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Just saw this in the latest ezine from Woodworker's Journal- The entire article is here- http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/monarch-gauge-promises-simpler-band-saw-blade-tensioning/

Had a chance to get in the shop so I put together some scraps I had to make this band saw box.The bulk of the box is African mahogany with a strip of cherry down the middle. As things moved along I got a bit ahead of myself and started to cut the drawers out of the top slider before cutting off the front and back . Found enough cherry to make the front and back of the top slider using the damaged piece as a template. The handles are black walnut.

In cleaning up my shop after 6 months of large projects I came across my Rikon 10 inch fence which had managed to get stuffed behind it. Sure I probably don't use it much, but is nice to have when needed. So I looked for a place to put this thing. As I am doing so I remind myself this only works if you can have it easy to get to. So in thinking about placement this was a primary concern. My friend gave me 30 or so of these magnets they use to install a diaper on the forklifts at his work. They don't like oil on the new concrete. Seems they just chunk the old ones. The new kit comes with new ones so why bother? Enter a good friend who remembers magnets are used for several things in my shop. Taking two of these I had a means to attach, but be about to easily remove, this fence holder. Perfect! Now I go to my bins and find a short piece of Kreg channel which fits the one end. Then raided the aluminum bar scrap bin and found a short piece for the opposite end. Now I have metal on both sides which the fence can squeeze and stay put. All that was left was a chunk of wood and some paint. To prevent the magnet from scratching the BS I cut to fit a piece of tape. Simple but effective. Now the fence holder itself is a fair tip. But the real tip is making good use of space, and making in this case a fence, useful because it is easy to get to and you can see it. Without being in the way.

Today I made a band saw box out of a piece of domestic cherry fire wood. Herb

Need some help from the folks. A couple years ago I purchased an Enco 199-9001 14" band saw for $40. It needed cleaned up and a trunion. Called Enco got the trunon and this thing worked pretty good. Now the upper guide block ( pot metal ) broke. Called Enco, the model and all parts are discontinued. Went to Lowes, looked at the Porter Cable one they carry, looked close enough to swith the complete assembly and I would be back in business. Looked up all the parts, made a list and called the local Dewalt repair center, talked to a nice guy on the phone, gave him the list and most of the parts were back ordered. They have been back ordered for a while and he noted this may mean they are discontinued also. So I am back to looking for a upper guide block or upper assembly again. This saw is not the best, but works good and gets a fair amount of use. ANy help, ideas or information is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

Hi guys. I love old stuff namely old machinery. I’m getting this Parks bandsaw from a friend and wondering what anyone can tell me about it. Age? What’s original? What isn’t? Ok to paint it or worth more not to? Cateloges out there? Etc? thanks in advance! Chris

Hello All, I am new to the forum and I am happy to be part of the club. I love to restore antiques and decided to tackle my second band saw project. My first was a 1941 Craftsman which I use on a regular basis. I picked up this saw from a friend who is buying a motor home and becoming a snowbird. He had owned the saw since he picked up from hid dad about 40 years ago. I have been told that this is a Parks 20" band saw that was made around the turn of the century. It is made of cast iron and weighs about three hundred pounds. The original wood bed rotted many years ago and was replaced with 1" box tubing. I plan to paint this beast dark forest green and dark burgundy. The current motor is an old Dayton but I found a period correct motor for it here in town. I am having some custom 129" blades made from a company that charges about $20 ea. I am still looking for more information about this saw so if anyone has more info on this beast it would be greatly appreciated. I really would like to know the year it was made. This saw should be a great addition to my shop.

My own dad, John H. Morris in his shop we built together back in 2005. He lives in the mountains nearby, he is Papa Jack to my wife, Grandpa to our kids, and at 86 years old, he's doing pretty danged good. He loves building birdhouses for the locals where he lives, and he has earned the nickname "Birdman" and he wears it proudly. Actually he didn't even know he had the nickname till just a few weeks ago, he heard it through the grapevine and he was tickled to death to know that he has an official nickname in his community. Love ya Dad! Just thought I'd share to you all my Dad. Class act he is, he loves solitude, self reliance, his garden, and building these little bird homes. Next to the shop is his single wide trailer that was pulled up on the property in the late 60's, the trailer is old, but he made it home. He's been living there since 2004. Dad, smiling for the camera Dad's shop looking out the front door He has a work station with the belt sander, palm sander, and cutoff saw, that only he knows why it's set up that way, for his birdhouse, and he gets a lot done DeWalt RAS, I know I know, don't say it, the blade guard, I used to get on him bout this, but he's been doing this since I was a kid, I used to cut wood all day myself without the blade guard on his RAS as a kid in his other shop, matter of fact I learned some of my worse safety or non safety practices from Dad, and later learned through working in the trades, what safety really meant, but hey, like I said, you aint gonna convince an 86 year old man otherwise, is what it is. I did however get on him about using a 10" blade on an 8" RAS, he did heed my warning on that, promptly switched them out. Dad, with his hands on his hips, he walks around most the day like that, I think he got that from his own dad, my dad was raised on a farm in the Catskill's of New York, the farmers all walked around like that when they got old. @aaronc, some of the antler I told you about. See, hands on the hips still, told ya! Old hand made three wheel band saw I gave my dad, I got from an estate that turned over hand made machinery to me to distribute to folks in need, I asked them if my dad could have this old three wheeler, they loved the fact it was going to dad. Sent them pics of Dad with the BS and they loved it. The saw works great by the way. Just another view out the front of the shop This is shot from his trailer, looking out, he actually has a stick built sun room built off the side of the single wide, he spends all of his time there with his dog Susie. He watches TV, reads, surfs the net, and he has this view, sorry the image is blurry, but it kind of gives ya an idea of what he sees every day, just beautiful country up there, 45 minutes from us. Thanks for reading!

I have just gotten a Ryobi BS901 Bandsaw for short money. It needs tires and maybe a drive belt and a blade. Ryobi does not make these parts anymore. I have seen them on Ebay and some other sites but was wondering if you folks might be able to recommend good places to buy these parts. I don't see specific dimensions for these parts and am hesitant to buy based on 'fits most 9" bandsaw' verbiage. Thank You.

Having a problem with my bandsaw cutting thru 6 inch pecan. Almost from the first entry was cutting slow and when 2-3 inch got a pinch and stopped the blade in wood.....stuck. Motor slowed before stop and slow feed did not help. Put on a new Woodslicer blade and started to cut then did the same again after 10 to 14inches. Posted in AAW forum and got quick responses so did not get a chance to get here. This is a Grizzly 14 inch GO55 saw and someone else had the same problem. The answer is in the stock bearings. The thrust bearing is mounted horizontal to the blade and the blade rolls on the side of the bearing. Apparently the last time I adjusted the guide bearings they were shifted forward and pushed the blade forward causing it to slip past the thrust bearing. Well that did it and the blade slipped past the bearing causing the guide bearings to flatten the set of the blade. The solution I hope is new bearing setup from Carter Products, will be in tomorrow.

Time for another tip from Magnolia Woodturners . Many times the bandsaw will present problems on cutting blanks for the lathe so in this article are a few tips and how to to make that job easier and safer. http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=turning&file=articles_750.shtml

Boy these Cornhole games sure are popular. Our neighbor's daughter is getting married this May and they asked me if I could build a couple Cornhole boards for them, they are going to have games at the wedding reception. I only first heard of this game because of @John Moody, John is the resident Cornhole builder in our community. So I know what little I do know by John's work, and I just scanned the internet really quick to get the regulation sizes of everything and I set to building their boards from wood I had left over from other projects. I have not had a full day in the shop in two years, really, no kidding, life has been quite a challenge and I was so happy to just get this day to make some dust on such a basic project, I loved it. I had my folk music going in the shop, a little bit of Johnny Cash, some Del McCoury and Bill Monroe, and tapered the day off with Hank and Waylon, man what a joyous day. It was just one of those days that lined up perfectly to do some "me" time and the family was completely ok with it. Also, I got to really get into my Shopsmith! And what a blast I had with it. So, I know they are just Cornhole boards, but what's more important, is that I had a day of fun, so if you want to see some boards, read on! I set up my outfeed table configuration to handle some mid size panels for the Cornhole boards. Ripped a couple pre-prefinished 3/4" panels I had left over from a prior project, I am getting used to my Shopsmith today. I then set up my outfeed table to handle ripping some narrow boards, the table needs to be set at the center of the table saw or in line with the blade, it was a quick operation, part of using these Shopsmith's is knowing what they are capable of, and how to maximize their ability, I am not there yet, I am only discovering the surface of what these machines are capable of. I pushed the oak boards through with minimal effort. Then I joined each board just to clean up the edges and to have a nice mating edge to the underside of the surface board. I need to align my Shopsmith fence as you can see a tad burning on the oak edge. I have not adjusted my Shopsmith yet since I purchased it, the gent I bought it from had it sitting in his garage for 15 years with no use, so no doubt I need to tune up the alignment. I have however oiled the sheeves and other areas and I tensioned the drive belt to specs before I used it. I used good ol pocket holes to mount the sides of the boards up to the surface board. I drilled out all my pocket holes first. Then I set to screwing the boards to the underside of the Cornhole deck. I swear Shopsmith and Rigid have a secret relationship, because my Rigid Shopvac hose is the perfect size for the table saw dust port, and the jointer dust port. I cut a small radius on the end of the back cornhole board legs, so they'll fold up and down easily. This bandsaw is really nice, I can't believe how something small and seemingly very simple in design, is so accurate and easy to use. I aint kidding folks, I like it better than my 15" Grizz I had. A very strong feature of the Shopsmith is the Drill Press operation, it's sweet, I like it, I am happy. Quiet, accurate, with an adjustable table for in and out, and up and down and of course since the power head operates the Drill Press, it's variable speed. Drilling the holes out for the carriage bolts. The back folding legs are mounted, you flip them up and lock them down by tightening the wingnuts, I used a 5/16" carriage bolt, washer and wingnut. Legs up. I still have to cut out the 6" diameter Cornholes, but mission basically accomplished. Our neighbors should like them, she is going to paint a mural on the deck of the Cornhole board, I think the LA Dodgers symbol. Any my baby put to sleep, she did well today, I was please with the operations, and I became more efficient at the changeovers, I am getting good at operating my Shopsmith, and it's turned out to be a great machine for my purpose, and, mama gets to park her car in the garage now! I hope John Moody approves of the way I made these boards, and if anyone has any tips on the building Cornhole boards I am all ears, I may do some for my family as well, not sure yet, depends if the kids want them or not. If you want to build your own boards, here is the site that John Moody directed me too, they have all the information and specs for them there. https://www.playcornhole.org/ Thanks for sharing a part of my day with me folks.

Well I'm not sure if this belongs here but...I've had on/off problems with my Laguna 14-12 since I bought it at Woodcraft in Richmond Virginia and Laguna has been contacted several times. This recent issue seems to crop up from time to time where when changing the blade is difficult to the point it won't stay on the wheels for even several hand revolutions. Last night was one of those times. I had the 1/2" blade on and went to install the 1/4". I released the tension and took the 1/2" blade off, put the 1/4" on and went to tension the blade. I turned the wheel by hand less that 2 revolutions and the blade sprung off. I had released the tension as I expected a lesser amount needed for the smaller blade. Remounted the blade and repeat, blade comes off. Now I really back off the tension, repeat and try 4-5 times with same result. Dinner time, I'm disgusted, I go and have dinner. Thinking about it still bothers me so after dinner and dishes I go down and put the 1/2" back on and tension, hand turn the upper wheel and check to center the gullets on the tire center. No issue. Take the 1/2" off and install the 1/4" blade, no issues. Now an on and off issue I've had with this saw is that when releasing the tensioner the top wheel doesn't always move much. I had this the first time after assembling the saw back 2 years ago and a nice lady at Laguna suggested loosening two bolts that align the upper adjustment when tension is applied. Not sure of the proper term here but hopefully you get the idea. So I had problems getting through to tech support at Laguna so I called my Woodcraft and spoke with John who sets up all their shop equipment for their classroom. After telling John the above he suggests the same adjustment as the nice lady did thinking maybe I didn't loosen enough. I had thought of that but wasn't sure if I loosened it more it might cause more bad than good. Keep in mind this saw has had very little used time on it like maybe 10-15 hours. Surgeries slow you down.... That and this has been a sporadic issue with me thinking the upper wheel carriage assembly may not be moving as intended all the time. Had I used it more maybe it would have "broke in" or it may have been more frequent to see the issue. But this long story has a bright lining as I had left a message the other day after talking to the desk at Laguna and received a call this afternoon. I was expecting a tech but instead got Benjamin, head of technical support I think. Anyway he's one of the big guys. We discussed and he asked when it was purchased, 01/30/2017, and said although it's out of warranty clearly I have had running issues which he wants to resolve. He asked me if John, from Woodcraft, was technical enough to be able to look over the saw and see if it had issues. I'm not sure but will find out. If so he's willing to pay for John to travel to my house (2+ hours driver round trip) and have a look. Benjamin also suggested my calling to speak with their best tech and see if he has any ideas which I think is the best next step and then John from Woodcraft if necessary. Biggest takeaway was this is by far more support than I expected from Laguna and very nice to see a company stand behind their products.

So here's the lodown. I bought a new Laguna 1412 bandsaw maybe a year ago and have used it lightly. Most of what I was doing was making circular cuts in wood up to about an inch but then tried my hand at resawing. My first attempts were dismal and I quickly learned a few important lessons. One of the first things I learned was my saw, equipped with the factory wheels, is easily tipped. It hasn't fallen over but it could easily happen if you're not aware. The second thing I learned is that the ceramic guides can dull a blade very quickly if you haven't set the blade correctly, both situations are the operators fault of course. So I took a hard look at every piece of literature and video I could find on setting up the saw properly and found two distinctly different approaches. The data wasn't saw specific so there is that but the biggest difference was the method of mounting and positioning the blade itself. One camp is adamant about the blade being centered on the tire while another has the gullet of the blade being centered. There is a big difference especially depending on the size of the blade. The 1412 can use a 3/4" blade but just barely in my opinion. I finally opted on using 1/2" resawing blades. My 1st gut kicking lesson was wetting the blade and then the ceramic guides which personally I find a bit difficult, especially the set below the table. My table is not a smooth operation to tilt like they show in the videos. I took pictures and sent emails and calls to try to see what the problem was. They were sending me warranty parts but the first attempt went to someone in California while I was waiting in Virginia. It took me 3 -4 months to finally get the parts, trunnions and slide blocks, from Laguna to try to repair this problem. By then I had shoulder replacement surgery so I haven't tried installing those parts yet. But in order to adjust the lower ceramic guides the table needs to tilt, at least for me. And I quickly learned that a bad adjustment is the same as taking a perfectly good blade and throwing it away. I can't speak for the bearing type guides but ceramic will destroy the teeth in a very short order if the blade teeth are hitting the ceramics. I reread and re-adjusted so the gullet of the blade is where the ceramics are positioned, away from the teeth. But it's also important to check after any blade positioning is made as this affects both the location on the tires as well as their position with the guides. After these hard learned lessons and destroying a 3/4" Timberwolf resaw blade I got disgusted with myself and went looking for alternative guides for this bandsaw when I found Carter Products and these. I did get the ceramics to work with some difficulty but have to wonder if the Carter guides wouldn't be a better alternative. Will they be easier on the blades should the adjustment get off or not be properly set? From the videos I've seen they appear to be easier to adjust but then again those doing the adjustments are experts, maybe the ceramics are just as easy. Point being I am planning on going to The Woodworking Show in Chantilly on the 23rd in Northern Virginia (Chantilly, Va) and will have chance to see these in person and ask them questions. Hopefully they will be familiar with the Laguna and can offer honest advice. From all I've heard they appear to be a good company to deal with and come highly recommended. What I can say is that Timberwolf was contacted when I discovered that one of the teeth on my 3/4" resaw blade was missing and it didn't appear to have been "broken" on site. It was actually clean and straight. I was told regardless they would send a replacement even after I had told them it may well have been my fault and true to his word it showed up on my doorstep about a week later. Shortly after I installed the blade and checked for runout, found none, and attempted to resaw a piece of treated 2x6 scrap I had laying around. I checked my tensioning, blade positioning both on the tires and guides, set the high side of the stock fence, set my thickness of cut, and proceed. It wasn't a bad cut but seemed a bit slow. I had two chucks of 16/4 poplar about 30" long and 6" tall that had been given to me by my local mill. These were scraps they had laying around and had no use for. I tried making a thin 1/4" cut and it too was fairly slow. So I switched blades to a 1/2" Wood Slicer blade I had gotten from Highland Woodworking after watching a side by side comparison and was impressed. It was easily twice as fast at the same cut. In all fairness I didn't try my Wolverine 1/2" resaw blade so it may well have performed better as well. So the bottom line, I really like the Laguna 1412 although I'll probably change the mobile base out for something more stable. I need to find a better way to move the saw as they say the worst way to move it is by pulling the table which may take it out of square with the blade. And then there's the question of the guides. Should I replace those with the almost $300 Carter guides or find a better way to adjust the ceramics guides. Will the bearing guides do the same damage as the ceramic if you mess up? I'm way to green to know this but I'm interested in your thoughts. Thanks for listening. -Steve

I don't always release the tension on the band saw. Not sure if it is necessary or not but had an idea to add a crank handle on mine. I sent the motor from my radial saw and got the $100.00 rebate and saved a few items before tossing the carcass. The crank handle was one of them and I decided to add it to the tension knob of the Delta 14" band saw. I stuck a piece of 1/2" rod in the lathe and cut the end for a press fit into a thick washer. Took it out to the welder and tacked in for extra support and ended up with this after drilling three holes for mounting bolts. Removed the tensioner from the saw and mated the two together. Add the crank and tightened the set screw. Put it back in the saw and it worked flawlessly. I thought the crank might be too short but it cranks with little effort so I'm good. I got to thinking how fun it will be the first time I go to use the saw and forget to tension the blade so I made a sign to lay on the table. I have some flat magnetic strips so I double stick taped two pieces on to help keep it from being knocked or blown off.

Look what I have! Don't know what to do with it yet, but look what I have! It was given to me. And it runs!

"Back From The Archives" Good day gents. Please forgive me if I have some problems understanding how this works. I am new here although I have been involved with OWWM for three years.

Stumbled upon this tonight...worth the look...once in a lifetime goldmine find for NIB vintage tools. https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/tls/d/vintage-craftsman-and-other/6655669969.html

I'll post images of my beloved machines I am parting with to make way for a new adventure in woodworking. I need to free up space, and head in a new direction for me. I already shedded my bandsaw, router table, and now my trusty ol Grizz 12" 5hp. She served us well. New owner will be here in a few minutes, but for now, take a bow sweetheart, you served us well over the last 20 years! My router table walked out of here on Friday, minus the tools of course. It was another great machine, I made many raised panel doors on it, swung some big cutters on it with my PC 7518 bolted up under, and I shaped a few beautiful sculpted rockers on it. The people I am meeting while performing this task has been a wonderful experience, the gent who came and left with my table, is from Mexico, he builds Aztec flutes and Aztec drums, he showed me his work and it's absolutely beautiful, we sat and talked woodworking, about his hometown of Durango Mexico, and about his family, and mine, and we traded tips for woodworking, his name is Oscar, great guy. I was happy to see my table go to him. He is starting his own business, from his home, building his instruments. My bandsaw, it went to a woodworker from Orange County, the other county over from us, another good guy, a woodworker who is starting his own shop, and he was very happy with my 14" BS with 6" riser. I made another friend in him, as a matter of fact, he signed up here on TPW, @JohnM. This is a big step for me, us, my family, but I am diving in with all three feet, and ready for my new adventure in a downsized shop, making my beloved chairs and shaker crafts. Thanks for following along!

I received a text today from a friend asking me if I knew anyone that was looking for a bandsaw. After playing 20 questions, I found out that the saw is a Delta 28-241. It’s a 14” saw with riser and is on a stock Delta mobile base. It belongs to a mutual friend of ours that is moving. Price .......$150. It’s now mine.

Saw this ad today...more photos to be posted this Friday, 8/10. @Ron Dudelston...almost in your backyard...I did see either a 15" or 18" Grizzly planer. Ad notes, 1000's of board feet of lumber. https://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photopanel.cgi?listingid=3129274&category=0&zip=&kwd=

Got home with a stack of forms, to apply as a "First Families and Pioneers of Logan County, Ohio. May take a week to complete those...All the way back to the 1800s when Ohio wasn't yet a state.. Got bored (dangerous) so headed to the shop to putter around....decided to make a bunch of lines on some pine scrap. One of the lines was a circle...took that to the bandsaw.. Meh, will just have to do. All the other lines were for either a hole, or not a hole..next, decided to drill a few of the holes...drill press was set up for rehab work.. We have ways.. Drill down until the tip pokes through, then flip the blank over.. Finish the holes, then the chisels took over... The reason for those two clamps? Seems that big Japanese mortise chisel caused a split....I cleaned things up, apply the glue and clamps, and kept on chopping.. Until the clamps got in the way....narrow chisel was powered more by my chin, than the hammer. Will let the glue set overnight, then try some more.. Maybe call this The Trouble with Trivets? Stay tuned...

Took a little doing to get 300 lbs unloaded from my truck, down the basement steps, and assembled. I have not used it yet but I’m sure it is sweet. It does pass the coin test when it is running. Danl