For the lazy Susans I am building for my daughters I will cut the 18" circle on my band saw. I need to buy a blade for that purpose. The circle will be about 1" thick.
How man TPI should I be looking for.
I plan to buy a 1/2" blade.
Any other considerations?
Thanks
I am guessing that you don't want one of those blades that pulls the work into the blade. Also, your bandsaw may have something to say about the answer. There may be a chart somewhere that corresponds with "radius" of the cut you want to make the the size of the blade. Best of luck! FWIW, If I was thinking of cutting a nice 18" circle, I think I would be thinking "router". Of course, people have made jigs for such a task which would work on a table saw, but I would not have thought of that! : )
Why 1/2 inch ? Seems like 3 TPI is standard in 1/2 inch :
Have you considered cutting the circle on your table saw? I?ve use this technique numerous times.
The cut will still have to be dealt with to smooth the edge.
Most any blade, that is not too wide to fit in the arc, will do.
Just go slowly if the blade you have does not cut quickly.
And use some time of jig. Free handing a circle can be a pain.
That's why I like the table saw method. That, and the fact that my bandsaw table is too small for most of the circles I've cut.
My preferred method is with a router on a trammel. Perfect circle and a very clean cut that needs little prep after the cut.
Seen it, never tried it. I should.
Do you use a trim router and a tiny, little trammel to make coasters. ;-)
The rule of thumb I was taught was three teeth in the material, which makes cutting 1/2 stock a bit strange.
A 1/2" blade is plenty. That'll get down to 2-1/2" radius.
Hell, Leon, you'd just use your Shaper. Not a bad idea, though. A router and circle guide right side up or upside down (pin in router table). It would give a smooth(er) cut.
Hole saw (w/dowel). ;-)
My own mention of coasters got me thinking about Christmas gifts, so I went looking.
There's quite a few videos of DIY coasters made with wood and epoxy. Some were done in the "river" style of epoxy use and some used silicon molds.
I've been using epoxy for various things over the years, especially back in my Soap Box Derby days and I keep tinkering with the idea of doing something with epoxy and wood.
Maybe coasters would be a good start.
I've been thinking along the same lines, though hadn't considered coasters. I just ordered a pressure pot for doing small projects like that. A friend's brother does burl/resin globes and makes some good money at it. It sounded like some fun.
I noticed the Woodcraft I frequent didn't have the California Air pressure pots displayed anymore. The three they had along the back wall had $299 tags on them. I know inflation, and all that, but a couple of weeks ago they were $249. A recent Rockler ad still had them for $249 and had a 10% "sale", which covered shipping and tax. It's in the mail.
So Leon, what kind of bit do you use in the router and how many passes if the walnut is 1" thick?
I just might try it.
You should *definitely* practice a bit on some scrap wood. I certainly would. There are probably some YouTube videos showing more than one technique. I would cut it out with your bandsaw (or any other way), leaving say 1/4". Then apply the router. For best results, your Last pass should certain not be taking off much wood. Leon, is the expert, he can suggest a more appropriate bit to use than I can.
I hadn't heard of Pressure Pots for resin casting before. Interesting. I just watched the video at Woodcraft.
At 3:55ish he says "We'll set our timer and come back." What amount of time are we taking about for the blanks he was making, e.g. knife handles?
Coasters with 1/4" thick "rivers" appear to take about 24 hours to cure. Does the pressure pot speed up the cure time or just get all the air bubbles out?
I would use my Shaper Origin! ;~)
I have not yet dabbled in the Epoxy decorative use yet. BUT I have been advised that, depending on the project and thickness/ depth of the Epoxy pour, you want to get specific types. Food for thought.
IIRC I used a carbide up spiral. Mine was 3/4" thick and I made a very shallow first pass to help prevent tear out and then 3 more passes. If you are going to round over the top edge any tear out should be cut away during that process.
One more thing. If you have a 1/2" shank bit that cuts 1/2" you should get less chatter, a smoother cut.
And again, first pass shallow, less than 1/8" deep. This goes quickly so multiple passes don't really take that much longer.
Yeah, there are Deep Pour versions vs. "normal". Deep pour types apparently take much longer to cure even at shallow depths. It's the slow cure time that makes them work so well for deep pours.
There's also the yellowing issue to deal with. I know that the West Systems I use for most repair/reinforcing tasks, especially their newer G-Flex product, starts out as amber and gets darker over time.
I'm thinking of trying something small, like a coaster or two with a simple dado'd stripe or maybe two - using my G-flex - just to play with the process, before I buy any "specialty" supplies.
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