My 10" bandsaw was my second power tool purchase. I found it at a garage sale in the 60's. It is an old Rockwell Delta Homecraft model.
When cutting circles on the bandsaw I use a shop built circle jig. I cut a square piece, drill a small hole in the center and place the square over the brad in the movable strip in the jig. This strip has sliding dovetail sides and moves in or out to select the desired radius. The fit is pretty tight, but I usually secure it with a clamp or a small piece of masking tape to make sure it does not move. After turning on the saw, I slide the jig forward (it has guide strips underneath) until it stops (another strip acts as a stop). Then I rotate the wood producing a perfect circle. A short brad point is used for the pivot if a hole is objectionable.
After
years of "getting by" with my old bandsaw, I recently
purchased a Jet 14" Deluxe Model JWBS-14DX
Bandsaw and installed a riser block which gives me a 12"
depth of cut. The deluxe model is similar to the standard 14"
model, but has heavy duty wheels, a larger motor, and a blade
tension release lever.
After I release the blade tension I lower the upper blade guide
until it rests on the table as a reminder to re-tension the blade
before use.
I made a mobile base using a Rockler hardware kit to assist in moving it out from the wall when in use. I am using Timber Wolf low tension blades, Carter conversion guides, and a Carter Stabilizer with the 1/4" and 1/8" scrolling blades.
My old 10" bandsaw takes up very little room and I have decided to keep it. Occasionally I cut aluminum or brass on the bandsaw and having a second saw for this purpose means that I can do so without having to vacuum out the bandsaw after each use.
I decided to make a fence for my new bandsaw. I installed two hardwood rails containing heavy duty T-track. To these rails I clamp a T-square bracket which can be set perpendicular or angled for blades which exhibit drift. The bracket is used to hold a rip fence, an UHMW polyethylene resaw fence when resawing lumber, or a curved edge which is used when sawing pieces with parallel curved sides. I get a lot of requests for plans or dimensions for this jig -- I have no plans, but here are the dimensions:
My rails are made of some thick white oak I had in my wood bin. They are 23" in length, 1 1/2" thick (horizontal dimension) and 1 5/8" high (vertical dimension). They contain a length of heavy duty T-track which accepts 3/8" hex head bolts to hold the T-square bracket to the rails. The cast iron table has existing tapped holes to mount a fence rail, and it is a common metric size on the Jet (6mm by 1.0).
The T-square bracket is two pieces. The piece which rides against the front rail is a 12" by 1 1/2" piece of maple, 3/4" thick. The piece on top of the table is Baltic Birch ply (3/4" thick) and is 20 1/2" long and 3 1/2" wide. The rear hole is elongated a bit to allow for angling the bracket to some angle other than 90 degrees. There are a couple of holes in the top piece to mount a fence.
The T-square bracket is bolted together with a single bolt to allow the bracket and fence attached to it to be angled to compensate for any drift that a blade might exhibit. I have been using Timber Wolf blades with Carter bearing guides and drift has not been a problem, so the bracket is locked at 90 degrees.
The hardwood rails increase the effective size of the table by more than 50% and provide support for additional jigs such as a bandsaw sled. This sled was made from a thrift store maple cutting board which I trimmed and surface planed to assure that it was perfectly flat. Holes were drilled in a regular pattern and counter sunk to allow for various work supports to be mounted with flat head bolts, including these chocks and log end points. The sled's runner is a UHMW plastic strip which fits into a shallow dado on the sled bottom and can be easily removed when the sled is used to the left of the blade. I use the sled mainly to cut small log sections for turning. A fence and support is clamped to the rails which allows the bandsaw sled to be used to the left of the blade for squaring log ends. When halving the log sections, I use the runner in the miter slot and hold the log using the end points. Additional trimming is easily accomplished after the log section is halved. This log section had a large included knot which required further trimming. I turned a bowl from this log section, and another one from the other half.
When cutting log sections, I use a "green wood" Timber Wolf blade I bought from PS Wood Machines. It has 3 TPI, more set, an aggressive tooth pattern, and a thicker band. They refer to this blade as their AS series.
An overhead trammel point was made from the hold down hardware on a thrift store meat carving tray. I use this when cutting cylindrical or cone shaped bowl blanks from turning stock or small log sections.
I also made a simple cross cut gauge which I use when cross cutting pen blanks. I modified the circle jig shown above to work on my new bandsaw. A 3/4" hardwood runner with an adjustable stop block allows the jig to be used on either bandsaw.
The tension knob on the bandsaw is somewhat difficult for my arthritic fingers to grasp tightly, so I made a crank to slip over the knob when I run the tension up or down. Sure makes changing blades faster and easier.
I mounted a small brush to clean each tire inside the wheel covers. The brush is located so that it cleans the tire just before the band makes contact with the wheel preventing sawdust build up on the tires.
Jig Saw (Scroll Saw)
I have an old Craftsman jig saw. I call it a jig saw, not a scroll saw, because when this saw was manufactured in the 1940's they were called jig saws. I don't use it very much, but it belonged to my father and was the only power tool he ever owned, so it has some sentimental value.
I usually cut large sheet goods on a flat panel door outside my shop. I use a circular saw and saw guides which allows me to cut to final dimension with a fine kerf blade. The saw guides have two strips of plywood; the one on top serves as the guide and the base of the circular saw bears against this edge so it is important that this edge be straight. The strip on the bottom has a zero clearance edge, initially made wider than required, but cut to exact width with the saw. This edge is lined up with pencil marks on the sheet to be cut. Because the saw blade is rotating up during the cut, the best side of the sheet is on the bottom. I put some sacrificial support frames made out of furring strips under the sheet goods to support the work and protect the door.
You would think that someone with a radial arm saw would not need a chop saw. So did I until I replaced all the door casing and base molding in my 9 room house. I quickly justified the cost of a chop saw. The roll about tool base and fence extension makes it a little easier to use and more accurate.
Many years ago I was looking at some plans in Popular Mechanics for a reciprocating power hacksaw. I didn't have any real need for the tool, but I didn't like their design, so I made up one of my own. The only time I can remember really needing a power hacksaw was to build the power hacksaw. We computer programmers would call this recursion. The frame which holds the commercial hacksaw blade slides back and forth on a polished steel bar. The frame has brass wear strips inside which ride on the the steel bar and are lubricated with oil tubes. The drive bar is mounted off center on the counter shaft pulley in the foreground.
The vise which holds the stock to be cut was made from some very thick angle iron which would have been a legitimate use for this tool. I have probably used it less than a dozen times, but it stands on it's end in the corner of my shop and doesn't take much room. Visitors to my shop always ask about it and we share a chuckle or two. I show them the piece of railroad rail that was my test case after completing the saw. Went through it like a hot knife in butter!
Update: August 2005. I bought an old Craftsman Radial Arm Saw at a garage sale for $25. It had been stored in a damp environment for years and was total junk, but I knew the model number was one of those being recalled by Emerson Electric, who built it for Sears in the late 60's. After sending the motor and carriage assembly back to Emerson, who even provided a pre-paid shipping container, I got a check for $100. But now I had a cumbersome and very heavy cast iron arm to dispose of. My trash service said they would take it if I cut it into smaller pieces. My old power hacksaw made quick work of it!
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