creating 1/16 inch veneer w/ bandsaw
miminut
| Posted in Jigs, Fixtures, Tips & Tricks on
I have several wide figured mahogany boards, fiddle back and bees wing. I would like to turn these boards into 1/16 inch thick veneer panels. I have a mm16 Minimax bandsaw fitted with 1″ resaw king band saw blade. The saw also has a indexing fence by Laguna, don’t know it’s exact name. I need to make a jig that will hold the board against the fence solidly while I push the board through. Has anyone done this? I need a jig that will accomplish the above.
Option 2 would be to use a mini stock power feeder. I’d need to bore holes in the bandsaw table. Purchase at considerable expense said feeder. I did some research and all I could find was a 1/8 horse power Delta Versa powerfeeder.
Replies
fence and jig
Assuming that you'll be using a tall auxiliary fence, my immediate thought would be to use a book-end style guide of similar height, clamped to the table. The guide would have to adjusted after each cut, however.
bookend jig for band saw
I assume the part of the jig that bears against the board being resawed is flexable and springy? That being said, what type of material would provide the needed spring? How would it be afixed to the base/ arm? I can visualize a base attached to the bandsaw table with magnetic quick locks thus allowing the base ready and rapid adjustability. An arm equal to the hieght of the fence mounted verticaly, and 90 degrees, to the base sort of looking like an upside down "T". The spring/flap attached to the arm such that the flap bears against the board being resawed. Thus all I have to procure is a material that is springy enough, rigid enough and yet flexable enough to provide the pressure necessary to hold the board against the fence. It would be nice if there were leanths of flat spring steel with a slight curve on the end that could be attached to the arm. Alternatively flat pieces of a springy plastic that could be given a curve at the end. So the question, does anyone know of a source of the springy material. Final bit, I did think of making a feather board but one 12" high seems unwieldy.
I thought about a springy thingy, but I'm not sure that's a good idea for resawing. I don't think one would want to "pinch" the wood around the blade, but rather simply support the board at its original (albeit diminishing) thickness. Feather boards and spring boards are effective with table routing and table sawing when placed in front of the cutter or blade. But, with resawing, I think the support issue is different.
Veneer fence
The Laguna-supplied fence you referred to is the Driftmaster. I really like mine but I hope that it was easier to install on your MiniMax than it was on my Laguna.
A "jig" you might try is manufactured by MagSwitch. (the one that has two knobs you turn to set the magnets) They offer a high-fence model with rollers to contact the offcut. (veneer) I have one, but found I don't really need it if the fence is tracking properly and there is a true 90* contact between the Driftmaster fence and the table. I believe that Woodcraft sells the MagSwitch.
Frosty
thankyou jfrostjr, i'll contact woodcraft and see if they have a magswitch high fence. i've been to there store and all i saw there was a magswitch short feather board. i need the jig to provide a constant pressure on th outside face of the board. i've found that i get inconsistant results, waivy shacky, where ever i lift my hands and reposition them as i cut the veneer off of longish boards.with the jig providing the constant pressure i should be able to reduce the variable to that of providing a pressure= to a proper and constant feed rate
yes the drift master fence was difficult to mount to th mm16 mini max band saw. i baught it for it's indexing capability, specificaly in relation to cutting veneer from figured boards. the indexing would obviate the need to readjust the jig suport fixture. just crank the drftmaster fence 1/16" + the blade curf thickness and cut the next veneer off the outside face of the board ie. not the face abutting the drift fence.
jay
Fence Design
Las winter I had to cut some 4" x 1/8" QS cherry for a bent lamination, and the "point" fence style produced better results than long fence adjusted for drift angle. Don't know why, but when the board only had 2-3 pieces left the saw went off track with the long fence, but not the point fence on the next board.
Each of my fences was set to saw off the thin strip between the fence and the blade, so I didn't have to re-set after each cut. Curious why you are positioning your offcut to the other side.
If you're making the "bookend" or point fence mentioned earlier, couldn't you make a similarly tall "bookend" with an angled slot for a piece of say 1/8" plexiglass that could be bowed slightly to lightly press against the point fence a hair or two in front of the blade?
stress in board
I wonder if stresses built up in the board as you sawed off each succesive veneer. I know if you don't plane a board on both sides equally that internal stresses may bend the board. I assume you resawed the board from one side. As you did so you increased the stresses within the board such that the board bent during the last few passes. the bend/bow, though not very visable,sat against the long fence and would have caused the uneven veneer thicknesses.
I was searching for an apropiatly springy material to bare against the board. I'll give a thin piece of plexi a chance, thanks.
Why not hand feed?
If the band saw is properly set up: no drifting problems, a very solid fence, good in and out feed support etc. you should be able to hand feed the stock without needing anything other than hand pressure to keep the stock against the fence. If the stock is large and awkward to handle having a good helper is an excellent idea. Using push blocks similar to the foam faced ones used for a jointer will make the process that much safer. In any case get the process well worked out by practicing with less valuable stock before committing the figured stock to the blade.
You will probably find that a power feeder causes more problems than it solves. Even with experience they can be very difficult to set up correctly, especially if the feeder doesn't have fine adjustment controls which most of the smaller less expensive feeders typically lack.
semi rigid packing foam
Thanks John White. I made a Bookend jig that has 4 Magswitch hold downs on it's base providing me the ability to rapidly reposition the jig. I foundthe packing foam,1/2" thick, wrapped around a hand plane I recently bought at Woodcraft. The material is semi opaque and rigid but not so much so that it will not sping back to it's original shape. I used double face carpet tape and screws w/ fender washers to cement a 1 1/2" strip to the entire 12" high nose of the jig. The foam provides the needed continous "spring" pressure. This freed my right hand to position and feed the board. The resulting veneer has no waivy or inconsistant results. Except for a 2" sections on the infeed and outfeed ends, the veneers are blemish free a ready to apply. I had to lightly joint the board between passes through the bandsaw.
The boards in question are 2 1/2" thick by 12" tall and 5' long. These boards are heavy, unweildy and awkward to feed through the bandsaw without continous repositioning of hands and body. Each readjustment results in waivy shacky veneers requiring further sanding. The jig made veneers that were ready to apply
Jay
Its a fool's errand... I've been there
Before you embark on this endeavor, a task that is time consuming & wastes a lot of wood, check out what commercially available wood costs. CertainlyWood.com is one source. Your lumber can then be used for edging or projects that don't lend themselves to veneer.
"Has anyone done this? I need
"Has anyone done this? I need a jig that will accomplish the above".... mm
Yep...
"Option 2 would be to use a mini stock power feeder. I'd need to bore holes in the bandsaw table. Purchase at considerable expense said feeder".. mm
As you said.. at considerble expense and.. I would not personally use a power feeder on a BS that cuts rather slowly opposed to a TS.. etc.. Each species combined with number or teeth for a given blade.. sharpness.. etc. equates to me as a given feed rate for that particular task. A BS does not adopt well to having wood forced into the blade if the power feeder is feeding too fast.
With that said... I use a spring-board attached with two T bolts to a miter track on the right of blade. You do have to quickly re-adjust with each slice of veneer as the stock gets thinner when removed but.... so what. This works very successfully for me. The pictures below that were taken a while back. I have since duplicated the spring-board with a fence that can be changed quickly and fence faces of 4"-6"-8". Don't have a picture and my wife is off to a meeting but.. if you need one I can get it latter today if you have not solved the problem for yourself.
BTW...that tall piece you see in the second picture is not part of the jig as it appears in the pic. It is simply my final push block to get the stock through those last 6" when the tail of the stock is between the jig and fence. I value my hands highly. haha...
Good luck...
Here ya go mm... The first is actually my spring-board from my TS as you will notice that it extends beyond the blade. Looking at the picture carefully will tell you how to make one if you are interested. Just scrap ply and shims with a miter track that has 1/4" threaded holes from Eagle America I believe. I much prefer spring on the TS but... I perfer a solid hold-down on the bandsaw as the stock is sandwiched between the fence and support jig. And... I won't allow the support jig end to entend beyond the blade. Two reasons.. no need and once the stock is severed not having a sandwich after the blade means no potenial for the stock to expand.. rebound on the support and be forced back into the back of the blade pinching the cut.
The second picture is the one I actually use on the BS... simple and very effective. You can make one with a quick change fence height or just make a couple with different height fences as it takes about an hour per if you take coffee breaks. haha...
resaw figured wood
Like John White said: no need for a power feeder. I cut the thick veneer (1/16) with a carbide resaw blade. For veneer, you are much better off going with a pointed fence rather than a long fence. The veneer I cut was from a board that was cupped length wise but not too bad side to side across the 8" width. I took a straight edge and made sure the face was flat across the grain. As I hand pushed the crooked board past the blade I made sure the face remained against the pointed face and slice 5 good pieces from the 4/4 board.
Like others said: run some test pieces to trim it up. I might add- I cut my veneer sheets between the blade and the fence so I don't have to move the fence at all.
good luck
dan
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