Bandsawing to a Line

[Tom Bender]

The task; mark from a paper pattern and cut out 8 curved legs. To make the marks follow the pattern and not the grain I always sand first. To follow a paper pattern with a pencil is still prone to error and the resulting line on the wood is not great, especially when the saw throws a little sawdust on it. So this time I tried a felt tipped marker. The line was inconsistent, but the edge of the line was perfect! And it was easy to follow.

[Doug Garson]

Why not attach the pattern to 1/8" mdf or plywood, cut just outside the line and then sand to the line. Then tracing the outline on the work piece is easy with pen, pencil or sharpie. Another idea is to cover the cut line with painters tape and trace the outline on the tape. This helps with dark woods where the line may be hard to see.

[Dan Scott]

Or you can use a thicker piece of MDF and pattern saw them. Eight legs is probably worth the effort. Brian Boggs had an excellent article on the subject in Fine Woodworking a few months ago.

[Doug Garson]

Great idea Dan, here's a video for a simple jig to pattern cut on a bandsaw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wycIJa-T-Oc

[Derek Cohen]

You could also use a router table with a pattern bit (in the same way as the bandsaw jig, above). This will produce a finished piece, where the bandsaw jig does not. You could do both, of course, as the pattern does need to be rough cut before use on the router table.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Phil Mueller]

I do like you Tom, sometimes making the pattern with fiber board. It still results in a fairly roughed out piece fat from the line, but I’m one of those guys that love nothing more than hours with a spokeshave or two or three. It’s probably one of my favorite woodworking tasks.

[Jim Becker]

The one danger with using a market is penetration of the ink...don't do that if "the line" is where you will be removing very little stock in your final shaping process.

[Mike OMelia]

My approach is to never cut to the line. I use a template that I glue to the wood. Cut close, but leave some margin. Then spindle sand to the mark. This guy provides a tool for printing large templates: https://woodgears.ca/bigprint/

[Myk Rian]

I use carpet tape to attach the workpiece to the template. It's removable.