Once in a while things actually work out

[Greg Urwiller]

In an attempt to finally use my Grizzly 1073 16" BS that's just been sitting for the last couple of years since I bought it used, I ordered two new "good" blades to use on projects. I had to cut out 2 church pew ends out of 1 1/2" oak, so I ordered a Lennox Diemaster II, 3/8" wide with a 12/14t variable pitch(?). I thought that it might have too many teeth per inch, but, it really worked quite well. The old blade that was on it when I got it wouldn't cut soft pine, so I really didn't know what to expect. The pew ends were a little unwieldy to handle but the blade cut easily. There's probably a better tooth/pitch to use but I was very satisfied.

The second blade I ordered was a 1/2" 3/4t Woodslicer. I've got some mission pieces I'd planned on trying, one being a Morris chair. I'd figured on trying the lock miter for the legs, and found a jig setup in a craftsman style furniture book that looked like it would make it doable for my skills (or lack of). But, I thought if I could resaw some QSWO and veneer the legs, I'd probably be better off. I just happened to find a Wood magazine from 1998 in my stockpile that had a resaw jig project. Well, I built the thing and tried it out tonight. Now I've never tried to resaw before but as far as I'm concerned this thing worked great. On the Griz I think I can only resaw about 8", but tonight I used a 6 1/2" piece just to try it. I cut a 1/8" thick x 12" piece just as easy as can be. Wow! Cuts sweet. I'm betting I can go thinner if need be but this ought to be just right for the legs I'll be making. Finally I feel like this bandsaw is going to be an asset rather than just sitting there collecting dust. But it makes a difference when you spend the money and buy a "GOOD" blade. Too bad it's taken me this long to find out. Greg

[Justin Coon]

Can you post a pic of your resaw jig? I'm needing to make one as well...

[Ole Anderson]

Have fun with the lock miters, they are tough to set up on your router table until you know how they work. It wasn't until two projects after I tried them on my 4" QSWO bed posts that I actually could do a decent lock miter.

[Greg Urwiller]

I'll try to get a couple of pics of it later in the weekend. I know there's a lot of different styles out there, but the only reason I tried this one was because I happened on the old magazine when I was going thru my boxes looking for something else. I've kept most of my woodworking magazines over the years for reference and going thru them the other day I found several projects that I'm interested in. I've got several lined up now!

The lock miter has intrigued me for some time. But I've always been hesitant to try it until I found the craftsman book which showed a jig to use which should stabilize the piece and make it a lot easier to hang on to. I've read posts before about veneering legs, then one showed up here last week about it that convinced me to try the resaw jig. After the way the Timberslicer worked I believe I'll go that way for now. The first time I tried the jig I neglected to tighten it down enough when I tried a small piece to see if it was going to work. Then when I went to the 6 1/2" x 12" piece, the one end slid over a bit, canting the blade so I cut a couple of wedge shaped pieces before I noticed it. Once I readjusted it and clamped it down better, I resawed the wedges, straightening them out and cutting off a piece just over 1/16" on one edge to paper thin on the other. The Woodslicer cut thru it perfectly, never wobbling, gave a very smooth cut.

[Dan Rude]

WOOD that I just received in the mail has an article on setting the Lock Miter up. I splurged and bought Allen's Jig, I haven't used it yet though so I can't say how it works.
Dan

[Greg Urwiller]

Here's some pics of my resaw jig. I used an old shelf of 3/4" plywood I had laying there, a couple of 3/4" square pcs of oak, and some 1/4'' hardboard. The oak pcs just attach to the front of the ply base, with a BS cut in the end of the one. The pc you're cutting runs on top of the oak pcs. The fence base has 2 hardboard "keys" glued to the bottom that run in 2 dadoes on the jig base. The jig base has 2 carriage bolts buried from the bottom up and go thru 2 slots in the fence base so you can lock the fence down after you've adjusted your thickness. Now that I know this is going to work I'll probably get some 3/4" Baltic Birch and remake the jig so it's all "purty"! What I like about this one is, since I've never resawed before, all I've had to do is hold the piece flat against the fence and go. Very simple to guide.
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