Thread: TTI 14" Bandsaw (BAS 350) sleeper resawing with extension bed

very nice piece of work, Robomaniac.

well written and illustrated too. good luck with the rest of the project.


Doug

Thanks for posting, well done

Thanks guys.

A couple of things I forgot to mention;

- I used an old tin of Organoil furniture wax that got contaminated with rust from the tin to wax down the surfaces. Without it, the weight of the wood, its rough surface and the downforce of the blade almost pinned the work to the table. With two liberal coats of wax they run through much more easily. I am not worried about glue contamination because they will still be put through the thicknesser before glueing.

- As much as I like the hard face ply for its tough surface and overall stiffness, the dark colour does make it difficult to see when the pieces are wandering off the fence. The is no visible shadow to go by. The result is extra effort pushing the stock back against the fence just to be sure.

Originally Posted by Robomanic

Thanks guys.

A couple of things I forgot to mention;

- I used an old tin of Organoil furniture wax that got contaminated with rust from the tin to wax down the surfaces. Without it, the weight of the wood, its rough surface and the downforce of the blade almost pinned the work to the table. With two liberal coats of wax they run through much more easily. I am not worried about glue contamination because they will still be put through the thicknesser before glueing.

CRC dry glide is awesome for this if you run out of wax, I use it on a lot on machine surfaces at work.

Originally Posted by Aerenandmel

CRC dry glide is awesome for this if you run out of wax, I use it on a lot on machine surfaces at work.

Thanks for the tip

A quick update. The additional table is still going strong, the added dust port is really working but the blade is on it's last legs. Two out of three is not bad I guess. Oh, and I still haven't tripped the overload.

At one stage the 4" hose was falling off the port too often so I took a step back and stuck it back on the original port. I was also interested to see if I was just going crazy last time. After one cut dust had compacted under the blade again throwing the balance way out and causing a lot of vibration in the top assembly as the blade pulled tighter and released multiple times per revolution. Never again will I use the bottom port. Collecting at the source really has helped.

I have split two more sleepers. Each cut was ~160 deep x 1700 as before. On the last one the drive wheel tyre was slipping, causing lots of issues. Cutting this depth in hardwood with a blade that is starting to dull is the absolute limit of this machine's capabilities. I could not put any more tension on the blade because that pulled the top wheel down, then I had no more tracking adjustment left to account for that movement. I got through the last cut but it was feed, jam, feed, jam. The last 8" took 5min of nursing. After pulling the drive wheel to clean up the tyre, I found lots of little scuffed and rolled bits of rubber acting like rollers underneath. With all these out and the tyre seated nicely again, it is cutting well.

With the same tired blade it still cuts at 100 deep happily enough. I have since cut;
1/ side rail 75 deep x 1700 long
4/ legs 80 deep x 770 long (plus waist cuts)
5/ cross rails 75 deep x 1100 long
2/ end facias 100 deep x 1100 long

A few pics just to give a bit of an idea.







I did drop the speed down to do what is listed above. I could not have gotten this far without either a new sharp blade or 2hp motor to drive it through. The compromise was to drop the speed and I was surprised that the feed rate did not suffer much at all. The finish off the blade is very good with far less chatter than before. There is far less set on the teeth than before too...

I have one more long rail to cut and just for kicks I'll see if I can get it without changing blades. After that I'll change it out because it is starting to bur up just a little on the back.

If anyone has any suggestions or questions please just jump in anytime.

Thanks,
Shan.

Take the burr off the back of the blade with an oil stone.

We "chamfer" the backs of all new blades this way.

Hi all,
here is another version of an extension bed for BAS 350. (white space is family member removed from image)

Also note modified easier to use tension handle.

cheers
conwood

Will do . I'm asuming you do that the 'quick' way rather than the 'slow' way?

Thanks for sharing Conwood. I see it suffers from flat surface syndrome as well. If I leave mine too long, it collects all kinds of objects on their way into or out of the family car.... Best just to leave it covered in offcuts and dust as natures way of saying stay away

Hi Shannon,
Extension is only on when I do long jobs..logs etc.
Cars have not been in shed for a few years now..woodworking has taken over and SWMBO not complaining!

My flat surfaces attract amber fluid containers.

I do get both cars in when there are storms about.

cheers
conwood

Will do . I'm asuming you do that the 'quick' way rather than the 'slow' way?

Yep.

(white space is family member removed from image)

I know some people that wish they could do that in the real world.