Denis's bandsaw post brings up a question - anyone have any tricks to
preparing for the bandsaw?

I have no riser block on my 14" Delta, so it's important for me to slab
anything I'm going to cut round carefully, to stay within 6 1/4", as well as
provide a surface flat enough to keep control of tipping and blade binding.
My solution is a scrub and block plane for the small surface. The scrub
makes fairly short work of major irregularities, and can be followed by a
couple of cross-grain strokes of the block plane for smooth. I can then
draw my circle on the larger face and make my cut.

I have also used a plywood "bottom" on thinner pieces, shimming for parallel
to the larger face and attaching with woodscrews. I suppose if I had the
greater height available with a riser block I would use this method more
often, perhaps even with my circle-cutting jig, which steals even more
capacity.

Though I generally cut perpendicular to the face to keep all available shape
options open, I sometimes nibble off more wood by tilting the table and
taking a second pass to help balance an especially wet or misshapen piece.
I have also nibbled pieces too tall for perpendicular cutting by tilting and
nibbling wedge-shaped circles.

There must be other tricks out there.

George
I am not sure of the method you are using to cut a bowl blank on the
band saw but it sounds like you are trying to put a flat on the bark
side of the half log and rest it on the band saw table. This sounds like
an invitation to a catch to me. Why not halve the log with a chain saw,
take off any excess necessary on the bark side using the saw, and then
to the band saw? Place the inside of the log on the table, fasten a
cardboard circle to the other side, and cut around it. If this is not
clear, let me know and I will put a picture or two up on my web site for
you.
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://www.aroundthewoods.com

I've done that, too, just settled on the one I outlined for convenience,
not, as Susan claims, to justify my LN scrub. Also puts me in a position to
taper the sides, since the table tilts that way.

"Darrell Feltmate" wrote in message
news Why not halve the log with a chain saw,
take off any excess necessary on the bark side using the saw, and then
to the band saw? Place the inside of the log on the table, fasten a
cardboard circle to the other side, and cut around it. If this is not
clear, let me know and I will put a picture or two up on my web site for
you.

George
Anything to justify a LN scrub makes sense to me :-)
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://www.aroundthewoods.com

Bill
a scrub plane is used to rough down a surface before the jack and
jointer planes are used for final flattening. A Lee Neilsen (sp?) is
cream of the crop for planes.
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://www.aroundthewoods.com

To answer the question about planing, if necessary I use either an
electric plane, or on larger pieces float an electric chainsaw across
the surface.

I'm not sure I understand your procedure and have the same concerns and
suggestions as Darrell.

One other tool you could add to your arsenal would be a large carving
gouge which you could use to take off any corners. Cheaper than a
chainsaw if you don't already have one, safer (though not fool proof!),
more fun and a good workout too!

derek

George wrote:
Denis's bandsaw post brings up a question - anyone have any tricks to
preparing for the bandsaw?

I have no riser block on my 14" Delta, so it's important for me to slab
anything I'm going to cut round carefully, to stay within 6 1/4", as well as
provide a surface flat enough to keep control of tipping and blade binding.
My solution is a scrub and block plane for the small surface. The scrub
makes fairly short work of major irregularities, and can be followed by a
couple of cross-grain strokes of the block plane for smooth. I can then
draw my circle on the larger face and make my cut.

I have also used a plywood "bottom" on thinner pieces, shimming for parallel
to the larger face and attaching with woodscrews. I suppose if I had the
greater height available with a riser block I would use this method more
often, perhaps even with my circle-cutting jig, which steals even more
capacity.

Though I generally cut perpendicular to the face to keep all available shape
options open, I sometimes nibble off more wood by tilting the table and
taking a second pass to help balance an especially wet or misshapen piece.
I have also nibbled pieces too tall for perpendicular cutting by tilting and
nibbling wedge-shaped circles.

There must be other tricks out there.




--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
Wedding Favors ~ Artisan Crafted Gifts ~ One-of-a-Kind Woodturning

I find the plane preferable to the gouge, though I am also a carver. It's
for fine adjustments (1/4") only, and I use it with the piece already
mounted to the lathe. Since I use a pin chuck or pin jaws and a tailstock,
it's held pretty tightly.

Of course there is enough of a surface to keep the piece from tipping, as I
mentioned in the first post. Those portions most likely to tip are the ones
where I'm taking the least bite, too. I start with a couple inches of
surface or more from slabbing with the chainsaw, though I can't always seem
to get parallel surfaces, thus the scrub. I opted out of the power plane
because I figured it was easier easier for me to sharpen my scrub than those
cutters. I have problems with dirt in the bark when using firewood. They
don't seem to care about a bit of mud here and there when skidding and
decking. Is it a problem for you to work wet and dirt? I have one of
those Wagner Saf-T-Planers I could whip up on the drillpress. Or, come to
think of it, I could elevate my router jig that I use for slab furniture
thicknessing.

A scrub can be a pretty good workout, take it from me.

For bark up I do use circles, because I'm seldom near the capacity of the
saw, and can spare the 1/4".

BTW, I consider a "natural edge" to be any interrupted edge, whether from a
cut, a split, or even a bark surface.

"Derek Andrews" wrote in message
...
To answer the question about planing, if necessary I use either an
electric plane, or on larger pieces float an electric chainsaw across
the surface.

I'm not sure I understand your procedure and have the same concerns and
suggestions as Darrell.

One other tool you could add to your arsenal would be a large carving
gouge which you could use to take off any corners. Cheaper than a
chainsaw if you don't already have one, safer (though not fool proof!),
more fun and a good workout too!