So now we are ready for the setting up.

The first thing I would recommend is that you protect the bandsaw table with paste wax or some other form of water repellent substance. The water and acids in the wood will rapidly go to work on nice shiny surface, which will soon become not so shiny.

The blade used in this set-up is 1", 4 teeth/3". This blade does give a rough cut, but it does remove the saw dust extremely well and runs very well without slowing or clogging up.

I would strongly suggest that you use a dust collector to remove the sawdust from the saw.  The saw dust is heavy and does not cause a problem with breathing, but there is a lot of it!

Because the length of the jig is so long and with the weight of the wood, the total weigh will be too heavy to support by hand.

I am using the large drill press table I have and an adjustable roller table for the in and out feed support.  Ensure that the in and out feed tables are exactly in plane with the table in the X,Y & Z axis, otherwise it will cause twisting of the jig and make the cut more difficult and uneven.

The bandsaw fence is fixed, so that the base of the jig can slide along and against it.  The clearance between the Jig and the bandsaw blade is about ¹/₁₆".

The dotted line represents the bandsaw blade. The edge of the base is set about 1/16" away from the blade.

The fence (MDF) is fixed in position so that the desired cut is achieved along the length of the log. This does not necessarily mean that the fence is parallel longitudinally to the blade.

Here is the result of the first cut - and a nice surprise inside - lovely spalting.

The screws are removed from holding the log to the fence, the screws holding the fence to the the base are also removed.

The log is rotated 90 clock-wise so the newly cut face is now on the bottom.

The log and fence are now fixed in a similar manner to the first cut made. Note it maybe necessary to change the length of screws to hold the wood. There is little or no chance of the of the log turning now, as the flat base is on the bottom.

The second cut has been made, now producing two flat surfaces, 90° to each other.

The jig can now be removed, it has done its job. To continue milling the lumber you just need the bandsaw fence.

You can continue by squaring up all four sides if you wish to, but I decided not to for this wood, I wanted to leave one natural edge.

Here is the first cut using the fence. The photograph on the right is showing the spalting of the wood.

When you have finished cutting the wood, I strongly suggest that you thoroughly clean the bandsaw (compressed air and a brush) inside & out and re-wax the bandsaw table. The sawdust is saturated with water and acids, which is detrimental to the health of you machine.

Here is the "Book matched" boards, from a piece of wood that was destined for the fire. They are priceless, where could you buy this?  The cost about 2 hours work, ½ a sheet of MDF, some glue and a few screws. The next log only costs you an hour or so of time!

Here is the wood stickerd and weighted with my trusty tool box (HEAVY!!!), whilst I try to find a safe space in the workshop for this. The boards are about 3 /4 thick, from each board, when dry I will get a nice ½ " board or 2 or 3 veneer slices.

Using the drying process detailed in the next blog, this lumber will be ready to use in about 4 to 6 weeks.