selling a bandsaw to someone who doesn't do curves...

Silvan wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:

While you're holding out, why not go all the way, and hold out for a

Think outside the sawmill.

Bow saw, or coping saw, or jigsaw. Not a reason to spend $500

Every one I've seen is embarassingly ugly. Maybe it's just not my thing.

A bowsaw, chain saw or other hand saw also works pretty well. Maybe better on green stock.

I bought one (Jet 16"bs) 18 months ago, and almost sold it last month. I would have, if the fellow had made me a real offer. I used it today for three cuts in some still really wet Liquidamber (soft maple species). Chucked the 6" diameter piece in the Shopsmith in lathe mode, and turned something for the first time. Well, OK. It was a carving mallet, rather than a piece of art. And I still have to get it dry without cracking, spalting and/or molding. But that was as much fun as I've had in weeks, working with wood.

The woodworking neighbor came over after work, and we visited while I rested up from hunching over the Shopsmith (it would be nice if it were

Too bad you're all the way across the country.

Patriarch

Silvan asks:

You're not looking in the right places. Blacksburg is an area with a number of sawmills. Make your neighbors happy and stack and sticker rough lumber on cement blocks, with old metal roofing to cover the top. But it all in 8/4 thickness and wait two years.

There are your curves.

Yuk.

Eventually, you will.

Pad sawing. Make a pad of lumber and cut multiple odd shaped pieces at one time. Start doing work that requires more curves (but avoid bandsawn boxes: I have yet to see one that doesn't look like a piece from a worm).

A bandsaw is good for cutting almost any odd or eccentric shape, not just curves. And it does so much more safely than you can do it on a bandsaw.

Start making more really small projects so you can resaw that 4/4 stuff.

Charlie Self "One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected." George W. Bush

The only liquidamber I know is L. styraciflua, AKA sweetgum. It's a member of the witchhazel family, not maple.

Did you find another?

Charlie Self "One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected." George W. Bush

Don't forget cutting frozen food. You can cut frozen bread slices perfect for the toaster. But don't let a butcher use it to cut moose. Your workshop will end up smelling of moose for months. (DAMHIKT)

Huh? Did you mean "than you can do it on a tablesaw"?

Bob

I just entered the BS works about 9 months ago after being a TS guy for over a decade. Yes, it does curves and resawing as expected, but the surprise benefit is stopped interior/stopped cuts and the ability to safely and quickly freehand quick & dirty (or precise for that matter) things:

Example: I want to hold a long piece with pointy ends between the dogs on my bench. Any significant pressure directly on the pointy ends would damage them. Solution: take two little pices of scrap wood flat against each dog, set the piece on top of them and trace the ends onto the little squares. Cut out trace lines on the BS. Voila, custom cauls. That took about 90 seconds.

My general impression is that *most* of what I want to do with a bandsaw can be done with the combination of a jig saw and table saw. (hey I can resaw up to 6" with my TS). But w/ a BS many of these operations are just easier and safer. It is a really nice tool to have around. I think that would will go to that saw for more than just curves and resawing. Things for which you might have previously used another tool.

I'm really glad I have one now.

-Steve

I think the 14" works wonderfully. If you go off an buy a little 3-wheel jobbie, *then* you will just end up buying another one.

You have recieved some good things, but let me stress ripping on the bandsaw, especially with 3 different situations:

- ripping rough wood with no "good" edge where you would prefer to rip first, dress later

- ripping knarly wood that is being difficult; if it closes up on the blade, you'll barely notice. On the TS, it is a different story

- ripping off-parallel. *If* you are trying to extract really straight-grained pieces, you draw an line on the board following the grain and use the bandsaw to rip; using a TS would be a major PITA.

Also useful for making tenons, dovetails and all sorts of non-curvy stuff.

All in all, if you start using rough lumber, especially in the larger dimensions, you will find a bandsaw indispensible. If you are going to work in sheet goods, not nearly so much.

Many many pieces benefit greatly from a gentle curve, from a simple table apron to the legs of a stool. We have got so used to pieces turned out in volume, all straight and blocky, that our own work starts to resemble it. This is a shame. Consider adding some touches to your work that seperates it out from the factory; and curves, just gentle ones, are a great way to start whether it be the arch of a bracket or something much more elaborate.

PK

• Small cutoffs where your hands are too close to a table saw blade.
• Rough ripping with no kickback.
• Splitting round parts and halving diagonal narrow stock.
• Roughing out material in hand cut dovetail and finger joints. A quick pass with a paring chisel finishes up.
• Cutting green wood into turning blanks.
• Cutting foam rubber and insulation board.

And of course, what you already know, resawing and curve cutting.

Barry

I also never thought I had any use for a bandsaw. Needed to make a bunch of interior cuts in a project so bought that cheap 9" Ryobi for $79. Quickly became one of my most used tools, lots of quick uses when you have one available and setup. Didn't take long to unload the small saw and get a

If you've got the space and the money and it's just a question of "Should I?", I'd go for 16" or 18"

Of most of my tools, and all of my machines, the bandsaw is the one where soon after getting it I was wishing I'd got one a lot earlier.

It doesn't replace the table saw, it replaces hand saws. I cut tenons on it that I'd never do with a circular saw, but can do more quickly and more accurately than by hand. Just try something like the skinny spindles in a Morris Chair - a few dozen identical tenons, banged out accurately in minutes ? No problem.

IMO, if you have to find a reason to have a tool, you shouldn't get it... there must be other tools that you really want.. Or, you'll plan or start a project (same thing for me, usually) and find that you need a certain tool...

Personally, I never really had a need for a bandsaw until I found that you could turn green wood... now that there is a demand, it's on my list... but behind a few other things, like a good TS and a benchtop planer..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Yep... sort of why I want one too, Bill...

Actually, reading everyone's posts and thinking back to a prior life, (marriage 2), when I had an old bandsaw, I remember having 2 kinds of blades... wide or deep blades, depending on how you look at them, for straight cuts, and short or narrow blades for scrolling or curves.. It seems that I used the BS quite a bit and almost never cut curves with it..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

/advice mode/ You want a bandsaw? Go buy a bandsaw. Life is short. As long as baby has milk, or beer, or whatever baby drinks, the money is no problem. I'm sure the wealthy Mr. Self will float you a loan. /advice off/

I have two bandsawrs, he gloated. The Delta 14" (a retirement "thank God he's going away" gift) I use for resawing. The ancient Craftsman

Look for something used that will suit you. But only for a month. After that consult the Griz catalog, remembering to separate those pages that got stuck together the last time you looked. Lotsa good stuff out there. Go for it. You'll end up loving it and wondering what took you so long or my name isn't J. Angus MacDougal. mahalo, J.

Hold out for a Yates 36" "Snow Flake" like this one....

Silvan wrote:

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comnotforme (Charlie Self) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m05.aol.com:

Probably not. I was going on the leaf structure, not a book.

Wasn't the only time yesterday I made an error.

Patriarch

When out countersink screws and want to plug the holes you can cut the dowels to short length for the plugs. If you use a plug cutter, you run the plug wood on its side through the blade to release the plugs.

You can cut up a garden hose so you can play hose ball. Of course if you don't live in a city and it is not the 1950's any more that may not interest you. How bout half ball then?

There are many uses for cutting small things here and there that makes it a very handy tool. Once you have it, you find the bandsaw is one of the most versatile tools in your shop.

I'm just learning to use mine. But it's a different tool. Different thinking. (It's like learning a new language.)

When cutting dovetails, the cut is perpendicular to the wood because the blade is perpendicular, and not curved. How else can you do a square notch on a piece of wook 6 feet long? :-)

I was just looking an Duginske's Bandsaw bench guide, and he shows you how to cut dovetails with the accuracy of a router template, using a bandsaw only. Very clever.

Another thing - think thin kerf. The blade is pulled, not pushed, so it's like a thin kerf japanese saw. Cutting and regluing wood is less noticable.

I rarely cut curves on the bandsaw. When I do, it's usually a long graceful curve in thick wood that's more than my scrollsaw can handle. The scrollsaw can cut up to 22" behind the blade. The bandsaw can cut (at the moment) about 12 feet behind the blade, and it's a lot faster than the scroll saw.

So what do I use the bandsaw for?

Rough cut-to-length. The TS's original miter gauge is on the bandsaw all the time (the TS has an incra), I use it to cut small pieces to length when the TS is rigged up for something else.

Notches. Cutting a notch in the corner of a chunk of wood is fast on the bandsaw.

Ripping. If I'm going to joint it anyway, it's a LOT easier to rip hardwoods in the bandsaw than on the table saw - it's like having the ultimate thin kerf blade ;-)

Kids. My kids can safely use the bandsaw, but not the table saw (yet).

Resawing. Not just 6" wide hardwoods, but 1-2" wide strips to make

Non-flat wood (firewood), mostly for lathe work.

Plastics, foam, etc - cut quite well on the bandsaw.

Thick wood. Sometimes, it's easier to cut a 6" thick piece of wood on the bandsaw than do multiple cuts on the table saw - assuming you can do it at all on the table saw.

I am looking for a bandsaw right now, as well. The Powermatic 14" seems a good buy, 1.5 hp, fence, miter, light, dust blower, tension release, carter-type guides, for $899. I am waiting for Woodcraft's Feb 11 10% off sale, which when I combine with a coupon from a previous Jet purchase (2 Sjobergs benches for $175 each, delivered from Amazon) will bring the net cost to $720, plus an additional $50 off an accessory, which will be the riser block, for net $20 or so. I suggest getting the Lonnie Bird and/or Mark Duginske books for an idea of the versatility of the saw.

This does not seem advisable, to me.