Accu-ish Slice

[pulleyt]

I am about to make several small drawers/boxes for our kitchen storage solutions. The stock will be maple finished to 8mm and 4mm thicknesses all to be cut from a selection of offcuts from previous projects. I was intrigued by recent discussion of the Accu Slice jig, but not enough to pay that kind of money for the commercial product. I've been researching homemade versions etc and taking on board other solutions I came up with a design to suit my re-sawing purposes.

I own a Kity 613 bandsaw fitted with a 3tpi fast cut Tuff Saw blade and to date I have used a single point fence for re-sawing and got satisfactory results. But it is quite an intense operation ensuring that the board is held firmly against the fence and pushed through the blade accurately to avoid twisting the blade. I would also say that I wouldn't be happy trying to re-saw the smaller offcuts of maple (typically 150mm x 150 - 300mm and 25nmm thick) using a single point fence.

What attracted me to the Accu Slice was the relaxed operation i.e. knowing that the board was held securely and all I would need to do was watch the feed rate. I wasn't too worried about micro adjustment as I will be finishing the thickness of the stock using a drum sander.

The jig comprises three parts:

1. The base which locates in the mitre slot on the bandsaw table
2. The fixed part of the fence which locates on two runners on the base
3. The sliding fence

... all made from scraps I had lying around so there is a mixture of 12mm and 18mm MRDF, 18mm and 24mm birch ply and 6mm HDPE sheet.

Once the correct distance from the blade to the sliding fence is set the fixed fence and base are clamped to the bandsaw table.

I used double sided tape to attach the good face of a piece of maple to the sliding fence and did a trial cut. There are obvious saw blade marks from the 3tpi blade but if I wanted a finer finish I'm sure it would be possible with a different blade and slower feed. The sliding fence is a piece of HDPE for ease of clean up after removing the double sided tape.

The final stock will be 8mm thick and I'd set the distance to a little under 9mm. I'm satisfied with the tolerances of the cut although it does look as I could adjust the table tilt to get the blade in line with the fence a little better.

All in all, I'm very happy with this jig and it will make it lot easier to resaw the maple off-cuts

 

[pulleyt]

The jig earned its corn this morning. A mixture of 8.5 mm and 5 mm slices ready for final thicknessing in the drum sander.

 

[pulleyt]

I forgot to add my thanks to thetyrman who posted a link to his DoubleSided tape recommendation. My own tape left a lot of residue and the clean up between each cut almost put me off using the jig. The NEC Approved tape left next to no residue!

 

[imageel]

I like your jig and you seem to be getting superb repeat thickness cuts with it - I'm impressed!
I too have a Kity 613 and have tried similar techniques using sliding jigs in the T-slots - I have the luxury of a spindle moulder so machining the runners is easily done in hardwood and if lubricated with wax and kept clear of debris last surprisingly well before developing much slop.
What I struggle with is the tendency I find that after repeated cuts the blade will wander such that the cut piece is not uniform thickness, almost as if the blade has worn unevenly relative to the set of the teeth. with a fresh blade it will cut uniformly but after say a dozen passes it starts to wander and at that point it's useless.
It could well be down to poor technique on my part, blade tension/setup or whatever however am seriously impressed with your ability to achieve that number of cuts consistently and on that depth of cut!
/Ed

 

[pulleyt]

It does sound like your blade may be the problem. I wasn't that impressed with my Kity bandsaw for several years and then I read a review for TuffSaws blades. Fitting one of their blades was a revelation and opened up possibilities with the Kity. At the moment I have a 20mm SuperTuff FastCut 3tpi blade fitted. It had already done a lot of resawing before I used it with the jig and is still cutting well

 

[Jacob]

The HDPE low friction fence is a good idea but does it need to slide? you've already built in the low friction?
I'd do much the same with an add-on fence but just poke the boards through using two push sticks as necessary.
If not cutting straight I'd mark up and saw to the line, with no fence at all.

 

[pulleyt]

I stick the stock to the sliding fence and then I can concentrate solely on pushing the sliding fence at a constant speed. It's a more relaxed approach to resawing knowing that the stock will be held firmly against the fence at all times.

 

[Jacob]

I stick the stock to the sliding fence and then I can concentrate solely on pushing the sliding fence at a constant speed. It's a more relaxed approach to resawing knowing that the stock will be held firmly against the fence at all times.

Two push sticks firmly hold stock against the fence, no problem.
Or a featherboard or two (make your own don't buy one).
Had a look at Accu Slice site - extreme gadget mania! Good idea to avoid it all together!

 

[pulleyt]

If not cutting straight I'd mark up and saw to the line, with no fence at all.

The jig is designed to make resawing thin straight stock more accurate and thus keep waste to a minimum. Cutting curved lines is not what it is intended to solve

 

[Fergie 307]

I use a Kity 612 modified with different pulleys to cut aluminium. I use a 10/14 tpi blade. The machine currently runs at half speed. I have occasionally used it to cut wood and it gives a really good finish, and very accurate cut. You do have to feed it slowly, but might be worth a try. I suspect use of a finer blade would improve the finish and accuracy of what you are doing still further.

 

[Jacob]

The jig is designed to make resawing thin straight stock more accurate and thus keep waste to a minimum.

It won't though, if the blade wanders, as they do. Then cutting to a marked line without a fence is better.

 

[Ttrees]

Bloomin great results, I must say.

 

[Fergie 307]

The jig is designed to make resawing thin straight stock more accurate and thus keep waste to a minimum. Cutting curved lines is not what it is intended to solve

And you have made a really good job of it, don't take too much notice of any criticism. Some people will always take the view that if you haven't done it their way then you're doing it wrong

 

[pulleyt]

It won't though, if the blade wanders, as they do. Then cutting to a marked line without a fence is better.

I'll get back to you if the blade wanders but I'm delighted with the results so far #works_for_me

 

[pulleyt]

I use a Kity 612 modified with different pulleys to cut aluminium. I use a 10/14 tpi blade. The machine currently runs at half speed. I have occasionally used it to cut wood and it gives a really good finish, and very accurate cut. You do have to feed it slowly, but might be worth a try. I suspect use of a finer blade would improve the finish and accuracy of what you are doing still further.

At some stage I'm going to have a go at cutting 2mm veneers with a finer blade. I'll be aiming for a sheet that can be used straight from the saw. I'll post updates when I do

 

[imageel]

It does sound like your blade may be the problem. I wasn't that impressed with my Kity bandsaw for several years and then I read a review for TuffSaws blades. Fitting one of their blades was a revelation and opened up possibilities with the Kity. At the moment I have a 20mm SuperTuff FastCut 3tpi blade fitted. It had already done a lot of resawing before I used it with the jig and is still cutting well

I have used TuffSaws blades for years, and agree they are good, however even with them cutting with a slide they wear to the point of no return after 12 or so cuts.
As Jacob says, if I had scored a line along the length and had cut by eye I could have achieved a better result..
Being self taught, it maybe down to setup and technique, however as I said before - seriously impressive results - kudos!!
/Ed

 

[pulleyt]

I have used TuffSaws blades for years, and agree they are good, however even with them cutting with a slide they wear to the point of no return after 12 or so cuts

I'm surprised by that the wear has been so quick. I've just ripped 38 slices of maple with a blade that has already done more cuts than that in both maple and oak. I do believe the trick is in the control of the feed speed.

 

[Hornbeam]

It won't though, if the blade wanders, as they do. Then cutting to a marked line without a fence is better.

I would suggest the thickness variation (0.16mm) that pulleyt is getting would suggest it is working very well.
Is there a reason other than the t slot in the table why wou have set it up to cut on that side. To me it looks very left handed

 

[pulleyt]

I would suggest the thickness variation (0.16mm) that pulleyt is getting would suggest it is working very well.

Thank you, I'm happy with it

Is there a reason other than the t slot in the table why wou have set it up to cut on that side. To me it looks very left handed

It's all about the t-slot. Locating the base in the t-slot makes for a quick set up. Ordinarily, I would use a fence to the left of the blade but using this setup to the right felt fine, especially as I only had to concentrate on the feed speed.

 

[pulleyt]

All that re-sawing has now been processed into 12 spice drawers. And a major dent has been made in the off-cuts pile