How can you do this on a bandsaw??

[Ives]

If you scroll about halfway the page, there's a dollhouse puzzle and then a rainbow. I don't think my bandsaw could do such small arches, what kind of bandsaw could??

http://shapeofaspoon.blogspot.co.uk/sea ... l/tutorial

 

[monkeybiter]

Just about any bandsaw with a narrow enough blade. 1/4" or less should do it.

 

[jimi43]

Just about any bandsaw with a narrow enough blade. 1/4" or less should do it.

Indeed it can.

I seem to have posted this shot of rosewood a few times of late but it shows you the ability of a Tuffsaw 1/4" blade on a rubbish bandsaw (cheap £10 Burgess Powerline from a bootfair)....

As they say in the rainbow tutorial...you have to let the blade do the cutting...hold it at the rotation point and let the blade cut around as you guide it.

After a while you will get the feel of the maximum cut radius your blade can do without trouble...and that cut above was freehand...just at the maximum turn radius of the blade.

Jim

 

[woodaxed]

i use a 3/16 and sometimes a 1/8" blade to get cuts like that but watch this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJcR11rUpdY

 

[Steve Maskery]

Yes, it's not the saw, it's the blade. The narrowest blade I have is 1/16", although they are not easy to find now. The biggest problem with such narrow blades is supporting them. You can't easily use the normal guides that come with the saw. If you have steel blocks then it's easy to change them for Cool Blox or equivalent, or simply make wooden ones. They do get chewed up a bit, but are easy enough to dress or replace.
S

 

[jimi43]

i use a 3/16 and sometimes a 1/8" blade to get cuts like that but watch this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJcR11rUpdY

They should use that guy's video in anger therapy. How beautiful to watch that sort of control

I agree Steve...the very thin blades have their drawbacks and if you only want to do relatively tight and regular curves the 1/4" is more resilient but after watching that video I think I need to get another dedicated bandsaw just for a 1/16" blade....I bet you can get really creative with one of those.

Cheers for that woodaxed...made my day.

Jim

 

[Ives]

By rotation point do you meant the point where you're really having to get it to turn?

I have 1/4" Tuffsaw blades and a cheap bandsaw too......

 

[Steve Maskery]

The rotation point is the centre of the circle, or arc, that you are trying to cut.

 

[Ives]

Whenever I've cut small curves, the blade turns. I thought it meant it couldn't cut the curves, but is it because I'm not letting it do it itself?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Of course the blade turns, it is having a rotational force applied to it. You have to make sure that the guides are set correctly, the tension is right and your technique is good. Then, provided that your turns are not tighter than the blade is designed for, you will get nice smooth curves.

 

[Ives]

I think I might need new guides, mine are hard plastic and worn. Is it smart to get new parts for an old, cheap machine? My husband is talking about ones he saw that you can put right up against the blade.

How do I know if I've got my tension right? I've probably asked this before but I don't remember! I'll go check my old posts!

 

[woodaxed]

My first bandsaw had the hard plastic blocks that seemed to wear very fast i then made some up from i think it was iroko
and they seemed to work better and i just changed them when i needed to ie when worn. as for blade tension thats hard to say it depends on a lot of factors how thick the wood is the blade etc as i make boxes anything upto 6" thick i tend to over tension but the real art is guiding the wood which just takes practice. And as everyone else has pointed out cheap blades dont work

 

[sometimewoodworker]

If you scroll about halfway the page, there's a dollhouse puzzle and then a rainbow. I don't think my bandsaw could do such small arches, what kind of bandsaw could??

http://shapeofaspoon.blogspot.co.uk/sea ... l/tutorial

You need the guides I show on page 11 of the https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/inca-bandsaw-t43150-150.html Inca bandsaw thread together with a very thin blade.