Hi,
Many thanks Lawrence.
Wide bands are much more stable and that's why 4" or 5" bands are used on the big saws because these are designed for doing nothing other than straight line ripping.
Narrow bands though tend to have a mind of their own and I can see your reasoning regarding a narrow band cutting straight due to it being restrained by the guides but in practice a band with a "lead" set up to run on the center of the wheel will cut where it wants and this has been my problem for as long as I've used narrow band saws.
I too would think running the gullet in the center of the wheel would allow the back of the band to flap around doing its own thing but I was thinking about how Alex described how a narrow band actually works.
To run a narrow band on center allows the teeth to run in air being unsupported and this also applies to the back of the band but possibly a poor example but one I can think of is to relate the band to a cars tyres; the steering tyres of a car go exactly as dictated by the driver through the steering wheel; any slight deviation of the steering wheel changes the course of the car but what happens to the rear tyres; they simply follow the front tyres whichever direction the front tyres are travelling? Take your hand from the steering wheel and the car then decides which way it wants to travel. The guides can be likened to the steering wheel but only if the band is correctly supported which it isn't if the teeth are allowed to run in fresh air; running the teeth (gullets) on the center of the wheel give the support exactly where its needed and the back of the band simply follows.
I've just made a wooden cat bungalow and used the Wilmac narrow bandsaw a lot during the project. I found cutting straight a doddle but then I wanted to make deep angled cuts for the roof ridge in 7/8" thick block-board having lots of glued joints. I tilted the band saw table and run each piece through freehand aligning the band with the top edge of each panel; I was amazed by how accurately I could cut and each cut was around 20" long. The pictures below show the cat bungalow and the ridge joint can be seen at the front. I've just remembered I also cut the bottom edges of the roof panels at an angle and they can be clearly seen; all I did to finish them was to remove sharp edges with abrasive paper.
There is a very easy way of testing Alex's method; try it out? I found it fascinating to watch Alex cut out the wooden box from thick timber so easily and so quickly then he showed how the pieces slid through each other done with a very narrow band installed; if I can achieve such results I'll be using my band saw a lot. I'm already happy with my straight line cutting and I think any band saw set up correctly will cut straight whatever the length of the cut.
It's interesting to exchange views on this matter though Lawrence because I've now had the privilege of trying both methods out so can speak from personal experience.
Band saw tyres are usually crowned on center but I can't see any reason not to move the crown forward allowing wider bands to be installed? I'm very busy rebuilding my Graduate lathe at the moment but once this is completed next job will be to experiment with and possibly rebuild my Wilmac band saw because its a beauty in cast iron.
Time I got something done in the garage.
I would have thought out of 500 forum members others would have added their views; are we the only two with band saw experience Lawrence?
Kind regards, Col.
Many thanks Lawrence.
Wide bands are much more stable and that's why 4" or 5" bands are used on the big saws because these are designed for doing nothing other than straight line ripping.
Narrow bands though tend to have a mind of their own and I can see your reasoning regarding a narrow band cutting straight due to it being restrained by the guides but in practice a band with a "lead" set up to run on the center of the wheel will cut where it wants and this has been my problem for as long as I've used narrow band saws.
I too would think running the gullet in the center of the wheel would allow the back of the band to flap around doing its own thing but I was thinking about how Alex described how a narrow band actually works.
To run a narrow band on center allows the teeth to run in air being unsupported and this also applies to the back of the band but possibly a poor example but one I can think of is to relate the band to a cars tyres; the steering tyres of a car go exactly as dictated by the driver through the steering wheel; any slight deviation of the steering wheel changes the course of the car but what happens to the rear tyres; they simply follow the front tyres whichever direction the front tyres are travelling? Take your hand from the steering wheel and the car then decides which way it wants to travel. The guides can be likened to the steering wheel but only if the band is correctly supported which it isn't if the teeth are allowed to run in fresh air; running the teeth (gullets) on the center of the wheel give the support exactly where its needed and the back of the band simply follows.
I've just made a wooden cat bungalow and used the Wilmac narrow bandsaw a lot during the project. I found cutting straight a doddle but then I wanted to make deep angled cuts for the roof ridge in 7/8" thick block-board having lots of glued joints. I tilted the band saw table and run each piece through freehand aligning the band with the top edge of each panel; I was amazed by how accurately I could cut and each cut was around 20" long. The pictures below show the cat bungalow and the ridge joint can be seen at the front. I've just remembered I also cut the bottom edges of the roof panels at an angle and they can be clearly seen; all I did to finish them was to remove sharp edges with abrasive paper.
There is a very easy way of testing Alex's method; try it out? I found it fascinating to watch Alex cut out the wooden box from thick timber so easily and so quickly then he showed how the pieces slid through each other done with a very narrow band installed; if I can achieve such results I'll be using my band saw a lot. I'm already happy with my straight line cutting and I think any band saw set up correctly will cut straight whatever the length of the cut.
It's interesting to exchange views on this matter though Lawrence because I've now had the privilege of trying both methods out so can speak from personal experience.
Band saw tyres are usually crowned on center but I can't see any reason not to move the crown forward allowing wider bands to be installed? I'm very busy rebuilding my Graduate lathe at the moment but once this is completed next job will be to experiment with and possibly rebuild my Wilmac band saw because its a beauty in cast iron.
Time I got something done in the garage.
I would have thought out of 500 forum members others would have added their views; are we the only two with band saw experience Lawrence?
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
