I'm going to show you my top five uses for a bandsaw
Now a bandsaw can excel it cuts like no other tool can in the shop and it also
helps you repurpose and optimize lumber
Say - and I'll show you just how I use it
Now the first way that I use my bandsaw is probably one you think about the most it's cutting curves and circles
let me show you how I do it a
Long sweeping curve like this can be a nice
Accent or design element in your work and without a bandsaw this would typically be cutting with a jigsaw
But using a bandsaw gives you a bit more control and it makes a whole lot less mess now
That's because a bandsaw cuts down word and it pulls the dust below the table
While a jigsaw cuts upward and it pulls the dust up onto the cut line
With a clear line, you can be more accurate and you can get some pretty good results
once you get the hang of following the line
I don't do a lot of long curves
but I do use rounded corners quite a bit a
Can of finish has a nice radius for a 1 by 4 or similar sized board
After tracing the curve on the corner of one board
You can stack it on top of one or more other boards to cut them all at the same time
Now this can be a big time-saver compared to a jigsaw
Because with a jigsaw you have to cut one board at a time do the length of the short blade
on the other hand with a bandsaw you can cut four six or even more at a time with ease and
When you're done you just need to do a little bit of cleanup on the
sander and you've got a nice rounded corner
That's consistent across all the boards. Now if you cut circles the bandsaw can really show up in aces
You can lay out the circles and cut them by hand. Just following along your line
Just like I did with the curve but that isn't really a lot better than doing it with a jig saw
The thing that sets the bandsaw part is being able to use a
circle cutting jig to get a close to perfect circle every time
By locking down a pivot point on the table
You just have to turn the workpiece and it gives you consistent results without the need for
Adjustments or slowing down to follow a line like you do when you cut it by hand
There are a lot of different ways to make circle cutting jigs
But the most basic is using a cut nail in a board that rests on the table
Enjoying a small hole on the underside or the piece that you want to cut
You can then put the workpiece on top of the cut nail and just rotate it to make the cut
You can also make these adjustable and do a variety of different sizes
There's some great videos out there on how to do it and I'll link to a couple of them below
now the second one I use my bandsaw is for
Resoling a Riesling is basically just taking a larger piece of lumber and splitting it into two or more pieces
Let me show you how I do it and why I do it
this is probably the way that I use my
Bandsaw the most so let's say I want some 3/8 of an inch pieces for a cherry box
But what I have on hand is this 1-inch thick piece of cherry
I can lay out a mark on the center line on the board and then just split it in half
there are a couple different ways to resaw but I like using a tall resaw fence and
a 5/8 of an inch three teeth per inch blade
it's important to check and set up both your fence and the blade to make sure
that they're 90 degrees to the table for a good resaw
And then you need a good right angle on your piece of wood as well now on this cheery board
I had a flat face but the edge was rough and it wasn't square at all a
Couple passes on the jointer gave me a square reference to go against both the fence and the table
Now here's where the Reese all capacity of your saw comes into play
I have an older 14 inch bandsaw with an MDF table and a fence on it
that I used for cutting small parts and tight curves
But the resaw on this thing is only five inches with that table
Now the newer bandsaw is like this 14 inch bandsaw that jet sent me as a sponsor
This video has a much larger resaw
This model can go all the way up to 13 inches
And it's got a lot of other great features that you'll see me use today
I'll have a link down below in the description and you can find out all about this JET Bandsaw
I move the fence in and I eyeball where the blade will hit the workpiece and I land it right on that mark that I laid
out in the center
Using a feather board can help keep the board pressed against the fence
But it isn't totally necessary as I'll show you in just a minute
Making the cut was slow and steady pressure it gives the best results
if you push too hard the blade can bog down and then it will start to wander and it might even burn or
Bind up in your workpiece and hey
If you're new here and you like what you're seeing be sure to subscribe and say hello down in the comments
After three sawing I have two pieces that are just under half an inch and
I can run these through my planer to get them
down to 3/8 of an inch and I got minimal material loss and I use
some boards that I already had on hand instead of
Having to go out and buy new material
Every stalling isn't just for small parts or veneers though
I got this 6x6 cedar post for free from leftovers of a pergola build and the 6x6 material is bigger than I need
I'm not gonna really be able to build anything with it, but I can definitely use some 2x6 cedar.
I set the fence to 1 in 3/4 of an inch
And I made two cuts on the beam giving me three oversized 2 by 6 boards
Again with a few passes on the planer. I'll have some nice usable
material from a free piece of scrap that I was given them
The third thing I use my bandsaw for is cutting notches
Making a stopped cut and a piece of wood is actually kind of a hard thing to do
Let me show you why and let me show you how I do it
Now if you've ever tried to make a notch cut on a table saw, you know
It's not easy clean or particularly safe
You have to either pull the workpiece back or turn off the saw after you hit your layout line
and I don't recommend doing that since you can induce kickback when you're trying to do it and
Even if you do it safely since that blade cuts at an arc the topside might look okay
But the backside of the notch will have the over cuts on it making it only suitable for pieces with one show side
Using a bandsaw is safe and just as accurate here
I've reversed the fence and switched it to the low setting
So I can lower the blade guides down close to the workpiece and make sure I have the most control possible
Now a bandsaw cuts straight downward
So there's no concern of kickback when you stop and pull the board back and since it cuts straight down
It also leaves a clean cut on both sides
The cut edges are gonna be a little bit rough from the set of the teeth
But that can easily be cleaned up with sandpaper or sharp. Chisel
The fourth way that I use my bandsaw is really a form of wrestling but it is book matching
It's when you take a piece of wood split it in half and it opens up
Just like a book and its really great for figured wood
let me show you how book matching is great for highlighting the movement
and figure of the wood grain in a unique way and
For this piece the faces are still rough and I don't want to risk a lot of tear out on the jointer or planer
So I can just leave them in the rough State
I set my combination square close to the centerline of the board edge and then I marked a line the length of the board
next I flipped the square over to the other side and I repeated this I
ran the opposite edge over the jointer to get a flat edge for solid reference on the bandsaw table and
Then instead of using the fence. I grabbed to push blocks on either side
of the board to guide it through the cut now
This technique works great
If you don't have a nice high resaw fence like this jet does and you can adjust as necessary
Along the cut and keep the blade as close to that center line as you can
Afterwards the cut pieces match perfectly and the two halves look amazing together and
By gluing them together and servicing them flat
This would make an awesome top to a box or insert in a frame and panel cabinet door
Now the fifth way that I use my bandsaw is really kind of a combination of a few of these but it is
Repurposing old lumber or lumber from logs. This is a cut-off
I'm gonna show you how I'm gonna take this cut off and we're gonna make it into some usable wood using the bandsaw
Now this was an off cut from a walnut log that a local sawyer gave me for free
I get a lot of wood given to me for free of you
Haven't noticed the SAP load was pretty rotten, but there's some solid hardwood
in there and there's this really cool knot in it, too.
I eyeballed the piece and I decided I could get some panels with a
knot in them and then see what else I could get from the offcut
I Marked for the first cut and then I went over to the bandsaw.
I split it down the line and this gave me two pieces one with the knot in it and the other with some clear wood
The two pieces now had rough faces so I ran them both through the jointer to make sure I had a flat face for reference
Then using the flat reference surface on the small piece. I cut it into three small half-inch thick boards again
This would be great for a little box or something like that. I
Switched over to the chunk with a knot in it and I flipped it on its side to get some wide panels
After cutting the first panel, I saw that the knot was really looking cool
So I went ahead and I cut two more out of it as well
Now there was a good bit of solid wood left in that smaller chunk, it'll be perfect for some turning blanks
I used my combination square to see what size blanks the piece would
give me and it ended up I could cut a pair of two
By two blanks out of it
Now all-in I turned this off cut into three small boards that I could use for the sides of a box
three panels with different knots in them that can leave open or fill with epoxy for a really cool look and
a pair of long turning blanks or for smaller ones
This is why I love having a bandsaw. You can turn leftover scrap lumber into really great usable pieces
If you want to check out some more of my videos they have another one queued up for you right there
if you're not subscribed to the channel already
I'd love to have you as part of the team and until next time guys get out there and build something awesome
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