I’m updating some of my shop tools for some fine woodworking for an upcoming restoration project. I’m a skilled woodworker, and have never been at a loss for tools, but I’ve never used a bandsaw. Frankly, they frighten me. Am I missing something? Would a bandsaw help me accomplish tasks that I can’t do on a table saw or with a jigsaw? Thanks for the advice.
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Replies
If a bandsaw frightens you
how do you feel about the tablesaw?
Seriously, a bandsaw is a great tool to have around the stop, very handy for a lot of things. If you want to do any curved cutting, it's unbeatable.
Skilled Woodworker? luddite
I am guessing he's either a luddite hermit wood wright or he's using the term "skilled woodworker" a bit generously.
DC
Ever see
a "book" grained piece of wood. Gotta be done with a band saw. You can do a great deal of the same cuts with a jig saw, but having a nice stable platfom to move the wood through the blade is safer and you get better cuts. The flexibility of the blades that can be used give you the ability to make a variety of cuts that you can do with no other home power tool. From scrolls to crosscutting and ripping, intricate details and a lot in between.
If you can think of no need for a bandsaw, then don't get one. I inhereited mine and would have never bought one for what I do, but found more and more uses for once I had it. However, I don't think as an experienced and busy woodworker that you'll have any problem figuring out how usefule this tool is.
You gotta be kidding
One simply doesn't compare a bandsaw to a tablesaw. They are different animals completely.
Comparing a jig saw to a bandsaw is also a bit ludicrous. Sure they will both cut curves, but the jigsaw is like a man with a shovel compared to a backhoe in terms of how fast the cut will be.
Buy a bandsaw. I've got three of them. Used to have four. They are all useful. I'd not be without any of them.
Oh, and by the way... if I could have only a tablesaw or a bandsaw, I'd go for the bandsaw.
A bandsaw is by nature one of the safest power tools. The downward motion of the blade keeps your work firmly planted on the table; there is no such thing as kickback. I regularly, but slowly and carefully, get my fingers within an inch of the blade. I wouldn't even think about this with a table saw.
Always use a sharp blade, keep the feed rate fairly slow, and don't try to turn tighter than the blade will allow. This results in a smooth, predicable feel from the machine.
There are a few good books available. Mark Duginske wrote a couple and there is another good one that emerged in the last few years (author's name escapes me).
I've never used one, but I've always assumed that having the blade break or come off could be moderately nasty. Certainly the chance of either is related to maintenance and setup care, but I'm wondering whether my perception of hazards there is justified??
I've had a couple
of blade breaks, and had the blade come off the wheels a few times. About all that happens is that the blade stops moving almost instantly. Bandsaw blades have very little mass.
I didn't even know they were Catholic.
>>>I've always assumed that
>>>I've always assumed that having the blade break or come off could be moderately nasty.
I've seen it happen, but have never had it happen to me. No biggie as David says. They just sort of "twang" and go all floppy.
It's usually the result of things I said to avoid: dull blade, pushing too hard, or turning too hard. All of these = stress on blade.
That is also why you keep the blade guard down as close to your work as reasonable.
Ahhh.... good one; forgot about that.
Bandsaws are great..
I think they're probably the safest power tool there is.
Another great thing about them is the table is too small to collect stuff like the tablesaw does; my bandsaw is always available, while I often need to put away the tools and other junk on the tablesaw before I can use it.
It's funny.... over the years there have been a number of guys here that began discussions in dread of the bandsaw. They'd say things like, "it's what the butcher uses" and they all had a sense that the machine was inherently dangerous.
Me, on the other hand, used a bandsaw in elementary school and spent a lifetime hoping to buy one (which finally happened at around age 50! Bummer....but that's another story.)
But I'm curious about how this "rumour" happened. How did all these guys come to think that this tool was dangerous? (Especially compared with tools like the infamous RAS.)
probably the safest power tool
probably agree. over the years have stitches from table saw, bandsaw, chain saw, axe, chisels, even cut tendon in back of hand with an angle grinder. Even had 2 stitches when a preschooler from blunt scissors!
No bandsaw stitches yet.
Have cuts from jigsaws, hand hacksaw, about every other hand tool, but no stitches from bandsaws (have 3) .
Geez
With that safety record you should hire a pro, unless you can DIY the stitches and the tendon surgery.
>>>unless you can DIY the
>>>unless you can DIY the stitches and the tendon surgery
Don't tempt him!!!
Sheesh, this is Art we're talking about, and knowing him, he'd try it....
;-)
I'm hoping
he'll post some DIY surgery videos on Youtube. Medical care is becoming so unaffordable that we all need to learn.
LOL...I can hardly wait. Doc Junkhound on Discovery Channel.
Stitching lacerations with cabtire strands from the service to shed #23!!!
Large industrial band saw blades can be very dangerous if they break. People have been very seriously injured in the rare occurrence that the blade breaks and is deflected into the operators body. I don't believe this is very likely at all on the small band saws used in general woodworking due to the low mass of the blade. A band saw is one of the safest powered saws as long as it is used correctly. The safest saw is a jig saw, but even so people have caused themselves serious injury by not watching the blade and cutting their fingers. Most band saw injuries are caused by operator error and improper operation.
It's kind of the "dull knife"
It's kind of the "dull knife" story. It's such a simple cutting system that people will take bigger risks with it than they would with any other kind of saw.
I just talked to a guy last weekend who sliced off his thumbtip with a bandsaw... he was pushing a piece of material through and it suddenly went through easier than he expected his thumb was in the way of the blade.
>>>it suddenly went through
>>>it suddenly went through easier than he expected
I've had that happen lots.... not that it resulted in a thumb-ectomy... but bandsaw feed rates seem to be greatly affected by grain patterns. One minute there's a fair amount of resistance, then Zip!, away it goes.
Obviously
that's the thing you have to avoid. Think carefully about the path the blade is taking and anticipate what will happen if the wood suddenly moves quickly, or your hand slips. There are times when I use a push stick or an awl to move wood thru the bandsaw.