The Bandsaw is an essential piece of equipment for Cutting and Preparing Wood for the Lathe and like most Machines, particularly those at the budget end of the Market, they do not always come with some of the more useful little additions which can make their use and set up that much easier.

Here I describe just some of the Modifications, Aids and Jigs I have put together so that I can get the best out of my current Bandsaw and also it's predecessor.

Cutting to Size on the Bandsaw

Often when preparing Wood on the Bandsaw I need to quickly and reasonably accurately judge a Cut for Free Hand Cutting and also be able to adjust a Cut, when using  the Fence, to a given dimension, this may be to trim an off cut from a larger piece down to say a Knife Handle Blank or Bottle Stopper Blank.

My Bandsaw like many did not have a Cutting Scale and time was spent making adjustments using a Rule, I decided I needed two methods for Sizing a Cut, firstly I needed a rough guide for Cutting Blanks from rough wood prior to Waxing and Drying and secondly a more accurate method for Cutting to a specific size.

Some years ago I purchased, for a few pence, a  Self Adhesive Metric Measuring Scale that I thought may just come in useful sometime. For some unknown reason this started at 3.5cm but as most of the Cuts I would be making using this Scale were going to be in excess of this it was not an issue. I attached this Scale to the front edge of the Bandsaw Table as shown in the photograph, and then marked off on the small bevel, machined on the Table, at each "cm" by using a small Cold Chisel.

This gave me a fairly accurate reference to set the Fence by, but by scribing a Line again at each "cm" point onto the Table up to a point adjacent to the Blade I also had a Visual reference line to make Cuts against when cutting Freehand or with the Fence.

To Scribe the Lines I used an Engineers Scriber, as 50mm is a common dimension for me I made the scribed line at this distance much deeper and filled it with White Paint, so that it stood out, once the paint is dry I scraped away any over run with the Flat Cabinet Makers Scraper I use for cleaning my Lathe Bed.

For a more accurate and quick set up of the Bandsaw Fence I made a simple Gauge using 5mm thick Strips of Plastic assembled together to make an adjustable "Gauge Block" as shown in the photograph left and the sketch below.

The reason the Gauge only measures to 80mm is firstly I could only get 16 lengths of Plastic from the piece I had and the longest M6 Screw I had was also 80mm long, this is more than adequate for the use I put it too, but it can be any depth you like to make.

Each of the "Fingers" are 100mm x 25mm x 5mm thk. and as stated before I used Plastic but any material will do, cut to length and drilled at one end to suit the Screw used with the bottom pieces drilled to take, typically, a M6 "T" Nut with the Prongs removed.

Assemble the "Fingers" and tighten so that they can be moved but do not rotate under there own weight, apply a dab of Thread Lock to the Screw in the "T" Nut, if you require more flexibility or a wider setting than that given by the Gauge you can use simple "Gauge Blocks" again made from any available material.

In the picture above you can see the Gauge Set @ 50mm + a 50mm Gauge Block to give a Fence Setting of 100mm, you can make Blocks to any dimension to suit your needs and requirements, the one used here is 50mm x 25mm and made from an off cut of Maple I had.

Upper Wheel Tyre Brush

Most Bandsaws come fitted with a Tyre Cleaning Brush on the Lower Wheel only, I agree this is the most vulnerable of the Wheels, but the Top Wheel can, and certainly does on mine, also get deposits on it particularly when cutting Wet Logs with the Bark still in place.

Ignore the Arrow in the Photo above that is just there to remind me which way I have to rotate the Tensioning Lever when changing a Blade.

Cutting Jig for Bottle Stoppers

One item that I find popular are Bottle Stoppers for Wine Bottles and I make a considerable number in a year and usually do 50/60 at a time to keep my Stock Up.

My designs are based around the Standard Optic Cork with the traditional Natural Cork drilled with a 12mm [½"] hole, and like many Woodturners I use a 12mm piece of Dowel glued into the Wood Blank as the Cork support.

The Dowel is Cut to a length that is sufficient for the Cork + Fixing in the Wood + a bit spare for Eventualities, this will mean that after the Bottle Stopper is Turned the Dowel Spigot is slightly longer than required and needs trimming off prior to attaching the Cork.

I have found the easiest and safest way to do this is with a Cutting Jig for use on the Bandsaw as shown in the picture below being used on my previous Elektra Beckum Bandsaw.

The Jig is constructed from Hardwood, I used some Sapele, generally as shown in the picture above and the sketch below with the two major dimensions being "A" which is equal to the length of the Cork [30mm] + 2mm, for Blade Clearance and Final clean up when the Cork is fitted to the Bottle Stopper, this means the thickness of the Up-right part of the Jig is equal to the length of the Cork.

Dimension "B" is determined by the Guide Channel in the Bandsaw Table, the runner, also made from Sapele,  should be a loose, but not too loose, fit in the Guide Channel to ensure a smooth operation.

All other dimensions are to suit your specific requirements, but do not make the base too small as you want to have stability in use, my Jig has a base of 200mm x 100mm [8" x 4"] likewise the upright portion, with the 12.5mm hole in it to suit the Dowel, should enable you to hold the Bottle Stopper and push the Jig, using the side of your Hand, easily.

In my case the Hole is 35mm [1½"] up from the top of the base and the actual block of wood is 50mm [2"] high, all the components of the Jig are glued and screwed together.

Bandsaw Blade Guide & Rear Support Adjustment

My Startrite Bandsaw incorporates a Thrust Rod as opposed to the more common Thrust Bearing but the principle of operation and setting up is the same, requiring a gap of 0.25mm between the Back of the Blade and the Face of the Thrust Rod.

The Blade Guides are Cast Iron Blocks which give excellent Blade Support and the recommended operating gap between the Bandsaw Blade and the Guide is 0.05mm to 0.10mm.

These dimensions are generally in line with those recommended by both Bandsaw Manufacturers and Blade Manufacturers either in Metric or Imperial [0.003/0.005" for Guides and 0.010/0.030" for Thrust Bearings].

As I only have to worry about two Settings I simply took apart a Cheap Set of Feeler Gauges and extracted the 0.25mm and the 0.10mm ones, made up a holding block from two small pieces of Plastic and bolted the lot together to form a handy Bandsaw Set Up Gauge as shown below.

When not in use it hangs from a small Magnet which is Superglued to the wall of the Workshop along with all the necessary Spanners, Allen Keys and Squares needed to Change and Set Up a new Bandsaw Blade, if you look carefully in the third picture of the Workshop Page you will see it just above the Fire Extinguisher [@ 11o'clock] and next to the small Electrical Junction Box.

Bandsaw Blade Dressing

Articles on setting up a Bandsaw and the procedure when replacing a Blade abound, and one of the many suggestions is the recommendation that you Dress, [Clean Up and Round Off] the back edge of a New Bandsaw Blade and this is something I have found to be beneficial and for the time it takes well worth the effort.

To make the operation as simple, quick and safe as possible I made a small Honing Devise that allowed me to carry out this procedure.

First I took a piece of MDF to which I attached, using 2 Part Epoxy, a small Medium Grit Sharpening Stone, that I picked up from the Odds and Ends Tray of a Tool Supplier at a Woodworking Show.

The picture clearly shows the set up, make sure the Stone is attached so that it is flush with the support and therefore resting on the Bandsaw Table this will ensure that in the event of a "Catch" the Stone will not flip over and by making the Wood Base nice and long you will keep your Hands and Fingers well away from the Blade when Dressing It.