I would buy a new machine, as I will get technical support. If I was experienced in bandsaws, I could probably troubleshoot an old bandsaw. But for now, a new one is a better bet for me, albeit more expensive.I also need to move the bandsaw around the workshop a lot (to use the door as an opening for longer pieces). I cannot do that with an old very heavy industrial machine.
Thicknessing wood on the bandsaw
- Thread starter tibi
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
So I’ve made the custom shroud this morning and now just need to choose a dust port to attach to it. Probably a 63mm one from Axminster.
The last photo tries to show how you can easily direct the stock dust port towards the blade.
Using this bandsaw it does make plenty of dust and it tends to sit around the upper guides if it doesn’t have any extraction.
Like I say I’m fairly confident this will work well with a shop vac now and even with hand tools a shop vac is useful. Obviously I need to try it out once finished though.
You talk about moving it around. The wheel kit that the sell alongside I’ve found to be pretty poor on my rubber flooring. Might be better on concrete but either way it’s not worth the money if you can make your own.
The last photo tries to show how you can easily direct the stock dust port towards the blade.
Using this bandsaw it does make plenty of dust and it tends to sit around the upper guides if it doesn’t have any extraction.
Like I say I’m fairly confident this will work well with a shop vac now and even with hand tools a shop vac is useful. Obviously I need to try it out once finished though.
You talk about moving it around. The wheel kit that the sell alongside I’ve found to be pretty poor on my rubber flooring. Might be better on concrete but either way it’s not worth the money if you can make your own.
Attachments
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
Parts & support available on the Italian machines, same spec on a lot
(shared parts on a lot of them, i.e shaft sizes and whatnot)
And if worried, then same deal with new if not locally bought,
I'd sooner see something working perfectly when tested with say a 3/4" blade running before buying.
A 500 wouldn't be too big to wheel around, @200kgs not bad, same as the other saw I had,
on the bad uneven rough screeded floor, it needed a push to get going but easy after that,
a relaxed solid approach like a rugby tackle was my preferred method to get started when in the middle of the floor, and if on a screeding lump with 75mm casters.
Flatter ground in this shed compared to me folks place, and using the same wheels, but with an extra hundred kg with the 600 saw.
I can easily wheel it around, but I wouldn't wish to everyday,
If against the wall one could use that instead of an rugby tackle approach, or just shimmy either end to get started
The rubber wheels are old and perished on mine, so don't do much of that.
(I don't think you'll do much moving, and will find a happy medium regardless of any machine you get)
Bigger wheels would make that much easier, which would be all too easy for my liking, so I like small ones of the cheapest weakest variety goin, so they would hopefully fail if brought outside.
Tom
(shared parts on a lot of them, i.e shaft sizes and whatnot)
And if worried, then same deal with new if not locally bought,
I'd sooner see something working perfectly when tested with say a 3/4" blade running before buying.
A 500 wouldn't be too big to wheel around, @200kgs not bad, same as the other saw I had,
on the bad uneven rough screeded floor, it needed a push to get going but easy after that,
a relaxed solid approach like a rugby tackle was my preferred method to get started when in the middle of the floor, and if on a screeding lump with 75mm casters.
Flatter ground in this shed compared to me folks place, and using the same wheels, but with an extra hundred kg with the 600 saw.
I can easily wheel it around, but I wouldn't wish to everyday,
If against the wall one could use that instead of an rugby tackle approach, or just shimmy either end to get started
The rubber wheels are old and perished on mine, so don't do much of that.
(I don't think you'll do much moving, and will find a happy medium regardless of any machine you get)
Bigger wheels would make that much easier, which would be all too easy for my liking, so I like small ones of the cheapest weakest variety goin, so they would hopefully fail if brought outside.
Tom
Thank you, WoodLucas,
This is useful information for me. I already have a shop vac, please let me know if the shroud works with a shop vac only (I have already sold my cyclone). If yes, I can postopne buying dust collection until (or if ) I buy a jointer/thicknesser combo machine.
Terrytpot
Established Member
If extraction and a bandsaw are feasible, I don’t see why the addition of a p/t is too much…surely you weren’t planning on using the bandsaw while the p/t is running too are you?
The issue is reversed. The official band saw airflow requirements are 3 times greater than for the P/T. So 750W dust collector with 1150 m3/h is twice as needed for P/T, but only 2/3 of the required airflow for the bandsaw. That is why I asked for real-world experience. But many people do not use any dust collection for the bandsaw and they get by. So I think I will be safe with the 750W dust collector.
Bojam
Established Member
Hi Tibi,
That sounds very odd to me. Usually the airflow required for a PT would be substantially greater than for a bandsaw.
Anyway, it’s all a moot point. If you are restricted to a maximum wattage given the available supply then simply spec the most powerful extractor you can based on what the other machines draw. Keep pipe runs short, simple and free of bends (as much as possible). And have a dustpan and brush handy for any residual mess that escaped the extractor.
J
This is from Laguna 1412 bandsaw manual
This is from Hammer A3-26 P/T manual
I would assume that the number should be reversed for the machines, but they are not. Maybe just in the USA the lawsuits are very expensive, so they overestimated the required airflow for Laguna bandsaw to be safe
Somebody might sue them due to a respiratory ilness or cancer caught from the sawdust caused by inefficient dust collection.
This is from Hammer A3-26 P/T manual
I would assume that the number should be reversed for the machines, but they are not. Maybe just in the USA the lawsuits are very expensive, so they overestimated the required airflow for Laguna bandsaw to be safe
Somebody might sue them due to a respiratory ilness or cancer caught from the sawdust caused by inefficient dust collection.The Laguna comes with two 100mm dust ports so the high volume requirement is probably just down to how inefficient the design is (the bottom port comers the entire bottom cabinet for example)
From what I’ve read/seen it’s better to use a high pressure system as close to the source of dust as possible for this/any bandsaw.
My space isn't large enough for a usefully sized planer thicknesser but I've got a Sabre 350 and a Makita lunchbox thicknesser. I prep the face of sawn boards using a scrub plane followed by a number 7. As a hobbyist it really doesn't take that long and I enjoy the process and the workout. Resawing is done on the Sabre fitted with a Tuffsaw SuperTuff Fastcut, I consistently get to within a few mm of the finished size across six inch hardwood boards. The sawn side is then put through the thicknesser to get the final dimension. My dust collection still needs to be sorted - I'm going to follow Steve Maskery's advice
Hornbeam
Established Member
Hi Tibi, It is perfectly doable to take a piece of timber with on plane face and edge and them use a bandsaw to to cut it fairly accurately to thickness
How well this will work will depend upon a number of things,
Capacity and power of your bandsaw, depth of cut (read width of board)timber type/hardness general set up of fence etc
It is really the same process as cutting bandsawn veneers. I do this quite regularly using a multico B600 bandsaw with a 2/3 tpi blade (a big machine) and easily cut 8" wiide boards with veneers around 2nn with no more than =/- 0.2mm
With the current price of some timbers If I have 2" stock and only need 1 1/2 inch I will cut a couple of veneers just for stock rather than waste as chippings
The other key issue is that yoyou cant just cut from 1 side otherwise you are likely to release tension and get twisting
So approach should be
Hand plane 1 side and edge, Bandsaw to max thickness ensuring a full cut all the way along, Cut slices from each face down to finished thickness. You could reduce this number of cuts if you arent bothered about the cut off veneers
How well this will work will depend upon a number of things,
Capacity and power of your bandsaw, depth of cut (read width of board)timber type/hardness general set up of fence etc
It is really the same process as cutting bandsawn veneers. I do this quite regularly using a multico B600 bandsaw with a 2/3 tpi blade (a big machine) and easily cut 8" wiide boards with veneers around 2nn with no more than =/- 0.2mm
With the current price of some timbers If I have 2" stock and only need 1 1/2 inch I will cut a couple of veneers just for stock rather than waste as chippings
The other key issue is that yoyou cant just cut from 1 side otherwise you are likely to release tension and get twisting
So approach should be
Hand plane 1 side and edge, Bandsaw to max thickness ensuring a full cut all the way along, Cut slices from each face down to finished thickness. You could reduce this number of cuts if you arent bothered about the cut off veneers
Do you mean that I should cut away the side that I have planed with hand planes and keep only the middle section of the board with desired thickness to avoid twisting? That would be a waste of lot of material. If I need 3/4 board out of 1 inch board, it would be better to keep 1/4 board - kerf than two 1/8 boards.
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
If you think you can use the stuff for say veneer, then glue it to something beforehand...
That's provided you've got some room for error on the substantial piece.
It's much less wasteful doing such.
Much of this question might apply to how you might make use of the offcut,
how valuable the timber is, ie worth it for veneer should you only get sub 3mm offcuts needing cleaning up,
and how exact the thicker stuff has to be, should you be needing to replicate something, be a stickler for proportions or whatever else.
That old joke about how many veneer slices you can get, is often mentioned on various luthier forums, and sorta applies here,
You've got a 1" board and only need four slices, but you might be able get five, if you're willing to end up with nothing atall!
The common situation I have is that I need to remove 5 - 15 mm to get the face to desired thickness. I can do it with hand planes, but if the board is long and wide, it is a lot of work. My solution would be to cut 2 - 3 mm away from the line to the waste side and then finish to the line with hand planes. That 2-3 mm should be enough for any blade drift or error.
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
Depends what your timber behaves like.
Might it be an option to even make yer own ply glu-lam.
Might it be an option to even make yer own ply glu-lam.
Thank you, Tom, but I am not eager to work with plywood. And probably I will not work with veneers, too. Maybe only occasionally.
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
Not even for jigs?
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
It seems like this thread might actually be about what I was assuming?
If so, and it suits...I suggest more consideration for the larger machine,
which can honestly handle an inch blade with ease...
Then you might consider using a bandsaw instead of a P/T
because you can sharpen and set yer own blades many times,
once you make up some jigs for doing such.
Tom
If so, and it suits...I suggest more consideration for the larger machine,
which can honestly handle an inch blade with ease...
Then you might consider using a bandsaw instead of a P/T
because you can sharpen and set yer own blades many times,
once you make up some jigs for doing such.
Tom
I can use plywood maybe for jigs. I have a shooting board made of ply. But I need to wait until I get the bandsaw, because cutting plywood with a hand saw is no fun. And even then, I can only use some very small plywood, because pushing a 1250x2500 sheet of plywood through bandsaw is just "silly". To conclude I cannot envision working in my 4x4 m workshop with a lot of plywood.
I might take a look on used market and find some band saw that will be a single phase machine. But most of those bigger machines are 3 phase and this is the blocker for me.
Hornbeam
Established Member
What you want to do is try and take your piece from the middle of the board by removing equal quantities from both sides. In this instance I am assuming you dont want any thin veneer offcuts
On a P/T you would normally do is surface 1 side ( the slightly concave side). Once that was flat put it through the thicknesser cutting off the rough surface until it was equal thickness all the way along. Then to reduce to final thickness you take alternate cuts of each side
If using the bandsaw and say you want 30mm out of a 50mm board you would plane up one surface so now you might have say 47mm left. Cut about 8-9mm off the rough side and then surface that. Then cut the remaining of your originally planed side, which will then need to be resurfaced.
It is a bit of work but the finish off the bandsaw only needs a very small amount of planing as you arent trying to flatten just remove the saw marks.
You do need a good sharp low tpi blade. I use m42 blades
On a P/T you would normally do is surface 1 side ( the slightly concave side). Once that was flat put it through the thicknesser cutting off the rough surface until it was equal thickness all the way along. Then to reduce to final thickness you take alternate cuts of each side
If using the bandsaw and say you want 30mm out of a 50mm board you would plane up one surface so now you might have say 47mm left. Cut about 8-9mm off the rough side and then surface that. Then cut the remaining of your originally planed side, which will then need to be resurfaced.
It is a bit of work but the finish off the bandsaw only needs a very small amount of planing as you arent trying to flatten just remove the saw marks.
You do need a good sharp low tpi blade. I use m42 blades
