A free lesson in cleaning a bandsaw

[Justin Ludwig]

I decided to resaw a part of log of Osage orange into some staves (gonna make a couple more bows and myself a staff). I fell the 14" diameter tree in '05. What remained was a 1/4 of the truck that is 72" long, 42 pounds, and full of hate and discontent.

I used my 14" Delta BS and a 3/4 Timberwolf blade and it made quick work of the log, but not without stopping every 5-10" and driving shims. At one point I had to pull all the way out and come in from the other side and you can see one shim still stuck in it.
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I plan on resawing those two pieces one more time down the middle.

I always pull the DC off and suck up the table and surrounding areas when I'm done. I usually have a couple blast gates open, but today I only had one.
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Make sure you remove the table insert or at least position the hose so you can remove it with the vacuum.

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All I can say is: I'm glad I have a material handling impeller - it came up unscathed. Use this free lesson wisely, my friends.

I had to walk 50' up the side of the shop through weeds and rain and sift through a HUGE pile of wet shavings to find the insert... all for a photo op. Your welcome.

[Michael W. Clark]

What are your thoughts on working with the Osage? My neighbor has some decent sized lots, but I here it is kind of gnarly.

[paul cottingham]

Ever consider splitting the wood with wedges? You could then further split it with a froe.

[Tom Blank]

"Full of hate and discontent." What a precise and accurate description of Osage.

I used to use it for firewood. It was tough on chain saw chains. Fortunately, had an industrial strength tractor mounted hydraulic splitter to work it up.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

10 y/o Oasage? you're a better man than me...I wouldn't touch it more than it took to put it on a burn pile.

even green, Orsage is full of hate and discontent.

and sticky, nasty sap.

[John C Bush]

makes great fence posts

[Justin Ludwig]

There are much smarter choices of material to work with than what I cut down. That log has only seen two power tools: the chain saw and yesterday's band sawing.

I made 4 walking sticks and 1 bow out of that log, all by hand with draw knives, files, and rasps. I had never hand worked another wood before, so my experience was enlightening to say the least. Keep your tools sharp - it will dull them faster than hickory.

I used to have a blog about the process on my.opera.com but they took down all those pages and I didn't archive it first.


Ever consider splitting the wood with wedges? You could then further split it with a froe.

Yep. I split the original 14" diameter log while it was wet (cut in October and split in November). Took me 2 hrs and a 12 pack of beer, a 10lb sledge and 2 wedges; all the while with my Dad's encouraging words of "give up yet" and "you're a dumba$$." He got a big kick out it.

[Jim Matthews]

...all the while with my Dad's encouraging words of "give up yet" and "you're a dumba$$." He got a big kick out it.
Now you know what your Grampa sounded like when your Dad was a kid.

You're about to make the World's first indestructible walking stick,
complete with 6 - pack counterbalance.

[paul cottingham]

There are much smarter choices of material to work with than what I cut down. That log has only seen two power tools: the chain saw and yesterday's band sawing.

I made 4 walking sticks and 1 bow out of that log, all by hand with draw knives, files, and rasps. I had never hand worked another wood before, so my experience was enlightening to say the least. Keep your tools sharp - it will dull them faster than hickory.

I used to have a blog about the process on my.opera.com but they took down all those pages and I didn't archive it first.



Yep. I split the original 14" diameter log while it was wet (cut in October and split in November). Took me 2 hrs and a 12 pack of beer, a 10lb sledge and 2 wedges; all the while with my Dad's encouraging words of "give up yet" and "you're a dumba$$." He got a big kick out it.

Wow. At least you'll have very strong wood from those splits!

[russell lusthaus]

I can agree with all the bad words spoken here about osage - - except that there is no second choice when it comes to making bows, is there? - - which is why I expect you have it and use it and ... fight with it. I too have much of it drying in my rafters for similar purposes.

Russ

[John K Jordan]

Nice! I took a wye off my dust collector drop for a 2-1/2" hose for bandsaw cleanup so I haven't sucked up the insert yet.

BTW, I love osage orange, for garden stakes and for woodturning, but I've never tried splitting it. I suspect that's required for a bow, right? I've got a couple of 14-18" logs waiting till I fire up the sawmill.

JKJ.

[Phillip Gregory]

I can agree with all the bad words spoken here about osage - - except that there is no second choice when it comes to making bows, is there?
Russ

Osage orange is very common around here in Missouri. It is also called "bodark," a corruption of the French "bois d'arc," meaning "wood used for making bows." Conventional bow making as well as fence posts are what it is good for. That is also ALL it is good for. They are nasty, tough trees and the grapefruit-sized "oranges" wreak havoc on mowers if you hit one.

[Scott DelPorte]

Osage orange has a small but loyal following in the acoustic guitar building community. Its a non traditional wood, but its combination of high stiffness and low damping make it a good for backs and sides.

[Justin Ludwig]

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Looks gnarly, shoots straight. That one is 35# at 28" draw.

[Jeff Ramsey]

Osage makes great cutting boards.

[Cody Colston]

Conventional bow making as well as fence posts are what it is good for. That is also ALL it is good for.

Not all it is good for.

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Bois d' arc is a very interesting wood, in history and in use. I've used it for turnings, boxes and the above rocker.

I keep a shop vac underneath the outfeed table at my bandsaw. I use it for cleaning off the sawdust on the table and around the lower guide. I believe Glenn Bradley uses modification to the dust ports on his bandsaw to effectively collect the sawdust. One of these days I'm going to try it on mine.

[Justin Ludwig]

That's a beautiful rocker, Cody. Well done.http://www.sawmillcreek.org/clear.gif (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2417992&noquote=1)

[Phillip Gregory]

Not all it is good for.

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Bois d' arc is a very interesting wood, in history and in use. I've used it for turnings, boxes and the above rocker.

I keep a shop vac underneath the outfeed table at my bandsaw. I use it for cleaning off the sawdust on the table and around the lower guide. I believe Glenn Bradley uses modification to the dust ports on his bandsaw to effectively collect the sawdust. One of these days I'm going to try it on mine.

That's a pretty rocking chair!

I don't have a particularly high opinion of the trees as they often grew in areas we were clearing out and we would have to remove them. That is not particularly fun as they are usually a matted mess of branches covered all over with long sharp spines. There was a lot of sweat and blood expended in removing them.

This is a public domain picture of what those spines looked like:

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