I have updated my personal website to show a bandsaw sled which I use
to prepare log sections for turning. My bandsaw is a Jet 14" (deluxe
model which has a 1.25 HP motor) and I have installed the riser kit
which gives me a 12" vertical cut. I use a PS Wood (Timberwolf)
"green wood" blade for cutting log sections -- thicker, more rake,
alternate tooth set and quite aggressive.

My photos show a birch log section from my firewood pile. It was
chosen to shoot the photos because it is a little over 10" in diameter
and shows the size of stock that my sled will accommodate. It had a
large overgrown knot (which is why it was still in the firewood pile),
but it did yield a couple of fairly good pieces. Birch is very plain
when finished, but makes excellent practice wood. When spalted,
however, it is very nice.

http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/s...birch_vase.jpg

The bandsaw sled uses some of the components of a bandsaw rail and
fence system which I designed. A complete description and more photos
of the jig can be found on the "Other Saws" page on my website, but
here are some photos of the bandsaw sled in use.

http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/s...g_log_ends.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/halving_log.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/further_trimming.jpg

Ken Vaughn
Visit my workshop: http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/

On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:05:15 -0700, Ken Vaughn wrote:

Ken Vaughn
Visit my workshop: http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/

Don't go there. It will take HOURS to get back here!

Seriously, Ken ... an excellent site with many ideas worth stealing ....
er, um 'adapting'. Yeah, that's the ticket ... 'adapting'. :-)

No one here would actuallt steal an idea ... would we, guys?


Bill

Cool website. Thanks.

TomNie

Ken Vaughn writes:
I have updated my personal website to show a bandsaw sled which I use to
prepare log sections for turning. snip

The bandsaw sled uses some of the components of a bandsaw rail and fence
system which I designed. A complete description and more photos of the
jig can be found on the "Other Saws" page on my website, but here are some
photos of the bandsaw sled in use.

http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/s...g_log_ends.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/halving_log.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/further_trimming.jpg

Ken Vaughn
Visit my workshop: http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/

Ken, you are just so darn clever, STILL, after all these years. And still
getting complements on your outstanding site. You are truly one of the
best, if infrequent, contributors to this group and the wreck. Always
something worthwhile to contribute. I can't wait to retire to see if I can
measure up in some small way. Great work!

--

Best Regards,
Phil
Living In The Woods Of Beautiful Bonney Lake, Washington
Visit My Web Site www.philsfun.com

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.

"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.

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.

"Woody" wrote in message
...
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.

Institutionalize your sweet spot by putting a bar to limit how far you can
advance the jig.

http://www.bluewood-designs.com/arti...circle.jig.php

http://woodsmithstore.com/bansawcirjig.html

http://www.floridarobot.com/circle/circle.php

The best thing to do if you own a bandsaw is to Get Mark Duginskie's The
Bandsaw Handbook. It'll help you keep things in adjustment and contains
good troubleshooting advice as well.

Thanks for posting this worthwhile material!!

Keith P.

"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.

Sorry for the delay in my reply. I haven't checked the newsgroup in a
couple of days -- I've been busy shoveling snow -- maybe you heard
about the storm we had in Denver -- it was only a couple of feet at
the airport where the statistics are recorded, but we had around 3
feet at my house.

I think the PS Wood "wet wood" blade I mention on my website would
solve most of your problems. It is thicker and has a lot of set and
more rake which makes it cut well without binding. I have a circle
jig, but for log sections I use a similar jig made from the hold down
on a thrift store meat carving tray. Here are a couple of photos
showing a conical section being sawn from a Russian Olive tree taken
down at my daughter's place. It was softer than I had hoped with
large growth rings, but it cut easily. It was very wet when I cut it.

http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/c...aped_blank.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/log_section.jpg

Ken Vaughn
Visit my workshop: http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/