Weight and Balance

[MichaelMouse]

Forum after forum, over and over again, the topic of weight and balance keeps coming up. For those of you who have Giant bandsaws and macho lathes, not to mention a death wish if you insist on mounting roughs from the log on a spur center, peace. Enjoy your equipment, cut slow and keep out of the way.

For those with more normal equipment, I firmly believe that the second most important thing you can do to protect yourself and the equipment is to get the blank as close as you can to balance. Most important is to use something like the pin chuck, your scroll chuck in a recess, or even the woodworm to give you a more positive hold, and keep the tailstock in use until you're round. As the first pair of pictures indicates, there is a simple way available to help your case. Tilt your bandsaw table and take away most of what you're not going to use anyway. In this case over a pound and a half of unneeded and balance-destroying wood was removed in two places in less than a minute, without hurting the choice of final shape a bit.

Of course, there are a lot of times when you could make a much deeper piece, if only you had a bigger bandsaw. If that's the case, use what you have and a bit of patience to arrive at the same result. First, make a circle-cutting jig. Too simple and useful an item for what we do not to have one. Mine's based on a 1/4 inch thick piece of ply and a 1" diameter center because of the pin chuck. Yours may vary. The attached sheet shows a board of 7 1/4" working down to a circle on a 6" bandsaw. If you don't have a chainsaw, you can nibble over, nibble under, nibble center and so forth until you have the final picture, which is cutting to the diameter you need. If you have a chainsaw, no problem to rough the piece a bit oversize, undercutting with the idea of making the final cut as pictured. Keeps you from those annoying circumstances that happen when you try to make multiple tangent cuts with the chainsaw, only to find that one set of corners or more is chocking the whole against the ways.

I'm sure there are other ways out there, but I can't find many methods pictured other than mounting a log section. Shouldn't have to do that.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

thanks

amen

 

[Al Neighbors]

Some really good instruction. Thanks for posting.
My only problem is that it's too much trouble and time to tilt my bandsaw. :mad:

 

[Charlie Knighton]

angle

what angle do you tilt with, does it change with size of blank width and thickness???????

 

[dkulze]

Very nicely shown, Michael.

An easy trick to add to that to make it even safer is to make a table extension for the bandsaw. Cut a 2'x2' piece of heavy plywood. Center it on the table with the inside edges matching and mark your guide channel. Attach a wood or metal piece to the bottom of the board to match the channel. Then make overlaps for the inside and the cutting edge faces of the plywood table. What you should end up with is a platform that you slide on using the guide channel and inside edge as guides and which locks on when fully pushed on so that it won't slide forward. Oh, almost forgot, have the saw on when you mount it the first time to cut a channel for the blade.

Now you have a large, stable surface to support your wood when cutting. You can even drill holes and set dowels as braces and guides for funky pieces.

Have fun,
dietrich

 

[john lucas]

Micheal I hate to disagree with you but I find cutting on a slant on the bandsaw many times more dangerous than putting a piece of wood between centers on the lathe. Probaby just a personal thing for me.
I cut the wood close to round with the chainsaw using a round disc on top as a guide. Then I'll mount it between centers and check for areas that really stick out. If they stick out too much I'll take it back off. I use one of the jumbo drive centers from Bestwoodtools and I cut through the bark so it grips firmly.
Usually there's one are that will stick out and I'll have to remove it with the gouge. To do it safely I lever the tool in an arc. By that I mean that I will decide where the cut begins. Then I'll anchor the tool shaft with my left hand so the tool pivots in an arc. This lets me take off a very controlled amount of wood (ha I typed weed, must be a freudian slip). I can do this several times until the wood is round.
I like mounting between centers because it lets me have more control over the final product. I can turn a little and see what's happening with the piece and shift the wood if necessary to get a better look. John Jordan explains this really well in his video on wood movement and the esthetics of wood. I strongly recommend this video it's great.
Anyway that's just the way I do it. Probably 40 other ways to do the same thing.

 

[Frank Alvarez]

I have used a power hand planer to take off the heavy corners of unbalanced pieces.While they are on the lathe, I have the piece mounted so it will spin freely between point of the spur and the point of the tail stock. I hand turn it slowly to find the heavy parts that rotate to the bottom and shave them off with the power planer. Seems to work well and avoids the imbalance of a piece spinning . At the time I didn't have a bandsaw, but now I use it for the roughing sizing mostly. The power planer still seems like a reasonable option for a piece that exceeds my bandsaw's capablity.
Frank

 

[Richard Baker]

John, MM's procedure is a good one, but I have no problem with roughing between centers either. Very similar to your procedure, using a cardboard circle to draw the diameter on the half log and mark the center of same. Had to take a blank off the lathe twice today to chainsaw off a couple high spots so it would turn. Also taper the bottom of the blank some with the chainsaw, like MM does on the bandsaw, and cut a clean spot into good wood for the tail center. I "level" the blank on the DP table and forstner drill a 1" hole, 3/4"-1" deep in the center of what will be the top of the bowl. Then using a hammer and 1" chisel make two cuts in bottom of the drilled hole at 90 to each other and 45 to the grain of the blank. I then drive the spur center into the chisel cuts and mount the blank on the lathe, bringing the tailstock center to bear at the "that looks about right" position. Rotate the piece by hand and reposition the tailstock center as needed.

Note this method "captures" the spur center in the drilled hole, and the chisel cuts give it good grip. A serious catch will stop the spindle and the drive belt will squeal on the still turning motor pulley. Of course one wishes to free the tool instantly in order to avoid flat spotting the drive belt.

Did another semi-wet chunk of post oak today, this time turning it to about 3/8" wall, wrapped in newspaper, stored in other end of the barn (higher humidity there). Maybe will get lucky. Made about 30+ pounds of oak shavings and (I hope) a 14-1/2" bowl.

Oops, longwinded again. Sorry. All this posted previously, but keeps coming up.

 

[Richard Baker]

Portable Power Planer (P3)

Frank,
Cool idea. Could have used it today. And really needing an excuse to buy another tool. Thanks.

 

[dkulze]

Hey Texan,

Hate to tell you but a 14" bowl cut to 3/8 is gonna move aaaallllll over the place. If that's your end thickness, you're fine. If you plan a second cut, give it up.

Now, if ya likes funky salad bowls, it's gonna make a nice one. Just even out that base once it's quit moving.

And hand planer? Taking it off the lathe to chainsaw? Thought that's what my electric chainsaw was for. I just set the stop on the lathe and gnaw away.

Dietrich

 

[Richard Baker]

Dietrich,

Yeah, I know it'll move, but the result might be interesting if it doesn't just split into two pieces. It is an experiment, based on some other posted suggestions.

Used to have an electric chain saw and it was dandy for a very inexpensive tool. Made the mistake of loaning it out, so it is deceased. Good thought, though. Maybe a better choice than a planer. Thanks, D.

 

[MichaelMouse]

I use a scrub and jack or block plane for level and parallel within my limits rather than a power planer. Don't use the best I own in either category, either. Too much crap in the bark and sapwood to tear up and gum up anything used on them. Never have felt at ease with electricity and moisture, let alone moist shavings and dust mixtures, in close proximity, which is another reason.

Keep a spokeshave, preferably a low-angle one, around for trimming those places where you might have bandsawed too little off in an an attempt to get the maximum diameter starting blank. Or left an odd long facet or two from the chainsaw. Keeps you from screwing up the hold with a chisel and mallet blows, and gives you better control than a block plane, though I have used my little "palm plane" with comfort.

 

[Joe Greiner]

I suggest a Lancelot cutter in a right-angle grinder vs. the electric chain saw. Available lotsa places, for example Grizzly item no. G6692.

Advantages are (1) twice as many cutters per inch of chain, (2) high speed, (3) no bar oil needed.

I don't have a sawmill or a large enough bandsaw, but with practice, I've managed to blueprint a tree trunk against a piece of plate glass so that the only final work needed was a few passes of a belt sander to produce a fine piece of lumber.

Read the instructions! Above all else, do NOT use your own or anybody else's body parts to secure the workpiece.

I have no commercial interest in this tool.

JG

 

[dkulze]

Hey Joe,

Yup, that or an Arbortech are really the way to go. The chainsaw option is a sloppy second choice. With those cutting heads, you're using the tool for exactly what it's designed for rather than making do with a chainsaw or power planer.

Dietrich

 

[Richard Baker]

Chain Carver Thingy

Joe and Dietrich,

Just knew i needed one of those, but couldn't figure out what I needed it for. Thanks guys.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Please be extra careful with these contraptions. I forget the percentages, but a lot of users have a permanent reminder of their experience.

And it ain't made outta wood.

JG

 

[dkulze]

I'll second that.

I'm not sure there's a power tool out there with a more serious injury level/potential than the arbortech/lancelot. Primarilly due to the fact that you're using a relatively small tool (angle grinder) to run a tool that removes large amounts of material and can run all over the place on you before you know it.

With a chainsaw, at least the blade is out in front of you and will tend to run straight up or down. That little cutter wheel on the hand-held will scoot any direction you let it.

Be super careful and well braced when using one of those little buggers. And don't forget the heavy gloves and faceshield.

Dietrich

 

[Richard Baker]

Chain Carver Thingy

On the other hand, maybe I don't really need one of those.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

lucky

about the time this thread started i got lucky

1...found buffalo tool bandsaw for $40 at estate auction
2...bought delta riser block
3...had pins redrilled to match buffalo bandsaw
4...cord too short after installing riser block, install new cord
5...built table addition for bandsaw, decided since new to saw would use electric chainsaw for slope cuts at this point
5...house next door getting remodeled, they cut down maple trees(trees down in hollow), they were happy for me to have some

 

[dkulze]

Dude,

You hit the jackpot there. That's generally referred to as Ambrosia Maple, cause it looks just like the stain that you get when the ambrosia beetle bores into the tree. If you look, you'll find little beetle holes in the wood. Turns beautifully and makes cool bowls, vases, etc.

Enjoy.

Dietrich