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Cutting curves on a bandsaw with a template and follower
In another thread, I posted about using a bandsaw and follower to cut repeated curves, at that time, I said that I would document the process next time I used it in a new thread. I learned of the technique in a FWW article by Brian Boggs. In this example, I needed to cut 12 parts for six chairs with a simple curve.
I used a piece of 1/4” pdf, laid out the intended curve with a batten, cut the curve on the bandsaw, then smoothed the curve with a Stanley #20 circular plane and glued on some stops to hold the workpiece. This is the template.
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Then I took the opposite piece of the form, realized that it was too small to effectively clamp to the bandsaw table, glued on another piece for the clamp surface, notched out a small, blade sized section on the curved section, and clamped the piece to the bandsaw table, so that the template can ride against it. This is called the follower-not exactly sure why, not sure how it “follows”.
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What is slightly different about the approach the I like is that the follower is on the bottom, instead of on the top, as it is in the Boggs article. This simplifies the holding of the follower and also simplies the switching out of work pieces onto the template...no screws, no double sided tape, etc.
The workpiece sets in the template, and the template rides against the fence to cut perfect curves. Set up time for the template and follower was about 35 minutes, cutting the pieces took about 5.
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You can use the same technique for cutting shapes with complex curves, but the follower needs to be more like a finger, and requires a little bit more English when driving the work piece and template through the blade. Simple curves as above, are just so easy.
