Lumber Cutting with a Bandsaw in your workshop
I have made this part of the series in 2-parts as it was getting a little long - it will also give you time to build your sledge/Jig ready for the next part (#4b).
I have already discussed cutting lumber with commercial and home mills, I now want to tell you that cutting smaller logs with a workshop bandsaw is also possible. In this blog I will take you through the making of a jig suitable for milling, the set-up and cutting of the logs.
Why do we have to use a jig? Round logs and bandsaws do not mix, whether you are ripping or cross cutting you need to support the wood, so that the downward force from blade does not rotate the log on its axis. The result at best is a damaged blade, twisted and no longer usable, or in some cases damage to the saw or worse case to the operator.
The jig shown here is nothing revolutionary, there are smaller commercial version on the market, there are also detailed plans on other sites and in magazines, with all the bells and whistles. This jig has none of these, it is made from ¾ " MDF and takes just over 1 ½ hours to make it.
There are no detailed plans available, but from the photographs you will see the construction and where necessary more detailed information. You can adapt the idea as you wish to suit your own bandsaw - by the way, my bandsaw is an 18", with a 12" re-saw capability.
Here are all the parts for the bandsaw jig ready cut and waiting for assembly. The larger piece is the base and measures 18" wide by 70" long, the width is determined by you bandsaw (saw to fence), the length is determined by the longest log you want to rip. The next largest piece is the fence, the same length as the base, the height in this case is 10", but that is arbitrary.
The smaller pieces shown here are for the support to keep the fence at 90° to the base.
The base is just a piece of MDF and nothing more. The Bandsaw and sledge fences are the key to success, whilst it does not have to micro perfect, getting it as close to 90° as possible will help - but remember we are rough cutting the wood.
The small piece shown here, is inserted into the dado, in order to strengthen the joint and to reduce the flexing. The dadoes are about 3/8" deep.
Here is the competed fence. Note it is only resting on the base at the moment.
The screws used are 1 ½" , self tapping, Pan head with a washer to shorten them by a small amount, to stop the screw from going through the base and scratching the bandsaw table top.
The holes for the screws are slightly larger than the shank, but less that the width of the threaded part, so they are effectively captive in the hole when partially screwed out .
This concludes the first part in Lumber cutting with a bandsaw in your workshop. In #4b I will cover the setting up and cutting of lumber.
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Tags:
bandsaw, lumber, jigs
Categories:
General