Thread: Re-saw Band Saw

So John,

Did your Laguna arrive as predicted? And have you given it a thorough road test yet? I'd really like to hear how you're getting on with this machine - it looks like a real beauty.

Cheers,
Grant

Originally Posted by gjdale

So John,

Did your Laguna arrive as predicted? And have you given it a thorough road test yet? I'd really like to hear how you're getting on with this machine - it looks like a real beauty.

Cheers,
Grant

Grant,

It arrived ... finally ... on Friday. I assembled it yesterday and started tuning it. Over the weekend I will (hopefully) finish tuning it and get the dust collection system hooked up.

The instructions said two people were needed for three steps of the assembly, but I found it easy enough to safely get together by myself. So far, it looks very good. I have put the re-saw king blade on it and that monster 14 inch depth of cut looks very impressive. I have cut 1 mm veneers off a 10 inch board already, but they have a slight wedge shape ... not yet finished tuning it up. So far, so good. Very thin kerf and a nice smooth cut surface. I am going to need to make an auxiliary fence when cutting very wide boards.

I was going to sell the old Trade Tools 14 inch machine, but now I think I'll keep it so I can leave the re-saw blade on the Laguna more or less permanently and use the narrower blades on the old machine. The primary reason for buying the Laguna was for re-sawing and cutting veneers, so it makes life easier if it is permanently set up for that purpose.

Will post more when the set-up is complete and the dust collection system is hooked up.

Cheerio!

John

Originally Posted by John Samuel

I was going to sell the old Trade Tools 14 inch machine, but now I think I'll keep it so I can leave the re-saw blade on the Laguna more or less permanently and use the narrower blades on the old machine. The primary reason for buying the Laguna was for re-sawing and cutting veneers, so it makes life easier if it is permanently set up for that purpose.

Good thinking. I doubt you will regret keeping both. While they are both bandsaws they both have different primary functions, and as you say, the convenience of having the ripping saw set up permanently is a bonus. When i got my big bandsaw there was no consideration given to onselling the 14" one.

Cheers

Doug

FOUND!

Last night I went to bed wondering why I was not getting the nice uniform thickness veneers off the saw.

Fresh eyes spotted the problem instantly this morning ... or at least one of the issues. The ceramic guides on the upper guides were not exactly parallel to the blade.

The post to which the upper guides are attached (which slides up and down for adjustment) is factory aligned, and was not supposed to need adjustment. It did.

So, the bolts and grub screws on the back of the machine that hold the post were adjusted to solve this issue.

Then I cut a 1.5 mm veneer from a 9 inch board and the thickness is quite uniform all the way around. Any variation is easily explained by the fine tooth marks on the veneer (maximum variation is about 0.2 mm, all the way around). Next I tried a wider board, and got a slight wedge effect. So, it still needs a little tuning, but for now I am going to hook up the dust extraction. The machine has two 4 inch dust ports. One on the back of the lower cabinet as well as a port that gathers dust from around the lower blade guide. However, this port is half blocked. I think that existing ports are highly unlikely to do a good enough job.

The funny part is that the instructions say one needs a dusty that pulls 1,000 CFM ... but only one and a half 4 inch ports are fitted ... and there is nowhere for the air to get into the cabinet. There is no way dust collection is going to work well without some modifications.

Come on, you should know the rules by now

Will post pics as soon as the site allows it ... seem to be having issues with uploading pics right now.

I have switched from cutting off veneers as one would with a meat slicer (not moving the fence with the veneer being cut against the fence) to putting the cut veneer to the right of the blade and moving the fence for each new veneer (as pjt suggested during a visit to my shop). Seems to be giving a better result.

Do you blokes have similar experiences?

stop it!

This thread is a torment!

My poor old, 14 year old, 8th hand 10" Chinese saw is getting very sad!

Im feeling compelled to getting that SUV now

Here is a pic of the bolts and grub screws used to adjust the post so the ceramic guides were parallel to the blade.

The adjustment was not difficult. It was a matter of loosening the bolts and then turning the grub screws to align the blade and the guides.

The site appears to be having problems with attachments. The "Insert Inline" command does not work, so I'll try attaching the pic as a thumbnail.

Originally Posted by Evanism

stop it!

This thread is a torment!

My poor old, 14 year old, 8th hand 10" Chinese saw is getting very sad!

Im feeling compelled to getting that SUV now

Just do it!

I bought this saw for two purposes:

1. Resawing larger flitches to whatever size I want.
2. Cutting veneers. I can now bookleaf two veneers and make a panel 700 mm wide with only two veneers.

The saw is working well now. Once I finish tuning it and make a decent (about) 200 mm high fence it will do an even better job.

Just looking at that enormous 14 inch high blade is enough to make my grumpy old heart beat faster with joy.

John,

I know absolutely nothing about bandsaws (except that I want one ), but I was wondering if you had tried following the setup procedure shown by Alex Snodgrass. I stumbled across the link while I was cruising around the forum last night, and it seems to make a lot of sense to me (who knows nothing).

Cheers,
Grant

Can we get a few more pics of the saw particularly from the front and also one of the table with something in front of the blade to show that scale of the massive cutting height please.

Grant,

Yes, saw that video and thought it pretty good. However, the set-up instructions that came with the machine were just fine. Nice change! The only real difference between Snodgrass and the Laguna instructions is that Laguna reckon that the blade should be centred on the wheel ... especially for a wide blade, which is the only thing my Laguna will ever use.

My main issue now is that I need a higher fence to cut wide veneers. Cutting a 2.5 mm veneer from a 12 inch wide board is not easy when your fence is only about 3 inches high.

John, I have one of these, Carter Magfence, with a 200 auxiliary low friction plastic fence.

A smooth plastic cutting board of the correct dimensions fits the bill.

Although now I use the Hammer Fence, as it is either 3/4" or 5" high.

Originally Posted by Pat

John, I have one of these, Carter Magfence, with a 200 auxiliary low friction plastic fence.

A smooth plastic cutting board of the correct dimensions fits the bill.

Although now I use the Hammer Fence, as it is either 3/4" or 5" high.

Well ... Bugger!

That Magfence is $99 in the USA. Here it is $168.

I really want a 200 high fence that is stable. Still turning that over in my mind.