cross cutting with a bandsaw

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paul24dual

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melton mowbray
I'm looking at buying a bandsaw that as a throat depth of 300mm.

Would this be ok to cross cut timber that is 10" across. I take the throat is depth is without the fence fitted, andi was wondering you could get a straight cut with the fence?

Also another stupid question but do you always cut wood from the left of a bandsaw?
 
You can crosscut with a bandsaw, and for rough dimensioning I do it all the time, but the quality of the cut isn't particularly good, so that in nine cases out of ten it will need cleaning up with a shooting board or what have you before going on to the next step.

On every bandsaw I've ever seen you always cut from the left. I'm sure someone will be along with a photo of some museum relic or special purpose bandsaw that cuts from the right, but for all practical purposes you cut from the left.
 
I wouldn't want to disappoint you, Custard. I have no picture but at least some the old Inca bandsaws cut from the right, but I have never heard of another. :D I seem to remember that they were well thought of in their time.

Jim
 
You could crosscut timber of any width but the longest piece you could have to the left of the blade would be 300 mm, which is just under a foot.
If you were rip cutting, then the max width to the left of the blade would be less than 300mm if you were using the fence. You could get closer to 300mm by ripping freehand to a pencil line. This is ok to do on a band saw, unlike a table saw.
 
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