Bandsaw

[benaa]

Hi there,

Just getting into making wooden toys for the grand children, as one does when you are a grandparent, and am looking a purchasing a bandsaw to assist in this endeavour. My question is is this the best way to go for cutting small pieces of wood. I do have a Triton saw bench which is okay for the large cutting plus a jigsaw but though a bandsaw would probably do a better and safer job. Would appreciate any indeas please. Tks Benaa

[Charleville]

A bandsaw is invaluable for making toys.

The Triton will be fine for square cut things like trucks but the bandsaw will give you lots of flexibility to make curvy things which really do give the kids a lot of fun. The bandsaw will give you heaps more control on fine cuts than the jigsaw.

eg

http://img.skitch.com/20100922-pm6789yu2n48r151w19x66uh3c.preview.jpg (http://skitch.com/charleville2/dp4yb/skitched-20100723-145130)
Click for full size (http://skitch.com/charleville2/dp4yb/skitched-20100723-145130) - Uploaded with Skitch (http://skitch.com)


In relation to safety, you still have to keep you fingers away from the cutting blade with a bandsaw but there is no comparison in the safety aspects versus a table saw, especially the Triton Work Centre. A Bandsaw is a lot calmer machine to use.


I actually make all of my toys in a three stage process. ie I cut a template on the bandsaw and sand it smooth and then use that template to mark the pattern on the workpiece, cut it to rough shape and then using the template double sided taped to the workpiece, I use a router mounted in a router table to trim the workpiece to the exact shape of the template.

I do all of that for two reasons. The first is if there are to be duplicate parts of the same shape, then obviously, I will get perfectly matched pieces that way. The other reason is that on thick pieces of wood, it is easier to get perfectly straight uniform edges using a long router bit than it is to cut the thick wood on the bandsaw and then sand it smooth.

You can get away without doing the multiple steps that I use and just use the bandsaw though. I just tend to be a little more perfectionist, even on toys, than I need to be. :)



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[Dave50]

cant beat the bandsaw for toymaking, there are a lot of free plans on the web and you may even get into "bandsaw boxmaking" which is an art unto itself, I dont think you would look back once you buy one, a very pleasant, calming way to create all sorts of stuff

[benaa]

Thanks for the replies and looks like the bandsaw is to go. Birthday coming up shortly so a good excuse to buy myself a present

[Dave50]

piccys when you do mate, and of course piccys of the gear you build! you wont regret it!

[munruben]

I find the bandsaw invaluable in this sort of work.

[fozzy767]

i have every type of saw made,my bandsaw is used 95 percent of the time..wish i would have bought a good one years ago....

[benaa]

Have bit the bullet and bought my bandsaw. Was torn between spending heaps or being a little frugal. Decided on the 2nd option and bought a 10" Carba-Tech bandsaw. Given what I will be using it for the salesperson thought this would do the job fine. Will be mainly cutting MDF and Pine and have not plans at this stage of cutting slabs of wood into boards etc. Hope I have done the right thing and most posts on Bandsaws in the forum talk about 14" saws. Still we can only see. Certainly am looking forward to using it once I have my shed sorted out and the saw set up.

[Charleville]

Good on you, benaa.

I reckon that you will be as happy as a pig in mud with it. Mine is a 12" and does me very nicely but a 10 inch would also do very well for 99% of the stuff that I do.

14" tends to be some sort of a de facto "Kingswood" size for the average woodie but if you ever want to get more fair dinkum about a bigger bandsaw, I suspect that you would be looking for something bigger than 14" anyway as the one that you have bought will do most of what you want.

In terms of blades, I find that a 1/4" blade does most of the toy work that I use it for. Occasionally, a 1/8" blade is useful but they can break pretty easily if you try too hard so a 1/4' blade is a good compromise. Have a look at this podcast for some good tips in how to get best use out of a bandsaw ... Podcast #22: Buying & Getting the Most Out of Your Band Saw — Woodworking Online (http://www.woodworkingonline.com/2007/06/08/podcast-22-buying-getting-the-most-out-of-your-band-saw/)

I am guessing that Carba-Tec probably sell stock blades for your machine but if not, a saw sharpening business will probably make blades to length for you to the sizes ad teeth per inch that you desire. I find the staff at the one that I use in Brisbane to be very helpful and they don't seem to mind answering silly questions from mug beginners even though their main repeat customers are commercial operators.

You will love using your new machine. They are fun animals. They are not as dangerous to use as other machines but you do have to be careful with your fingers, nonetheless.

Expect blades to break every now and then so it may pay to have a spare of your favourite size on hand. It will probably cost you around $15 for that size of bandsaw.


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