Do any of you know what WW magazine had an article on a jig for cutting a log on a bandsaw? It was made out of 3/4" plywood that was L shaped and showed how to cut a log while anchored in the jig. I have the magazine buried some where and can't remember what issue and magazine it was in. Thanks for your help.
WOOD issue 176 May 2007
Thanks a lot Mike.
Will Here's a link to a log sled for use on a bandsaw.
I saw a picture of a bandsaw table set to about 45 degrees with a high fence forming a V. The sawyer was pushing a log through the long way.
Being new to the bandsaw, I would like to first ask the group if this practice is safe, and is the positioning and weight of the log in the V sufficient to keep it straight? If not for a cut down the middle, how about for a lesser cut to produce a flat on one side?
TIA Michael
Not safe in my estimation. You need something more than friction to counter the tendency to roll. As the owner of a chainsaw with a bar longer than the swing of my lathe, I can get a nice flat area to reference by ripping and refining with a plane as necessary.
Traditional anti-roll is the use of tapered dogs. Would seem to be a relatively easy thing to fabricate.
Hi Michael
The real problem with a rough log as we use them, is just that, they are not round, straight or even and without bumps or warts. That's the reason the logs that get sawn in a saw mill, are positioned and dogged down, than sawn to get a flat straight surface, canted, and again sawn flat, they than can be cut any which way that's needed. Now we usually do use smaller and shorter logs for our turning use, but we still have that same problem, and I'll try to explain why using the V like setup as you describe is NOT a good way for rough log cutting, it can however be used for straight and square lumber in that way Just take a scrap of paper and draw a 90 degree V on it point down, just like this V, now draw a line down the centre of the V, vertical, that line is the band saw blade OK, now we place a log in that V and start sawing a little way, ( yes you use your imagination here) now there is a bump on the log, and now the log has to go to one side for that bump to enter into the V, so OK we move the log, but the saw blade is in the log remember ?, now how is that blade going to move over as we are moving the log to accommodate that bump, or as the case might be, a lower part or whatever a rough log happens to have, if this log was just nice and straight, you could do it, but logs are very seldom without bumps or twists etc., That's just the way I look at it anyway. Hope that was some help.
Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo
Leo, If the log is carried in a v-trough, the log is stable. The OP didn't give enough details. Your objection posits sliding the log. His -could- posit sliding the trough.
Not enough information.
Frankly, I think the established manner of clamping by the ends and advancing on miter slots / t-slots make the best plan.
Bill
Hi Bill
True if the log sat in a trough and the trough was slit through the V formed by the table and fence, however that is not what I read in his post, and so my reply was to what he implied IMO.
Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo
O and one other thing Bill, that trough would not be a trough for very long if you'd run it through the saw ;-))
Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo
Upon re-reading (and several hours of long overdue sleep) I understand what the OP had written better and I think that your interpretation is the correct one.
Bill
Well, you were doing just fine a minute ago and then you got carried away. That trough could remain a trough indefinitely as long as the logs sawn in it are shorter than it is.
Bill
Hi Bill It sure would be a pain to do any other sawing, if you would have to dismantle the sled every time, o well never say never, there are always possible work arounds I guess, but it surely would not be my way of splitting a log in half.
Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo
From the looks of the thread, it has gone quite a way from "I saw a picture of a bandsaw table set to about 45 degrees with a high fence forming a V. The sawyer was pushing a log through the long way."
All those years of sawmill tech were right.
Hello,
the way I slice log is as follow:
Step 1: with the log on the floor, use a hand held power planner to strighten and flaten 1 side of the log (no need to be extremly flat or wide.... Step 2: screw a peice of scrap wood there (ply or MDF) so that it overlaps a little bit on both side of the log. Step 3: prep a low fence on your band saw. I personally just screew a peice of 2*4 on the inside side of the table with 2 holes that I have there.... Step 4: square your log. with the board that you have just screwed on the log facing down, slide it agaist the fence to slice both the log AND the board at 90 degree from the board.
note on the fence: as said above, I personally just screew a peice of 2*4 on the inside side of the table with 2 holes that I have there.... of course, this means that the fence is "fixed" I then add peices of wood on the side of the fence to "tune" the width between my "fence" and the blade... the good thing is that, if I make a slice in my log, and then add a peice of wood of 3/4 on my fence and slice again... I just cut a slice of 3/4.. great way to easely select widths when slicing...
you now have a log with a peice of wood on one side and, at 90 degree a cut which is aligned between the wood and the log... you will now turn the log 90 degree so that the area that you just cut will be on the table. the screwed wood will e used as a straight guide against the fence.
cyrille
What about the article in the May issue of Wood Magazine? Have any of you built and tried out the jig mentioned and how does it work for cutting logs? Thanks
Not mine, either. I own a chainsaw and a backyard. I can knock the corners off the log and then put the hacked apart log in a cradle and drop a big Forstner down in it square enough for my purposes. If the face is hacked beyond all sense, I can hit it with a few licks of a plane to get it back 'sort of' flat.
It would be possible (but not a first choice!) to make a sled with a v-trough centered on the blade ... and maybe even adjustable to cut out the pith.
I was just looking for ways it could be done. I still haven't seen any reasons for -why- to do it. The standard 'grip & rip' fixture will accomplish the same goal and additional operations as well.
The OP has grown silent on the thread. And so shall I.
Bill
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