What is the correct working height for a benchtop bandsaw? That will tell me how tall to make the bench.
I watched somebody cut a sheet of plywood on a TABLE saw, not a bandsaw. His arms were bent 90 degrees, upper arms braced against his sides and forarms pointing forward with hands held palm-up. He pushed the plywood with the heels of his hands, and his forearms were level with the plywood.
I assume that his table saw was elbow-high so he could push large pieces this way. Was this a good idea? Should a bandsaw be likewise positioned, so its table is elbow-height?
Replies
I think 90-degrees is good for TS work, router work, probably lathe work (though I don't know from lathes, :-) but for bandsaw work, you might want the table higher so that you don't have to stoop down to see a line you're trying to follow. My bandsaw table is high enough that I have to bend my elbows past 90 degrees, but I don't have to bend, stoop or crane my neck to see a line that I'm following when I'm doing cut-out type work (as opposed to resawing).
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Elbow-height is quite comfortable for me. Is there a way you can mount it temporarily to try different heights until you find one that suits you?
Jeff
I could try out different heights, but if there's a height that is generally considered the most versatile, I'll do that right off.
By the way, what is resawn wood?
"Resawing" is one of the primary tasks a bandsaw can do for you. It's sawing a board lengthwise to a fraction of its thickness, thereby producing several boards of the same width and length as your original piece, but thinner. You can "resaw" a 4x4 into 4 1x4's (minus the kerf thickness, obviously). You can resaw very, very thin pieces off of a larger board, thereby producing veneer. Etc., Etc. Takes a different blade than your basic scrolling or crosscutting. Sounds like you might benefit from one of the good bandsaw books on the market.
PS: Not an appropriate task for a bench-top model though.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 10/25/2002 12:18:15 AM ET by forest_girl
My band saw table sits 42 3/4" off the floor on the factory supplied stand. I first thought this was too high, even for someone vertically challenged as myself. But I think Forest Girl (Jamie) is on to something with respect to working freehand doing curved cuts. For re-sawing, though, I'd have it lower - perhaps even as low as the table saw. One thing to consider with the smaller band saws on open stands is that they seem pretty top heavy. Pushing large stuff through it for re-sawing leaves me wondering why the stands aren't sturdier.
Time to add some weight to that stand!
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The high center of gravity is another consideration. I plan to angle the legs so the base is wider, although that may not be sufficient.
It will take longer to make a stand with a wider base, too. I whipped up a 2x4-foot bench in no time using Strong-Tie connectors, but they don't appear to have a connector that allows for angled legs.
Dennis,
Yes, additional weight in the stand does make a difference: improves stability and seems to dampen vibration. (I wrote seems because my Jet doesn't really have any vibration.) Concrete works well.
Jeff
I bought an after market mobile base for my open stand that requred that I cut through or remove the bottom cross piece in the front for the foot pedal that operates the stand up & down lever mechanism. All this will go once I get time to build an enclosed base/stand and move the motor below within the base. This new 'box' may have casters on it temporarily since I'm still working in a less than idea situation. Once, if ever, I have a "real" shop, the thing will sit directly on the floor with a few concrete blocks in it for ballast.
Dennis in Bellevue WA
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Dennis,
The casters make me nervous. Be sure to keep the footprint large; that bandsaw is very top-heavy - the main reason I added weight to the bottom of mine. Even though it was sitting level, it still seemed unstable.
Jeff
while we're on the subject- why is it that tablesaws are almost always set up with the fence to the right of the blade and bandsaws are reversed? I've always wondered- anybody have an answer other than, "that's the way it's always been done"?
mitch
Mitch,
The answer is a little known bit of trivia in the great treasury of woodworking history.
Mister T. Able Saw was left handed.
Misters B. & Saw were right handed.
Jeff
well gee, that clears that up....
My bandsaw has a miter gauge and the only track for it is to the right of the blade. I've never seen a bandsaw with a fence, but I imagine that most tools are designed to accommodate the habits of right-handed users. As a right-hander, I naturally keep the bulk of the piece to the right of the blade, where it can be controlled by my more articulate hand. Placing the bandsaw fence on the left keeps it out of the way of my right hand.
When using the table saw, I still keep the bulk of the piece to the right and the cutoff to the left. But table saws have the danger of kickback, so the fence has to be against the piece that is under control, even though it gets in the way of my right hand.
Hi Mitch!
I saw an adaptation for the 14" bandsaw table that I liked for almost everything-basically it was to add a piece of plywood that is screwed to pieces of 2X2 bolted to the front and back of the original table. This table goes wide so that you have a little more width outside the blade than inside, it also places the fence on your right as you face the saw. My personal adaptation was to take a heavy duty adjustable plastic measuring tool (Incra-this is larger than the marking tool still available-I looked in Woodcraft catalog and don't see the one I used on sale) big enough to attach a wood plate on the bottom and a fence on the end of it. I surfaced the table with plastic and the fence face which is about 5 1/2 inches high. The flat board under the adjustable measuring device is clamped into place on the right hand side. I do the thing where on each blade you track with a scrap piece of wood to determine the cutting drift of that particular blade and then set the fence along that line, often not in line with the miter guide groove. With the adjustable measuring device, I can then have about 5 inches of lateral adjustment in 1/32" increments without reclamping the fence.
I spring a piece of wood under the outrigged table to keep it up to the 90 degree position with the blade.
Disadvantages are that you lose the cutting height of the thickness of the new table, you also have to remove the table to change blades. Perhaps the biggest problem is you can't make angle cuts. One small plus is that you have only a saw derf coming up to the back of the blade spot from the rear, which is as close to zero space between your blade and the surrounding table as one can get. The same manufacturer now makes a rather sophisticated adjustable fence large enough for table saws and router tables.
I apologize for not remembering the name of the measuring device-it is a common name, I have a smaller one that I use only to measure, this large one was designed for adjusting a small fence and works admirably. I also have a 4 foot roller support attached to the back of the table for supporting long pieces that go out of straight cuts.
The irony of all that is that now I have purchased an 18" Jet band saw that I use for all the long straight stuff and I use the 14" for all my curved work-that way I am not changing blades all the time. I still use the extended table. By the way, the Delta 14" has a 6" riser kit and has served me well for 25 years. I finally changed the pulleys for some cast iron ones from MCS and I now use one of those linked belts that reduce vibration-it smooths the cuts but you lose torque if you want to cut heavy hard wood in it.
Hope you can picture that table extension description in your mind. It works great for my kinds of shop uses.
Good luck on your projects.
Ted
Edited 10/30/2002 5:12:15 PM ET by Ted
The casters retract, Jeff, so when in the 'released' position the stand sits directly on the floor. Since my garage floor would make a lousey playing field for a game of marbles, I have to be sure to adjust the shim(s) under the stand's feet each time I move it. Yes, the top heaviness bothers me quite a bit, too.
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
As a very broard generalization, two inches below the elbow is the ergonomic height most comfortable for your body. However, it really depends on the situation..a work bench, for instance, should be thumb height.
I don't understand about a workbench being thumb height. If thumb height is measured when my arms are straight down, that is much too low for a regular workbench.
Were you referring to the stand that supports the bandsaw? The table on my bandsaw would be 9.75 inches above that. If the stand is thumb height, the table would be below elbow height.
Sorry it took so long...puter problems.
I was referring to the workbench height...thumb height..arms at side, stick out thumb. I thought it made sense so you can get your weight into your planning ...right over the board,etc....in my cse about 33 inches tall.
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