On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:38:10 GMT, "George" wrote:


"Woody" wrote in message
.. .
Good job on the bandsaw jigs. I've been thinking about how to do just
those tasks on my 14" Delta. I have the riser in place and some
general use blades but they just didn't work well on logs. I'll try
the PS Wood blade you use. I have a circle cutting jig for my
bandsaw that I've used a few times to round out a bowl blank and I
think it would work pretty good with some fine tuning but I've had
trouble with the blades binding and have actually ruined a couple of
blades with it. The blades tend to follow the grain or whatever and
cut their way out of verticle. When it does work right it makes
roughing out a cylinder pretty quick and easy. Do you have any
experience with anything along those lines? Thanks.

Get a firm understanding when using the circle jig. Tilting of the piece
being cut is what usually causes the track problems. That, and misplacing
the forward stop limit. You want it to stop feeding ahead at the bottom of
the gullets. That's when you transition to rotation only. Scrub plane
followed by a block or jack will get a flat bottom to reference.

Now do yourself and the lathe a favor by tilting the table, moving in to a
smaller radius and nibbling off the waste part you won't be using so it
doesn't shake the machinery. Blank should end up like \ / more or less
when you're done. Remember the difference in mass by keeping that curved
useless section along the log in place increases proportionally to the
distance from center (leverage), and the energy it creates as it flings past
12:00 on the lathe is in proportion to the square of the velocity times that
mass. Taking off an inch or three of wood can make a great difference in
your safety and the load on your lathe.

Some of us don't have umpty pounds of sand to stabilize, because we don't
have to.


Thanks George. I know I have a lot to learn about cutting with my
bandsaw as well as with my lathe. I knew from experience that the
circle jig had to be positioned properly, for and aft of the cutting
edge of the blade but I hadn't quite figured out exactly where it
should go. I've thought about, and tinkered with, where the
centerline of the point of rotation should intersect with the blade.
I realized through experimentation that too far ahead of the blade or
too far behind the blade caused the blade to cut either into the
circle or out away from the circle. But I miss that sweetspot most of
the time in my setup. I'm not sure I follow your explanation either
since I tend to be a visual learner, seeing is understanding with me.
I hate to ask and take up your time but can you go over the part about
feeding ahead at the bottom of the gullet? Thanks for helping a
newbie.