band saw snake

[Brandon Speaks]

I got one of those carter stabilizers for christmas and the thing is awesome. I was trying to do one of the snakes that Alex Snodgrass does in his demo and the cuts are easy enough but the thing just comes apart, there is clearly something that I am missing in the process.

[John K Jordan]

I got one of those carter stabilizers for christmas and the thing is awesome. I was trying to do one of the snakes that Alex Snodgrass does in his demo and the cuts are easy enough but the thing just comes apart, there is clearly something that I am missing in the process.

Brandon,

I watched the Snodgrass video long ago and while energetic and charismatic, he impressed me as someone trying to impress me rather than teach me. I'll keep my opinions about his opinions on how to set up a bandsaw to myself...

Do you have pictures of the individual pieces? Maybe they would show the problem. The pieces should interlock and stay together.

I walked down to the shop just now and made a test snake with the scroll saw. I used cuts similar to what I remember from the video. Maybe they are close.

I started with a 1x1 block of basswood.
Photos: Individual pieces, some pieces together, all assembled.
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If the little "key" is pinned into place on the first block the second one can't slide out.

I don't remember all the details, but it seemed like he was starting his cut near the center of the narrowed section of the last piece, making long sweeping entry and exit cuts, long thinner section, and a roundish knob on the end. On the one I did, each piece is locked into place by the two pieces behind it - the second one back keeps a block from sliding out of the first one back. The key must be long enough to hold the second block.

I didn't have time to try to make one that didn't interlock properly so I'm just guessing: Are you making the thinner section long enough and starting the cut back far enough?

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

I decided to cut more segments on the test block and shape the thing a bit. (And it's a grandson's 5th birthday today :))

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JKJ