Popular Woodworking 2008-04 № 168, страница 67
BY DAVID CHARLESWORTH With a few thoughtful tune-ups, your band saw can be a precise cutting tool. wonder how many of us are friends with our band saw and consider it one of the most useful and versatile machines in the workshop? My 43-year-old Robinson Cadet is not only my favorite machine, but it is also capable of incredible precision. This may come as a surprise to those who consider that a band saw is a machine for coarse work only. While considering the content of this article, I came to the conclusion that a good band saw is capable of coarse, medium and fine work, and this ties in nicely with our esteemed editor's views on handplanes. Coarse: Break Down Rough Stock A good-size band saw can rip huge waney-edge planks, quickly disposing of the sapwood and bark. Wide boards often contain the pith at the center of the tree and many exhibit heart shakes. Cutting these planks up the center, into two manageable widths, is not a j ob for a table saw. The band saw is much friendlier and safer, as the flexibility of its blade will usually cope with the absence of a machined surface to ride on the machine's table. My machine has 20"-diameter wheels, so it should not be confused with small hobby benchtop models. I note that the band saw that is featured extensively in James Krenov's book "The Fine Art Of Cabinetmaking" had 18" wheels. He states that it was capable of ripping 8"-thick hardwood, provided that a sharp, suitable blade was used. Medium: Cut Then Refine I do a lot of freehand cutting on my band saw, sawing perhaps V64" to a V16" away from a pencil line, depending on the circumstances. The small amount of remaining timber can be handplaned or machined quite quickly to achieve the desired result. For example: When using the band saw to make the long shallow triangular jigs that I use for dovetail cutting, the remaining stuff can be edge planed on the jointer with a few light passes. Fine: Joinery, Veneer, Resawing I have to confess that my handsawing skills are rather poor because I have not practiced as much as I have with planes and chisels. This is one reason I cut my dovetails on the band saw. The other reason is that my band photos by bob seymour; illustrations by mary jane favorite Band-sawn dovetails. When sawing dovetails in conjunction with a long, tapered MDF guide, it is essential that the workpiece does not slip against the tapered guide. Both pieces must move together, hence the strip of blue masking tape to bind them together. It won't butcher your work. The band sawn finish from the meat & fish blade is good enough for gluing (shown is Swiss steamed pear veneer). saw cuts perfectly square every time. Remarkably, the finish left by the .022"-thick, 3tpi, 5/8" "meat & fish" blade that I use for fine work and veneer cutting is j ust as good as that left by my best dovetail saw, even in 3/8"-thick hardwood. So from my point of view popularwoodworking.com 57 ■ |
