Bandsaw Buddy

[chaoticbob]

Like many others here no doubt, I've had an email from Axi inviting me to buy something called a Bandsaw Buddy. Ever eager to embrace innovation, I had a look and it's basically a ruler with holes drilled in it so you can stick a pencil thru and draw circles. It also has a couple of magnets on it midway so you can stick it to a bandsaw blade to help align your fence. I'm interested if anyone out there would think of buying such a thing for 20 pounds. Is this not an expensive answer to problems which most people would already have solved?
Got man-flu, workshop too chilly to actually do anything, so working off frustration with rant!
Regards, Robin

 

[DiscoStu]

Robin I was going to post similar. Oddly I also have man flu! I saw the email and couldn't work out how it was really helpful for the bandsaw.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rhossydd]

Not had that email yet......<looks up product>...OIC

The idea of a straight edge that fits onto the blade to help fence alignment seems a good one I haven't read of before.... but it could be made for next to nothing oneself (puts idea on my 'to do' list).
All the other 'features'(aka gimmicks) are just easy to add to the basic product. I prefer a normal compass for marking out circles, but I suppose that won't mark out such big circles.

Overall I've seen worse ways to spend money, but I wouldn't buy it myself.

 

[mseries]

Saw these at the Harrogate Show on all the bandsaws on Axis stand and thought to myself "If I had nowt else to spend my money on ..."

 

[Doug B]

Saw these at the Harrogate Show on all the bandsaws on Axis stand and thought to myself "If I had nowt else to spend my money on ..."

Funnily enough I also noticed them on the stand at Harrogate & was left wondering why on earth :shock:

 

[chaoticbob]

Drat, thought I might make my fortune by knocking these out myself, but from this little bit of market research I don't think it's a runner. I was going to do a deluxe version with an embedded compass, so not only could you align your blade and fence, but also make sure the blade was running in a propitious direction according to feng shui principles. Reckon Axi missed out on a trick there.
Robin.

 

[Droogs]

Recon I'll put this in the cuboard under the workshop along with my glow in the dark BS blades and my take anywhere super accurate inflatable square

 

[pgrbff]

And they appear to have copied Carter products in the US in the first place. FAST

 

[Ttrees]

I made a lash up of one, it's rather handy for me, as my table can move about with the make it safe and learn to weld bracket I made for the trunnion.
I also reckon my saw needs some work and a tire needs to be replaced soon.

I reckon it might also be handy for one who has differing gauges of blades too.

The design for a wide blade application could be improved if it were longer, as you still need to do some test cuts, which might defeat the objective if one had an extremely trustworthy saw.



I will be using it soon as I have to do a big job on my machine and another member has possibly similar issues so will be making a post about it.

Tom

 

[Beanwood]

OK - I'll put my tin hat on - but isn't this a good idea? They've been selling them for a good long while BTW, they aren't new.

As best I can tell, they sit on the bandsaw behind the teeth, so removing any inaccuracy of a square running acros the blade and the offset of the teeth.

'All' they do is give an alignment point for the fence to run parallel with the blade.

 

[Chippymint]

I bought one a few years ago and to be honest it's a cracking bit of kit. It makes setting up the fence a very quick and easy job.

It has two sufficiently strong magnets and their is a recess for the blades teeth to go in. It can deal with blade widths up to 25mm and any aggressive tooth pattern.

Once on, it will follow the blade alignment allowing you to adjust the fence to it's angle or whatever you want to set it at. You just have to be aware that it relies on the fact that you have set up the saw correctly in the first place.

Never had a problem with it or with my saw cuts in many years of use.

It's not an essential bit of kit but it is very useful and it's also an effective straight edge.

 

[MikeK]

Why resurrect a five-year old thread?

 

[Lazurus]

Why alighn fence to blade as the blade does not always cut to the line of the fence despite all the fettling in the world. I was taught to align the fence to the line of cut of each blade used. If a blade from new cuts slightly to the left it is an easy job to adjust the fence to copy this rather than forcing a blade to follow a line it does not want to.

 

[Chippymint]

Why resurrect a five-year old thread?

Your right I've just spotted it's an old thread. I spotted this today in the New Posts believing it was current - why was it in a new post section when it's old?

 

[Stevebod]

..I tried one on my Aldi bandsaw, but when I turned it on it kept falling off??

 

[MikeK]

Your right I've just spotted it's an old thread. I spotted this today in the New Posts believing it was current - why was it in a new post section when it's old?

Post number 8 is the reason the thread showed up in the New Posts. Apparently it was important to bring this up again.

 

[Delwood]

For those of us who have not seen the 5 year old thread and generally only look at the daily updates it could be interesting.

 

[Misterdog]

5 Years on and I'm still waiting for my Axminster email.

Should I cancel my Axminster account or blame Gmail ?

I notice that the price is still £ 20 though so I have not missed out on a bargain.
I always measure twice and cut once though, as I find this more accurate than relying on a fence. So I guess I will pass.

 

[pgrbff]

Why resurrect a five-year old thread?

Can you explain why there is a problem with resurrecting an old thread? I know it is difficult to demonstrate "tone" in a post but your comment sounds a trifle sarcastic?
Would you prefer everybody just asked a question without searching to see if it had been covered before? As it happens the reply from Ttrees prompted me to make my own.
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, again.

 

[Chief Sawdust Maker]

The age of the thread isn't important to me surly its better to refresh old threads there by having a subject or item in one place

The Axi bandsaw buddy is a really useful bit of kit there are a number of posts on YouTube regarding its use and a really good one by Craig Steel from Axminster about setting a band saw up, I followed it to the letter and used the bandsaw buddy and was amazed at the results my saw could produce

No its not a real essential, yes you can do without it but I don't for a second regret paying the £20 for it that I did the magnets hold it for storage on the machine and if you want a final check before committing to a cut then its there to use

As with many tools and accessories its down to choice

D