really fantastic and cut to a very fine and accurate line. I cut about 40 tenons with them the other afternoon. The blades are 0.02" (thin) 1/2" 4TPI and cut a very fine thin veneer too.
I improved the dust collection with a square to round 63mm water pipe connector - inserted under the table with the blade running through -, its picks up most of the dust.

R

[modernist]

Glad to hear it. It did a lot of good work for me.

Re the dust collection I was thinking of doing exactly the same to the Hammer as it currently only has a port in the base of the case and nothing below the table where it should be.

Back to the original point I see no reason why most bandsaws cannot be made to cut straight by use of the tracking control. I have just also bought a 3 wheel Startrite Wespa (metal cutting) for work and we are doing the same with that.

Brian

[ivan]

They say narrower blades are more prone to drift. 3/4 or 1" blades appear to always cut straight. They also say that you should ensure blade is tracking on the wheel crown (if not = drift) Probably why wider blades don't seem to drift, as less likely to be running them off centre?

I find I can align slot and fence to a length of 3 or 4mm silver steel clipped to the tensioned 1" blade and all is well.

[modernist]

Jul 14, 2008 16:24:28 GMT ivan said:

They say narrower blades are more prone to drift. 3/4 or 1" blades appear to always cut straight. They also say that you should ensure blade is tracking on the wheel crown (if not = drift) Probably why wider blades don't seem to drift, as less likely to be running them off centre?

The wider the blade the less it can twist in the kerf so it self guides better. If everthing is true then if the blade is on the crown of the wheel then it will cut straight. That assumes the fence is exactly parallel to the wheel spindles - by no means guaranteed.

Brian

[mvw]

I built a sled for my cheap chinese 14" band saw which runs in the mitre slot, and it cuts perfectly square, which is nice as I haven't got a table saw yet.

regards

mvw