Billy, table saw with my MARK jig, and my compound mitre saw. as long as I allow for kerf, no problems so far!

"My biggest fear in life is that when I die, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2012 03:50PM by Scott Backholm.

Scott,
Did I miss something?
What is a MARK jig?
Thanks

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Mark Twain
John in Wethersfield, CT

I'm not likeing the cuts that I'm getting from my bandsaw. The 14 tooth 1/8 inch blade doesn't want to cut straigt enough to make a celtic knot. I tried one knot using the eyeball method and a second knot using the supplied miter fence, neither were satisfactory. The sloppy fit between the fence and the slot in the table, the blade not tracking as straight as I think it should (could be improper saw setup or blade tension) and my ancient eyes and shakey hands were probably the culprits.

My plan now is to build a jig and do the cuts on a very accurate cabinetmakers tablesaw. I plan on cutting strips that are the same thickness as the saw blade (1/8th inch) and fill the kerf with the strips. Hopefully this way the knots will be semetrical.

Any thoughts?

Does anyone know if a bandsaw blade with 14 TPI 1/2 inch wide is made? If so will it be stiffer and track better than a 1/8 inch wide blade?

Thanks
Don

John Repaci Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Scott,
> Did I miss something?
> What is a MARK jig?
> Thanks


I think he's referring to a jig similar to this one [www.rodbuilding.org] , It's a sled made to fit into the runners on the table saw. It works well for making ellipticals and for general cutting when you want to make repeatable cuts.

Band saw blade is 1/2" and 24 teeth / inch. I tried a 1/4" blade but it tended to "wander" so I switched to the 1/2" and, for me, it works better. The band saw is a Delta; 1725rpm motor with a compound cut table & built-in 0 - 60 degree table miter. The cuts are smooth - as long as you make continuous cuts against a "stop" - this is more repetition / practice- keeping the material moving at a steady pace. Keep the main block (not the piece you intend to use) against the miter/stop. This keeps the piece you intend to use from 'wandering', "chattering" or binding on the saw blade.

Forme the wider blade wandereda lot more than the thin one. If teh blade is wandering it's not set up properly, that's the bottom line, and it is a bit of a pain to get teh saw set up properly. I spent several hours with my new bandsaw getting it to run properly, then I screwed up all the grips I made at teh seminar 2 weeks ago because I wasn't used to it, lol.

Billy -
You nailed it. It is what you are used to / what you have the most experience with. And setting up a band saw can be a time consuming and trying experience.

Mark,
Nice jig. I'll make one soon.
Thanks

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Mark Twain
John in Wethersfield, CT

Don,
Making straight cuts with a 1/8th inch band saw blade is next to impossible.

But, as much as anything, a straight cut with a band saw is very very dependent on the quality of the band saw.
If you have a very high quality industrial band saw with a good 1/4 inch blade, you can make arrow straight cuts.
But, if you have a home quality band saw, even 1/2 inch blades will likely not cut perfectly straight.

The biggest reason for the difference is the tension of the blade, and the design and quality of the blade guides, as well as the quality of the rip guides.

Roger

Come on man. I have been using a 1/8" blade for 6 years now and it cuts EVA straighter than the wider blades when I have the tension set properly. I have bags and bags full of 1mm strips of EVA that I made with a 1/8" blade, which I could not do with a 1/4" blade - cutting them off a block. I used a 9" Grizzly table bandsaw which is hardly industrial. The blade cuts better in EVA once the blade is used and loses the raker offset or whatever you call it. In order to wear the teeth off the blade cut a bunch of blanks and once the sparks stop coming off the blade you know it's ready to make perfectly smooth and perfectly straight cuts in EVA - when set up properly.

Billy,
Out of curiosity, what happened, when you attempted to cut the strips with the 1/4 inch blade?

I am just repeating my own experience that I have found when using many different band saws and blades over the years, cutting a large variety of products.

i.e. a high quality band saw sets up quickly and with a wider blade cuts straighter than a narrow blade.

But, I have found that when using a large variety of the smaller home style band saws, (not up to even the quality of your Grizzly saw) that virtually all of the cuts tend to run from one side to or the other, no matter the care and time taken to properly set up the saw.

Thanks for your update, and I am sure that you have wonderful results with your system.

Good luck
Roger

I USE AN OLD FASHIONED MITRE BOX. TO CUT STRAIGHT GRIPS...WORKS FOR MY SIMPLE STUFF...

The cut drifts and the blade twists. I do not have to adjust for any drift with the thinner blade with EVA. When I cut with the thicker blades, especailly if I try to cut a thin strip in a long piece, the cut piece is thinner at teh end of the cut than from where it started, and often the blade pops through the piece.

Billy,
Thanks for the update.
Roger

ever tried a japanese santoku knife cuts pretty clean