Using a 1/8" Blade on a Laguna 1412

[joeljcarver]

Has anyone used a 1/8" blade on the Laguna1214? If you have, how did it work out?

[Leon]

When I was looking into buying my Laguna there was a special set of guides that needed to be use for those small blades. Ultimately I think it wold be less expensive to buy a scroll saw for that type use.

You really don't want the teeth to be hitting the ceramic guides.

[joeljcarver]

What's the narrowest blade you've used on your Laguna?

[Leon]

1/4" UP TO 1-1/4"

95% of the time I keep a 1/2" blade on the saw. I use that blade for re-sawing 3/4" thick wood into to 1/4" thick pieces. If I need narrower veneers I step it up to the wider blades/Resaw King.

[joeljcarver]

Thanks. I have one older delta band saw fitted with the Carter stabilizer and a 3/16" blade which I use primarily for duck decoy heads and shorebird decoys. I thought Maybe I could retire that saw and use the Laguna instead.

Okay .... I have the Resaw King but I haven't used it yet. I'm hoping to do some bent laminations without running each slice through the planer. We'll see ...

[Leon]

Hummmm bent laminations...

If you get that blade set up right, Resaw King, you should not have to even sand the mating surfaces let alone plane them.

Make sure you get the fence setup for tracking and the cutting should be a breeze.

[joeljcarver]

That's what I'm hoping.

I also got the Driftmaster fence so I could easily cut uniform slices. So far, the damn thing has been a beast to set up properly. Maybe it's me .....

[Leon]

Regardless of which fence it will probably need to be adjusted for angle after all other blade adjustments are made and that might change for each type of wood you are cutting. Laguna has a video that shows row to properly set the fence angle, it is a pretty simple method that they use.

[Doug Winterburn]

This might help:

[Leon]

Actually, look here

[Leon]

Here is the guides for the Laguna for small blades.

[Leon]

And

[joeljcarver]

I guess I didn't state it properly. Adjusting for drift is a no problem.

My difficulty is in adjusting the bar so that the fence table doesn't interfere with my feeding the stock onto the bandsaw table ... And also having the fence stand precisely at a right angle to the table.

Also, an issue with the Driftmaster fence is that the installation makes the saw front-heavy and unstable when it's being rolled on the wheels. It has a tendency to topple forward.

[Leon]

IIRC that might have to do with the guide beam on the front of the table.

[joeljcarver]

nterfere with my feeding the stock onto the bandsaw table ... And also havi ng the fence stand precisely at a right angle to the table.

....

Right. The manual calls it the "Fence Support Shaft". It's mounted on their "Universal Support Brackets" which have been a royal pain to adjust.

I guess the best approach is to loosen everything and start anew rather tha n repeatedly to tweak and re-tweak the brackets. I also see that the fence should only contact the bandsaw table at the far end. This is not shown on the DVD that comes with the fence.

[Leon]

If you can secure the fence to the "loosened" fence support shaft and then shim the front bottom end of the fence a touch so that only the back of the fence is touching the table and build a square box to clamp onto the fence to hold it perpendicular to the table, and then tighten the fence support shaft.....

[joeljcarver]

We finally got around to adjusting the fence properly. I made a few test cuts and setting the fence for drift was a breeze.

Then I put on the 3/4" Resaw King, reset the fence for drift, and made a test cut of a thin section. It was slick.

I had to cut out the straight sides for the chops on a Benchcrafted Roubo-style bench. I finished the curves on my Delta 14" with a 1/4" blade.

The chops is cherry, and it cut easily and flawlessly. What a pleasure.

I'm still not sure if the cut is smooth enough to cut slices for lamination without planing them before gluing. I intend to make some tests to see.

[Leon]

Glad to hear that things are working. Better for you. Thanks for the follow up.