I am building a cedar canvas canoe, my 4rth one. I have used my 14" band saw to cut the planks. The planks are 3"wide by 5/16
Every time I cut I find that the blade swims, wanders, I have used a fence and I have also used a dowel system. I have tuned the band saw for hours on end, I put in a new 1 hp motor. I am tired of the swimming, it's costly on material and time consuming.
Does anyone know the best way to cut 3" x 5/16 by 8 feet planks? Would I be better off with a 10" table saw?
Thanks
Mark
Planking
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Glen Smith
- Posts: 3719
- Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
- Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada
You didn't mention if you are using a true "resaw" blade on the bandsaw or trying to make do with a general purpose blade.
I don't own a decent bandsaw so all my work is done on the tablesaw. A good 10" thin kerf blade will do a good job on ripping the boards with little waste. You should use long infeed and outfeed tables and also featherboards and a steady feed rate for best results.
I don't own a decent bandsaw so all my work is done on the tablesaw. A good 10" thin kerf blade will do a good job on ripping the boards with little waste. You should use long infeed and outfeed tables and also featherboards and a steady feed rate for best results.
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Rehd Brown
- Posts: 148
- Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 8:23 pm
- Location: Fresno, California
Mark
When you mention tuning your band-saw, are you checking your blade guides both top and bottom of the table..? Those are where you will get wobble in your saw-blade. They are either square or round and are usualy tightened in by a set screw. They wear VERY quickly and have to be ground flat, or swapped end for end often. The blade will wear grooves in those guides and even though they are touching the blade, they are usually beveled away from the front of the blade allowing it to wobble back and forth. the rear guide/wheel should just tough the blade when rotating the blade by hand.
Plus, and you may already be aware of this, but, you want to keep your blade guides ( top ) as close to the surface of your work.. usually about 1/4" or less.
Hope this helps..
Rehd
When you mention tuning your band-saw, are you checking your blade guides both top and bottom of the table..? Those are where you will get wobble in your saw-blade. They are either square or round and are usualy tightened in by a set screw. They wear VERY quickly and have to be ground flat, or swapped end for end often. The blade will wear grooves in those guides and even though they are touching the blade, they are usually beveled away from the front of the blade allowing it to wobble back and forth. the rear guide/wheel should just tough the blade when rotating the blade by hand.
Plus, and you may already be aware of this, but, you want to keep your blade guides ( top ) as close to the surface of your work.. usually about 1/4" or less.
Hope this helps..
Rehd
Hi, I am also assuming you mean a wandering cut when resawing.
This usualy is an indication of an improperly tensioned blade.
When resawing use a 1/2" blade. Do not use this blade for any other use, just resawing.
There are tension springs(heavy duty) which are available were you buy your blades through. I highly recomend this tension spring.
When your sawing your wood is being fed to the blade against a convex surface so that you can control the drift of the cut. This can also be controlled by adjusting your fence for drift.
Hope this helps a bit. Don't get frustrated.
There is a great book out there, "The Band Saw Bench Guide" by Mark Duginske. I have this book and highly recommend it.
Cheers Robbie.
This usualy is an indication of an improperly tensioned blade.
When resawing use a 1/2" blade. Do not use this blade for any other use, just resawing.
There are tension springs(heavy duty) which are available were you buy your blades through. I highly recomend this tension spring.
When your sawing your wood is being fed to the blade against a convex surface so that you can control the drift of the cut. This can also be controlled by adjusting your fence for drift.
Hope this helps a bit. Don't get frustrated.
There is a great book out there, "The Band Saw Bench Guide" by Mark Duginske. I have this book and highly recommend it.
Cheers Robbie.
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Mark Hodgins
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:47 am
Planking
Thanks for the quick replies, I just learned a few things. I checked the guides and they are not flat so that will be job number one. I have never heard of the tension spring so that's a visit to the band saw store.
I will attempt this and if all fails I will switch to the table saw. My table saw is not 10" though so I may have to make 2 passes, if this works then off to the table saw store or buy and sell.
Thanks again
I will attempt this and if all fails I will switch to the table saw. My table saw is not 10" though so I may have to make 2 passes, if this works then off to the table saw store or buy and sell.
Thanks again
resaw blade specs
For resawing 3 inch thick stock you should be using at least a 3/4 inch wide blade with no more than 3 teeth per inch, 2 teeth per inch would be preferable. With more teeth per inch the blade will only be cutting in the top part of the board until the tooth gullets are full of saw dust. Continuing to apply pressure to the board in this situation causes the blade to twist because the pressure is greater at the bottom of the kerf than at the top.
There is little chance you are going to get perfectly sawed 5/16 x3" planks out of a band saw. Resawing would be considered a rough cut which would have to go through a planer or thickness sander to finished dimensions. Joe Seliga is a famouns (now deceased) wood canvas canoe builder here in MN. His pride and joy tool was is Boyce Crane thickness planer. It is not a suprise why that was the case. You cannot get uniform planks without the proper tool to make them uniform. A bandsaw is not the proper tool (yet a very important step). The above suggestions are all very good at improving the resaw process, but your expectation are too high (in my opinion) if you think you can go from the bandsaw directly to the canoe form with your average shop bandsaw
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Rehd Brown
- Posts: 148
- Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 8:23 pm
- Location: Fresno, California
Hi Mark
Before you go looking for a tensioning spring, check to see that your tensioner is adjustable.. Most are, with a little tightening of a knob on the back of the top wheel houseing. On mine, the adjustment knob faces up and when tightened will pull up on that top wheel. Probably has a locking nut to keep it in place. Unless the saw is very old and has lots of mileage, the spring shouldn't be bad. Just the adjustment.
Hope that helps..
Rehd
Before you go looking for a tensioning spring, check to see that your tensioner is adjustable.. Most are, with a little tightening of a knob on the back of the top wheel houseing. On mine, the adjustment knob faces up and when tightened will pull up on that top wheel. Probably has a locking nut to keep it in place. Unless the saw is very old and has lots of mileage, the spring shouldn't be bad. Just the adjustment.
Hope that helps..
Rehd