I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....

I decided to see how high I could cut without the guides in place. The
saw's case only allowed about 7-1/2" inches to pass under it. I opened
the front case and noticed the back case was a bit higher, but it still
only allowed about 8-1/4" to pass under. So, I cut out another 1/2' from
the saw case to allow my 8-1/2" plywood to pass under it. See the pic
for where I cut the case and bent it back, near the bolt at the top....

http://xrl.us/bandsaw

Next, I needed to set up the saw as perfectly as I could. I adjusted the
top section of the saw to correct for the wheels that were not perfectly
coplaner. I bought a new 3/4" Timber Wolf re-saw blade and installed in
on the saw. As I was tensioning the blade, the tires started to come
off. They were original and pretty messed up, so I decided to instal new
ones. After new tires, I adjusted the tracking and tension and ran some
7" scraps to determine where the blade was leading and marked it on the
table. It was cutting straight and like buttah, so I decided to get the
bamboo and go for it.

The short story: it worked and did a really good job. It cut straight
and the blade didn't bow or wander throughout the height of the cut.

The long story.... the saw is way too underpowered for this, obviously.
I popped the little 15amp breaker on the power strip in which the saw
was plugged, so I plugged it directly into a dedicated outlet. The saw
stalled out a couple times. Near the end of the total length, it was
really bogging down. The blade was still plenty sharp and I think it was
just taxing the motor too much.

BTW, I made the cut with the front case OPEN. I don't recommend notching
out the case of your saw to get more height for a cut, nor do I
recommend using a bandsaw with the case open. :-)

It's done, it worked, I'm pleased. I was asking way too much of a 30-ish
year old bandsaw which was never designed to do what it did.

What this did prove, however, is that we rely too much on, worry too
much about, and probably spend way too much on the saw guides on
bandsaws. I think this experiment has convinced me to jump on board with
those who preach that what's really important for getting great cuts
from your bandsaw is high quality blades, properly set-up wheels, proper
blade tension, and determining the correct lead angle of each blade
before cutting.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.


On 9/23/12 5:37 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....

I decided to see how high I could cut without the guides in place. The
saw's case only allowed about 7-1/2" inches to pass under it. I opened
the front case and noticed the back case was a bit higher, but it still
only allowed about 8-1/4" to pass under. So, I cut out another 1/2' from
the saw case to allow my 8-1/2" plywood to pass under it. See the pic
for where I cut the case and bent it back, near the bolt at the top....

http://xrl.us/bandsaw

Next, I needed to set up the saw as perfectly as I could. I adjusted the
top section of the saw to correct for the wheels that were not perfectly
coplaner. I bought a new 3/4" Timber Wolf re-saw blade and installed in
on the saw. As I was tensioning the blade, the tires started to come
off. They were original and pretty messed up, so I decided to instal new
ones. After new tires, I adjusted the tracking and tension and ran some
7" scraps to determine where the blade was leading and marked it on the
table. It was cutting straight and like buttah, so I decided to get the
bamboo and go for it.

The short story: it worked and did a really good job. It cut straight
and the blade didn't bow or wander throughout the height of the cut.

The long story.... the saw is way too underpowered for this, obviously.
I popped the little 15amp breaker on the power strip in which the saw
was plugged, so I plugged it directly into a dedicated outlet. The saw
stalled out a couple times. Near the end of the total length, it was
really bogging down. The blade was still plenty sharp and I think it was
just taxing the motor too much.

BTW, I made the cut with the front case OPEN. I don't recommend notching
out the case of your saw to get more height for a cut, nor do I
recommend using a bandsaw with the case open. :-)

It's done, it worked, I'm pleased. I was asking way too much of a 30-ish
year old bandsaw which was never designed to do what it did.

What this did prove, however, is that we rely too much on, worry too
much about, and probably spend way too much on the saw guides on
bandsaws. I think this experiment has convinced me to jump on board with
those who preach that what's really important for getting great cuts
from your bandsaw is high quality blades, properly set-up wheels, proper
blade tension, and determining the correct lead angle of each blade
before cutting.




--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.


Guess you were lucky you didn't push the blade off the wheels.....

That work for you? ;~)

John

-MIKE- wrote:
Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.

Nah, just no reason. Suppose you had a bandsaw that would already do the
height you wanted. The upper guides would still leave the same amount of
exposed blade so as long as you don't flop the wood being cut from side to
side and as long as the bottom is flat one would expect what you did to work
just fine. As long as you don't push to hard, no bearing surface at the
back either.

The blade HAS been flopping around a bit though, I note the insert. Looks
like mine

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On 9/26/12 2:43 PM, John Grossbohlin wrote:

"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.


Guess you were lucky you didn't push the blade off the wheels.....

That work for you? ;~)

John

Not rough enough, John. :-)
Perhaps the new tires helped.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 9/26/12 2:51 PM, dadiOH wrote:
-MIKE- wrote:
Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.

Nah, just no reason. Suppose you had a bandsaw that would already do the
height you wanted. The upper guides would still leave the same amount of
exposed blade so as long as you don't flop the wood being cut from side to
side and as long as the bottom is flat one would expect what you did to work
just fine. As long as you don't push to hard, no bearing surface at the
back either.

The blade HAS been flopping around a bit though, I note the insert. Looks
like mine


FWIW, the insert was like that the day I got the saw.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

-MIKE- wrote:
I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....

I decided to see how high I could cut without the guides in place. The
saw's case only allowed about 7-1/2" inches to pass under it. I opened
the front case and noticed the back case was a bit higher, but it still
only allowed about 8-1/4" to pass under. So, I cut out another 1/2' from
the saw case to allow my 8-1/2" plywood to pass under it. See the pic
for where I cut the case and bent it back, near the bolt at the top....

http://xrl.us/bandsaw

Next, I needed to set up the saw as perfectly as I could. I adjusted the
top section of the saw to correct for the wheels that were not perfectly
coplaner. I bought a new 3/4" Timber Wolf re-saw blade and installed in
on the saw. As I was tensioning the blade, the tires started to come
off. They were original and pretty messed up, so I decided to instal new
ones. After new tires, I adjusted the tracking and tension and ran some
7" scraps to determine where the blade was leading and marked it on the
table. It was cutting straight and like buttah, so I decided to get the
bamboo and go for it.

The short story: it worked and did a really good job. It cut straight
and the blade didn't bow or wander throughout the height of the cut.

The long story.... the saw is way too underpowered for this, obviously.
I popped the little 15amp breaker on the power strip in which the saw
was plugged, so I plugged it directly into a dedicated outlet. The saw
stalled out a couple times. Near the end of the total length, it was
really bogging down. The blade was still plenty sharp and I think it was
just taxing the motor too much.

BTW, I made the cut with the front case OPEN. I don't recommend notching
out the case of your saw to get more height for a cut, nor do I
recommend using a bandsaw with the case open. :-)

It's done, it worked, I'm pleased. I was asking way too much of a 30-ish
year old bandsaw which was never designed to do what it did.

What this did prove, however, is that we rely too much on, worry too
much about, and probably spend way too much on the saw guides on
bandsaws. I think this experiment has convinced me to jump on board with
those who preach that what's really important for getting great cuts
from your bandsaw is high quality blades, properly set-up wheels, proper
blade tension, and determining the correct lead angle of each blade
before cutting.


Your resaw guide looks like mine. What is the eye-bolt for?

--
G.W. Ross

Any wire cut to length will be too short.

On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:22:35 -0500, -MIKE-
wrote:

Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.

Well... you could have gone to a local cabinet maker and had them
resaw your piece for only a few bucks. And, you bandsaw wouldn't look
like it came in last place in a demolition derby! :-)

On 9/26/12 4:18 PM, G. Ross wrote:

Your resaw guide looks like mine. What is the eye-bolt for?


To attach it to the t-track that you can't see in the pic.
The t-track is on the sliding fence from my cross-cut sled for the
tablesaw.
I like muti-taskers. :-)


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 9/26/12 4:24 PM, Larry Kraus wrote:
-MIKE- wrote:

Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.


On 9/23/12 5:37 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

snippp

Sounds to me like a missed opportunity to get a bigger saw...


Yes, I did. There's an 18" Laguna at our Woodcraft for $1500 and I'm
foaming at the mouth. :-)


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 9/26/12 4:33 PM, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:22:35 -0500, -MIKE-
wrote:

Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.

Well... you could have gone to a local cabinet maker and had them
resaw your piece for only a few bucks. And, you bandsaw wouldn't look
like it came in last place in a demolition derby! :-)


LOL! Yes, I tried for a couple months to find a local place/woodworker
who would cut it. Nobody's lawyers would let them.

If I had a car that went through the demo derby with just a little bend
in the fender, I'd win every time. :-)


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:22:35 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.


Bad Mike!! Bad, Bad, Bad!


On 9/23/12 5:37 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....

I decided to see how high I could cut without the guides in place. The
saw's case only allowed about 7-1/2" inches to pass under it. I opened
the front case and noticed the back case was a bit higher, but it still
only allowed about 8-1/4" to pass under. So, I cut out another 1/2' from
the saw case to allow my 8-1/2" plywood to pass under it. See the pic
for where I cut the case and bent it back, near the bolt at the top....

http://xrl.us/bandsaw

Next, I needed to set up the saw as perfectly as I could. I adjusted the
top section of the saw to correct for the wheels that were not perfectly
coplaner. I bought a new 3/4" Timber Wolf re-saw blade and installed in
on the saw. As I was tensioning the blade, the tires started to come
off. They were original and pretty messed up, so I decided to instal new
ones. After new tires, I adjusted the tracking and tension and ran some
7" scraps to determine where the blade was leading and marked it on the
table. It was cutting straight and like buttah, so I decided to get the
bamboo and go for it.

The short story: it worked and did a really good job. It cut straight
and the blade didn't bow or wander throughout the height of the cut.

The long story.... the saw is way too underpowered for this, obviously.
I popped the little 15amp breaker on the power strip in which the saw
was plugged, so I plugged it directly into a dedicated outlet. The saw
stalled out a couple times. Near the end of the total length, it was
really bogging down. The blade was still plenty sharp and I think it was
just taxing the motor too much.

BTW, I made the cut with the front case OPEN. I don't recommend notching
out the case of your saw to get more height for a cut, nor do I
recommend using a bandsaw with the case open. :-)

It's done, it worked, I'm pleased. I was asking way too much of a 30-ish
year old bandsaw which was never designed to do what it did.

What this did prove, however, is that we rely too much on, worry too
much about, and probably spend way too much on the saw guides on
bandsaws. I think this experiment has convinced me to jump on board with
those who preach that what's really important for getting great cuts
from your bandsaw is high quality blades, properly set-up wheels, proper
blade tension, and determining the correct lead angle of each blade
before cutting.

On 9/26/12 7:26 PM, Roy wrote:

On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:22:35 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

Nobody!? I expected to catch a lot of crap over this. :-)
Too long, maybe.


Bad Mike!! Bad, Bad, Bad!


+1


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

"-MIKE-" wrote in message ...

I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....


--

Thats why I bought a thickness planer. To make thin boards from thick
boards. now that I have one, don't know how I got by without it. WW

On Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:29:21 -0600, "WW"
wrote:



"-MIKE-" wrote in message ...

I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....

8-1/2" wide strips? A planer would be my go-to tool.

--
Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.
-- Thomas Jefferson

On 9/23/2012 5:37 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
....
I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, ...

I decided to see how high I could cut without the guides in place. The
saw's case only allowed about 7-1/2" inches to pass under it. I opened
the front case and noticed the back case was a bit higher, but it still
only allowed about 8-1/4" to pass under. So, I cut out another 1/2' from
the saw case to allow my 8-1/2" plywood to pass under it. See the pic
for where I cut the case and bent it back, near the bolt at the top....
....

....

It's done, it worked, I'm pleased. I was asking way too much of a 30-ish
year old bandsaw which was never designed to do what it did.
....

I've done other at least as "out-of-the-box" mod's when seemed expedient
but...I thought the Jet had the capability of inserting a riser block????

--

On 9/27/12 3:29 PM, WW wrote:


"-MIKE-" wrote in message ...

I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....



I have a thickness planer, and like you, I don't know how I'd get by
without it.
However, this bamboo plywood was $300 a sheet and I have plans for
literally every square inch of it, including both sides of this
8-1/2"x9' piece that I re-sawed.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 9/27/12 5:58 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:29:21 -0600, "WW"
wrote:



"-MIKE-" wrote in message ...

I needed to re-saw an 8-1/2"x8' section of the 3/4" bamboo plywood I'm
using for our bathroom(s) remodel to end up with a thinner piece to
veneer the side of a cabinet.

I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, like most, can only cut 6" high. The
more I read about bandsaws, the more read about how the guides aren't
that necessary for a saw that is properly set-up and tensioned. That got
me thinking.....

8-1/2" wide strips? A planer would be my go-to tool.


As I wrote in another reply, this bamboo plywood was $300 a sheet and I
have plans for every square inch of it, including both sides of the
8-1/2"x9' piece that I re-sawed.

I used the planer to take one half down to about 1/4" and the other half
will be planed down to its lowest spot and used for a medicine cabinet.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 9/27/12 6:57 PM, dpb wrote:
On 9/23/2012 5:37 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
...
I have an old Jet 14" bandsaw that, ...

I decided to see how high I could cut without the guides in place. The
saw's case only allowed about 7-1/2" inches to pass under it. I opened
the front case and noticed the back case was a bit higher, but it still
only allowed about 8-1/4" to pass under. So, I cut out another 1/2' from
the saw case to allow my 8-1/2" plywood to pass under it. See the pic
for where I cut the case and bent it back, near the bolt at the top....
...

...

It's done, it worked, I'm pleased. I was asking way too much of a 30-ish
year old bandsaw which was never designed to do what it did.
...

I've done other at least as "out-of-the-box" mod's when seemed expedient
but...I thought the Jet had the capability of inserting a riser block????

--

I'm sure it does. But that means buying the block, and longer blade.
After reading many, many explanation about proper setup and blade
tension, I decided to give it a go. if it didn't work, I could buy/build
a riser and buy a longer blade.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

-MIKE- wrote in news:k438n2$t8a$1
@speranza.aioe.org:



I have a thickness planer, and like you, I don't know how I'd get by
without it.
However, this bamboo plywood was $300 a sheet and I have plans for
literally every square inch of it, including both sides of this
8-1/2"x9' piece that I re-sawed.

Did you spend all your money on the plywood, then? A riser block kit for a
bandsaw runs in the sub-$100 range. I think mine was around $60 for the
Powermatic kit. (It works just fine on the Jet saw, just doesn't look
pretty).

The motor might not handle resawing at the full depth, but just because you
have the ability to cut 12" with a riser doesn't mean you have to.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

On 9/27/12 11:29 PM, Puckdropper wrote:
-MIKE- wrote in news:k438n2$t8a$1
@speranza.aioe.org:



I have a thickness planer, and like you, I don't know how I'd get by
without it.
However, this bamboo plywood was $300 a sheet and I have plans for
literally every square inch of it, including both sides of this
8-1/2"x9' piece that I re-sawed.

Did you spend all your money on the plywood, then? A riser block kit for a
bandsaw runs in the sub-$100 range. I think mine was around $60 for the
Powermatic kit. (It works just fine on the Jet saw, just doesn't look
pretty).

The motor might not handle resawing at the full depth, but just because you
have the ability to cut 12" with a riser doesn't mean you have to.

Puckdropper


I guess the point is, I wanted to try it to see if it would work, before
buying the riser and longer blade. If it didn't work, I lost nothing and
I would get the riser and blade and continue. But it worked and the
first project is done... I'm on to the second.

I also learned a lot about what's really important when re-sawing.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply