Cast Iron Bandsaw Table Extension

cincinnati10 · Post by **cincinnati10** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:57 pm

I bought my Bandsaw 25 years ago. It came with no fence system and no provision for attaching one.

I recently became interested in resawing veneers. I wanted an industrial bandsaw, but it is not in my current budget. So I turned to my SS Bandsaw to see what I could accomlish with it. I needed the ability to add a fence and move it in exact increments toward the blade so that each cut would reference the same smooth, flat and square sides of the stock.

I discovered the Incra Jig — a simple two piece jig with molded interlocking teeth forming sawtooth racks. The jig by design moves in 1/32" increments. I bought it on sale for $40.

While making an extension table to hold the jig, I realized that if I made the jig removable, the extension table could be used to support stock and patterns that I cut on the bandsaw.

I did a complete tear down and overhaul of the bandsaw. This included cleaning the pitch and built up dust from the housing. The bearings were still pristine as I had used the bandsaw for little more than a few hours since it was new. The tires were showing signs of deterioration, so I replaced them. I also added a set of cool blocks which I purchased from Bill Mayo. Finally, I added a new 3 tpi blade.

After alignment, my blueprinted bandsaw was ready for testing. Drift measured amazingly 0°.

I wanted to see how thin of veneers I could consistently cut. The kerf for this blade is about 1/32", so I had to use at minimum 1/16" increments (two-teeth increments). This produced veneers at 0.020" thick — too thin for practical use, but amazing that I could accomplish this on a 25 year old Shopsmith bandsaw. Using every three teeth, the jig moves the stock 3/32" into the blade. This left the veneers at 0.045" thick. The resulting veneers with parallel cuts and fairly smooth faces. I will go with a little thicker cuts to make it easier to joint and edge glue these before attaching them to a substrate.

I was amazed at the results. I have ten photographs so I'll add 5 here and post another message with the other five.

cincinnati10 · Post by **cincinnati10** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:00 pm

Here are the photographs of the re-sawn veneers.

easterngray · Post by **easterngray** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:01 pm

That is fantastic - inspiring! Thanks for the detailed pics - the table extension/Incra jig combo is brilliant. Alec

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:14 pm

Wow! That is one neat extension table for your band saw. If you don't mind I am going to copy this idea. I have the old Incra Jig also and was thinking about using it for re-sawing. I just hadn't gotten around to it yet and I know why now... so I could copy yours.

Thanks for the post and the pictures.

Lodgepole · Post by **Lodgepole** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:49 pm

Great work! Have you considered building the stacking featherboard jig that Nick Engler used in one of his presentations on Hands On? Nick included the plans for it.

cincinnati10 · Post by **cincinnati10** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:39 pm

lodgepole wrote:Great work! Have you considered building the stacking feather board jig that Nick Engler used in one of his presentations on Hands On? Nick included the plans for it.

As the fence Got Closer to the blade I realized I needed a feather board. The bandsaw is very safe, but I hate to have my fingers even close to the moving blade. The nice thing about this design is that the feather board stays in the same location for every pass through the saw.

What is a stacking feather board?

cincinnati10 · Post by **cincinnati10** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:58 pm

easterngray wrote:That is fantastic - inspiring! Thanks for the detailed pics - the table extension/Incra jig combo is brilliant. Alec

I just bought Incra's router fence system with their incremental lead screw positioner. I realized how powerful it would be for resawing but didn't want to invest $400 in a resaw jig. Laguna Tools has a DriftMaster fence system that uses the principle of referencing every veneer cut off the same surface of the wood being cut. It would not fit the SS bandsaw.

I happened to mention this to Perry at Incra Tools. He suggested the original Incra Jig. It's standard retail is about $50. The rest is history.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:34 pm

cincinnati10 wrote:Here are the photographs of the re-sawn veneers.

The result is what Wows me! Super nice cuts! How wide was your 3 TPI blade?

cincinnati10 · Post by **cincinnati10** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:31 am

1/2" x 3 PC (Positive Claw) x 0.025 kerf Timberwolf. $22-$25.

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:06 pm

cincinnati10 wrote:
I did a complete tear down and overhaul of the bandsaw. This included cleaning the pitch and built up dust from the housing. The bearings were still pristine as I had used the bandsaw for little more than a few hours since it was new. The tires were showing signs of deterioration, so I replaced them. I also added a set of cool blocks which I purchased from Bill Mayo. Finally, I added a new 3 tpi blade.

Thanks for the report! BTW I was recently working on a cast-iron bandsaw and I thought the extra mass may have made it smoother than an aluminum-table version(?). Something to think about.

Anyway, regarding your tune-up, was that cool blocks, or the Ceramic blocks you used, for resawing?

Shopsmith Forums

Cast Iron Bandsaw Table Extension

Cast Iron Bandsaw Table Extension

Cast Iron Bandsaw Table Extension — Part 2

Great Set-up

Need for a feather board

Idea for Incra Jig

Bandsaw Resaw Blade