New band saw. What's it for.

[N80]

I was just given a like-new Powermatic 14" band saw. Looks like a nice piece of equipment. Weighs about 200 pounds. It is for wood only, unfortunately.

I do modest wood working from time to time. I have one of those compound/mitre/chop saw deals that I can do a lot with. I have an ancient drill press and basic electric hand tools like circular saws, sanders, drills jig saws etc. I can get most of what I need done with these tools.

I did not need or want a band saw but it was free to whoever would haul it off.

So my question is this: What tasks are band saws especially designed to do better than other tools like table saws and radial arm saws etc?

If I find ways to use it, I'll keep it. If not, I'll pass it along to my son-in-law who helped me pick it up and move it into my shop. He was eyeing it enviously.

Thanks for the help.

 

[747driver]

Wow...you scored a home run on this bandsaw !! Powermatic is top of the line wood working tools. Its a keeper...

 

[HCJtractor]

Bandsaws are pretty versatile. Primarily, most use for curved cuts. You can change blades to allow tighter curves to be cut. Basically they excel at any curved cut, any radius. Another useful application is re-sawing, or cutting a board vertically, like making a two by six into two one by sixes, if that makes sense. You use a wide blade for this. This is used to cut thin veneers from thicker stock, or slicing a thick board as if you were cutting pages from books. But it can be used for many cuts, and generally is safer than other saws. But they do require some specific skills and have a learning curve. I think they require more skill to fully utilize than most other saws, but it can do many things well. Your saw is a very good one.

 

[N80]

Thanks guys. It came from a wealthy fellow who gets into hobbies and moves on to something else. His wife wanted it out of her garage and gave it to anyone who would take it away. It took two people and a truck to do it.

I'll see how it fits into my typical projects. Re-sawing is not usually one of my needs. It does have a fence and the table tilts so it would be useful cutting some angles.

 

[Turbys_1700]

We used Powermatic in the furniture industry for production work. Great industrial brand. Set up with the fence you can rip but like previously mentioned the most typical used is for curved parts. You didn't hit a home run. It was a grand slam.

 

[HCJtractor]

I do lots of woodworking and use my bandsaw the least. Yet there are times when no other saw can do what it does. And if I was more skillful using it, I’d probably use it more. It is a very good saw for really quick cuts that can be done by hand, and safely. And if you cut any curve, it’s the best.

 

[N80]

This gentleman typically buys stuff he considers the best. Anyway, I've got a big built-in bookshelf job coming up. There will be several fascia type boards across the top with some long gentle decorative curves (to match some valences already in the room) so this saw should help with that.

It is Powermatic's smallest and lowest end saw and it still retails for around $1400. It even came on a rolling base that can be raised and lowered. It came with an extra belt, but no extra blades. I'm assuming the blade on it was an all purpose one but will have to research that.

 

[Thomas]

Nice darn nice grift :thumbsup: you may not have use for it now but you will later.

 

[bunyip]

Blades are not expensive, I use mine a lot fot decorative items.
Blade tension is critical so you don't get wandering cuts.
No kickback but watch your fingers and check the blade guides regularly.
Forcing work through will break blades, just ease through gently, it wil let you know if it is not happy.
Drop the blade guides as close to the workpiece as possible.
Keep the rubber on the wheels clean and check alignment often, adjust as neccessary which is an easy task.

 

[JohnBuffaloMN]

I just bought a used homemade bandsaw - it was part of a lot of tools - and am now curious to see how well made it is. I've not done a lot of wood working, but am moving slowly that direction with part of my shop. So many things I'd like to be able to create.

Here's a "Bandsaw Clinic" that'll help you get the thing set up properly. He demonstrates some cuts that you'd only be able to do with a bandsaw... and goes into a lot of stuff I didn't know about bandsaws.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Older American make Powermatic tools are much better made than the newer china made saws...

Bandsaws are also good for re-sawing too... You do need a "proper" band and a good "tune up" to get nice quality re-saws though...

SR

 

[HCJtractor]

I would get a book on Bandsaws. They’re several good ones available. To me, bandsaws require more care in setting them up, maintaining them and using them. They are a little finicky, as far as blade tension, the position of the guide blocks, the tracking of the blade, etc. When cutting important curves, I like using the bandsaw on thin pattern material, then using a router with a pattern bit for the real thing. It saves lots of sanding curves. But that’s another topic. Remember the tighter the radius, the narrower the blade. And yes, the stock blades are general purpose, but probably won’t cut a tight curve. The fence on a bandsaw isn’t as critical as on a table saw. In fact, band saw blades have a mind of their own and will “track” a certain line. This is why they require some practice and feel to use. And if you buy other blades, have fun learning how to fold them!

 

[dstig1]

They are versatile. If you like working with hand tools like planes and chisels, then a BS is often the only power tool you may own.

They are pretty much the safest of all power tools. There are only 2 main safety rules: 1 - never push with your hand in line (into) the blade. If you have to do this, use a push stick. The blade don't differentiate between oak and bone... 2 - All work must be in contact with the table at the point the blade hits it. If it isn't, it will be in about 1 microsecond after you make contact with the blade! There is a third one when doing thin resaw as the blade can wander out of the face of the board in certain circumstances so one does not want your hand there either, but that is a less common use unless you are cutting a lot of thin veneer. Push sticks or blocks again...

You can use them for cutting curves and even some scroll work (though extensive or really tight scroll work really requires a scroll saw), as well as general ripping and cross cutting. The downside to some of that is that a BS is not as "tight" as something like a table saw, so you may need to do a little prep work if you want really clean rips or cross cuts. There is a factor with a BS called "lead" in which the blade doesn't always cut quite in line with the fence, for example. A lot of fences are adjustable for this so you can tweak them a couple degrees or so so that they are in alignment and your cuts will be smooth and even, but this takes some time to work on and also can change with each blade you use. if this is critical, you need to use some decent scrap to dial it in prior to cutting the real pieces.

Resawing is the one thing that is really hard to do well on any other saw. 2 reasons for that include the height of the throat opening you can get on a BS for wider boards and also the much thinner kerf the BS blade takes than most other saws. A TS blade is often around 1/8" whereas a BS blade is almost never more than 1/16" and often closer to 1/32". That thinner kerf can be critical in certain circumstances where you really need to get the most out of a board for some reason - even when not resawing. When resawing, the thin kerf is the difference between getting 2 useful boards out of one vs only one, for example.

All that said, I have 2 bandsaws in my wood shop (and a horiz/vert metal cutting one too). One is a bigger 17" Grizzly that is set up for resaw all the time with a nice 1" Timberwolf blade. That one gets the most use by far. The other one is an ancient 14" Delta that I keep a very narrow ~1/4" blade on for curves and other detail work. Rarely used, but a godsend when needed. The resaw is used mainly for resawing (duh), but there are occasionally other needs where it is very handy like dealing with odd shaped things. With only one BS, you can swap a blade and have a totally different tool in just a few minutes. That is where easy blade changes are important.

So a few things to consider...

Enjoy!
-Dave

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Possible, you could cut metals using the proper tooth count metal cutting blade. I would wonder the why wood cutting only. Principles are the same, just another learning cuve.

Ron

 

[dstig1]

Principles the same but the speed isn't. Metal cutting bandsaws run MUCH slower blade speeds than wood cutting ones. Now you could re-gear (or re-pulley) it to slow it down to metal speeds, for sure, but most wood cutting bandsaws are not really set up like you would want for much serious metal cutting. It can work, but not the best fit. Delta used to make a wood/metal bandsaw in their classic 14" frame that had a gear box with a lever you could use to swap between the 2 preset speeds...for example.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have cut a fair amount of aluminum on my 14" Delta BS, I do have it geared down a bit and a bigger motor on it though... Also, I do keep bi-metal bands on it...

I have a metal cutting BS, so I would never cut steel on my Delta...

SR

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't have one. I thought about getting one many years ago, but could never really justify the cost of buying it, finding a place to put it, and actually having a need for it. My original reasoning for wanting one was because Norm had one on The New Yankee Workshop, and he used it for all sorts of things. But in reality, I've never actually needed one. I use a router to cut big round circles the few times I've needed to do that. I've been able to use my table saw or even a circular saw to rip a board down in size, so the actual need really isn't there for me.

Since it was free, I would set it up in your shop, and see if you actually use it in the next year or so. If not, give it to your son and free up the floor space for something else. In my world, shelves are more important then a tool that will never get used.

 

[bunyip]

I replaced the steel guide blocks with some red gum soaked in linseed oil, any hardwood would do, saves the kerf if/when you get a little over zealous pushing work through, there are synthetic blocks available but these are free and work, I think maple would work well.

 

[LD1]

Lots of good things mentioned, only one to add unless I missed it...

A bandsaw allows precise cutting of inside corners WITHOUT over-cutting with a circular blade.

 

[mcfarmall]

Nice score! Take the tension off the blade completely when not using the saw. Build a nice circle cutting jig for your bandsaw...you will find many uses for it.