Bandsaw Tolerances?

[Fixall]

Hello Shop Talk,

I hope you're all having an awesome Sunday!


I am in the process of fine tuning my Laguna 1412 and was just curious at to what kind of tolerances you guys are achieving on your bandsaws. I think I've got the saw pretty close to good, and I'm wondering if I should just stop before I mess it up, lol. I'm using a Timber Wolf 3TPI, 3/4" blade.

When cutting a 5" x 1.5" piece of wood, I'm getting just under .01" (.008" to be exact) difference across the width of the wood. I think to get it any better I would have to shim the fence somehow? Worth it? I was thinking of using the bandsaw, instead of the table saw, to cut scales from thinner phenolic pieces (3/8" to 1/2") with less waste.

I think I've got the drift pretty well sorted. It's at about .001" over the length of the 5" scale.

 

[John Wilson]

That's pretty decent imo, but I'm no pro woodworker. To do better than that usually comes down to squaring the block in the mill before I try to resaw it. Having a block not perfectly square will yield all sorts of results. I don't use a fence on my bandsaw. I used to fight wander on my blade until I learned to run the teeth in the center of the wheel and to have the guide wheels in tight all the way up to the blade gullet.

 

[Taz575]

I switched my HF 14" bandsaw from a cool block guide setup to a Accura bearing guide setup and it seems to track and cut much better. If I am splitting blocks, I use a thick marker to mark my cut line and keep the blade within that line so I know I have plenty extra to flatten the scales fully. A new, sharp blade helps out a lot as well! I usually do 3/8" scales or thicker, not good enough with it yet to do thinner scales, which I don't care for anyway or order them in thinner stock. I tried resawing thinner pieces when the saw was new with a fresh blade and didn't have very good results!

Phenolic pieces cut different than wood and dull the saw blades quicker in my experience. They are much more dense material wise. You may be better off just buying those pieces thinner? They usually come in 1/8", 3/16", 1/4" and 3/8" already?

 

[Fixall]

I switched my HF 14" bandsaw from a cool block guide setup to a Accura bearing guide setup and it seems to track and cut much better. If I am splitting blocks, I use a thick marker to mark my cut line and keep the blade within that line so I know I have plenty extra to flatten the scales fully. A new, sharp blade helps out a lot as well! I usually do 3/8" scales or thicker, not good enough with it yet to do thinner scales, which I don't care for anyway or order them in thinner stock. I tried resawing thinner pieces when the saw was new with a fresh blade and didn't have very good results!

Phenolic pieces cut different than wood and dull the saw blades quicker in my experience. They are much more dense material wise. You may be better off just buying those pieces thinner? They usually come in 1/8", 3/16", 1/4" and 3/8" already?

I’ll be using it to cut thin scales (like 3/8”) into thinner pieces for slip joints. Right now I can get a couple .15” - .16” scales out of one 3/8” piece. It’s mainly for vintage rag phenolics. Hard to come by, and tend to commande a premium price, so I don’t want any to go to waste.

 

[52 Ford]

I’ll be using it to cut thin scales (like 3/8”) into thinner pieces for slip joints. Right now I can get a couple .15” - .16” scales out of one 3/8” piece. It’s mainly for vintage rag phenolics. Hard to come by, and tend to commande a premium price, so I don’t want any to go to waste.

Have you considered using a table saw for the cuts? With a zero clearance insert and a thin kerf blade, you might be better off.

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[Fixall]

Have you considered using a table saw for the cuts? With a zero clearance insert and a thin kerf blade, you might be better off.

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Yep! For full-sized blocks I normally use my table saw, a Freud thin kerf, 60 tooth saw, and a Grr-ripper pushblock. Super safe and the scales turn out very nice. With that setup, I lose about .1 of material from the kerf and cleanup. I was thinking with the bandsaw I might be able to lower that a bit.

 

[REK Knives]

Yep! For full-sized blocks I normally use my table saw, a Freud thin kerf, 60 tooth saw, and a Grr-ripper pushblock. Super safe and the scales turn out very nice. With that setup, I lose about .1 of material from the kerf and cleanup. I was thinking with the bandsaw I might be able to lower that a bit.

Also, don't try to cut stabilized stuff with a table saw... I've tried and it doesn't work well lol, dulls even the carbide teeth pretty quick

 

[J. Doyle]

That's pretty decent imo, but I'm no pro woodworker. To do better than that usually comes down to squaring the block in the mill before I try to resaw it. Having a block not perfectly square will yield all sorts of results. I don't use a fence on my bandsaw. I used to fight wander on my blade until I learned to run the teeth in the center of the wheel and to have the guide wheels in tight all the way up to the blade gullet.

I second this.

Personally I wouldn't cut phenolics/micarta/g10/synthetic anything on a wood cutting bandsaw.

You're just wasting money on blades. They're generally too fast and the blades aren't typically made to handle those kinds of material.

 

[52 Ford]

Yep! For full-sized blocks I normally use my table saw, a Freud thin kerf, 60 tooth saw, and a Grr-ripper pushblock. Super safe and the scales turn out very nice. With that setup, I lose about .1 of material from the kerf and cleanup. I was thinking with the bandsaw I might be able to lower that a bit.

Make sure the flanges on the table saw arbor are running true (may be worth having them trued up by a machine shop) and pick up a 7-1/4" circular saw blade you can get 1/16" kerf blades for under $10 at Lowe's/Home Depot. My resaw blade for the bandsaw takes a 1/16" kerf, so I might as well stick to the table saw for my rip cuts when I can.


Edit: it's about $20 for a fine tooth carbide 7-1/4" blade.
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[Fixall]

I second this.

Personally I wouldn't cut phenolics/micarta/g10/synthetic anything on a wood cutting bandsaw.

You're just wasting money on blades. They're generally too fast and the blades aren't typically made to handle those kinds of material.

That’s a fair point. I have a portaband and swag table on hand for cutting excess material off of scales, but I wouldn’t trust it for ripping. With the cost of the material, blade cost isn’t much of a factor to be honest. Whatever consistently preserves the most material wins in this particular case.

 

[Fixall]

Also, don't try to cut stabilized stuff with a table saw... I've tried and it doesn't work well lol, dulls even the carbide teeth pretty quick.

I tired the bandsaw on some stabilized maples and it cut through it like butter. Good thing, because the original plan was to use the table saw for all my stabilized wood, lol.

 

[Fixall]

Make sure the flanges on the table saw arbor are running true (may be worth having them trued up by a machine shop) and pick up a 7-1/4" circular saw blade you can get 1/16" kerf blades for under $10 at Lowe's/Home Depot. My resaw blade for the bandsaw takes a 1/16" kerf, so I might as well stick to the table saw for my rip cuts when I can.


Edit: it's about $20 for a fine tooth carbide 7-1/4" blade.
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I’ve heard of people using those 60 tooth Diablo circular saw blades for ripping scales on a table saw. I have a zero clearance insert that just came in, so maybe I’ll grab one of those blades and experiment.

 

[52 Ford]

I’ve heard of people using those 60 tooth Diablo circular saw blades for ripping scales on a table saw. I have a zero clearance insert that just came in, so maybe I’ll grab one of those blades and experiment.

The only issue with those SUPER thin kerf blades is that, at least in my experience (residential construction), the teeth are a lot more delicate than standard kerf blades. I don't guess it'll be a big deal on the table saw, but with a 24 tooth blade on a circular saw, I usually end up missing a tooth or two long before the blade is dull. Contrast that with my miter saw blades, with 1/8" kerf, and they're still going strong 20 years later.

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[Fixall]

The only issue with those SUPER thin kerf blades is that, at least in my experience (residential construction), the teeth are a lot more delicate than standard kerf blades. I don't guess it'll be a big deal on the table saw, but with a 24 tooth blade on a circular saw, I usually end up missing a tooth or two long before the blade is dull. Contrast that with my miter saw blades, with 1/8" kerf, and they're still going strong 20 years later.

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I picked up a couple of the 60 tooth carbide circular saw blades. We'll see how it goes.

At $20 a blade, no biggie if it's a failure, or if the teeth shear quickly.

 

[Fixall]

Speaking of miter saws... How do you guys think a 7-1/4", 60 tooth, carbide circular saw would do in a miter saw for cross-cutting Micarta?

I have this 4 foot long, 2.75 inch diameter, Westinghouse linen Micarta rod that I'm going to eventually slice up into 1/4" slabs. I was thinking maybe using a 7-1/4" circular saw blade in the miter saw might slow the teeth down enough (the teeth on a 7.25" blade would be going roughly 40% slower than the teeth on a 12" blade unless I'm mistaken).

 

[REK Knives]

I tired the bandsaw on some stabilized maples and it cut through it like butter. Good thing, because the original plan was to use the table saw for all my stabilized wood, lol.

Yeah I use my porta band for everything lol... Works really well on stabilized stuff, cf and metal (especially certain types) eat blades pretty quick though

 

[Fixall]

Yeah I use my porta band for everything lol... Works really well on stabilized stuff, cf and metal (especially certain types) eat blades pretty quick though

Horsewright cuts all his scales on his portaband too. You guys are gonna have to show me how you cut so straight with them, lol.

If it comes down to it, I did just pick up a 10 pack of blades.

 

[REK Knives]

Horsewright cuts all his scales on his portaband too. You guys are gonna have to show me how you cut so straight with them, lol.

If it comes down to it, I did just pick up a 10 pack of blades.

I eyeball it and then use my mill to make them really flat... It's sorta time consuming lol

 

[Fixall]

I eyeball it and then use my mill to make them really flat... It's sorta time consuming lol

Must be those steady hands from grinding knives. I need to get me a pair of those.

Man, I’m just counting the days down until I have space for a mill and proper surface grinder. I still need to get my SGA tuned up speaking of that.

 

[52 Ford]

To get a good cut on something like scales with a Portaband, I use a table. I cut to one edge of the line. It's also helpful to score the material before ripping it if tearout/chipout is a concern. Either by making a partial depth cut with a saw or using a razor blade.

I took my Portaband table apart a few months ago. When I remake it, I'm going to add slots for a miter gauge and hopefully a fence.

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