Replies

1. 
   RMillard | May 18, 2007 01:43pm | #1

   I only briefly glanced at the article in question, but I'm sure it is just the ragged cuts that make it appear to be end grain. A banding with end grain showing would not finish well, nor would it provide a very secure glue surface.

   As for the 1/16" blade, I don't know where you'd find that. I cut my bandings with a .014 band saw blade to minimize waste, and even this causes me to end up nearly 1/3 of the material as waste. I remember seeing the article and thinking how wasteful a 1/16" blade would be. I usually cut my bandings about 3/64" thick, so 1/16", would have over a 50% waste factor and that is, to me unacceptable.

   Rob Millard

   http://www.americanfederalperiod.com

1. 
   woodhors | May 18, 2007 06:14pm | #4

   Thanks for your reply. I have given the banding quite a bit of thought. I believe that it is possible to make a "brick" and rotate it prior to crosscutting. In this way one can avoid end grain on the show surface of the banding but the face veneers that sandwich the banding are glued to end grain. The only way one can avoid this is to construct the banding from from individual parts. If you can follow this, do you agree and in which way should it be done? Also, any special tricks to cutting it on a band saw other than using a zero clearance plate around the blade? Thanks!~ - Woodhorse

1. 
   RMillard | May 19, 2007 01:41am | #5

   There really isn't a practical way to avoid the sandwich veneers from being glued to the end grain, but when glued in place the banding will have the proper orientation for a glue joint, so it is not a problem (unless it is on the end of a top, and here I size the recess with thinned downed hide glue and follow the next day with hot hide glue to glue the inlay in).

   Sometimes I use a zero clearance insert and sometimes I don't. I rarely if ever use one when actually ripping the individual inlays off the blank. To get accurate cuts, I crank the tension up, use steady feeds, with consistent hand pressure, and replace the blade at the first sign of it being dull. Working this way, the bandsaw is a surprisingly accurate tool.

   Rob Millard

   http://www.americanfederalperiod.com

1. 
   woodhors | May 19, 2007 06:15am | #6

   Thanks for your help - I think I am ready to give it a try.

2. 
   MikeHennessy | May 18, 2007 01:59pm | #2

   Don't know about a 1/16" blade, but you can get a .023" blade here:

   http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Saws/Custom_Table_Saw_Fret_Slotting_Blade.html

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA

3. 
   RonK | May 18, 2007 04:24pm | #3

   I have taken a few courses with Dan Faia and a week long course on making banding with Phil Lowe. The banding is generally not end grain. The process of making the banding sometime requires a few twists and turns and after a few cuts and paste it can be easy to get turned around a little. There are a few books which give a better pictorial description of the process and one that comes to mind is:

   American Furniture - Green - Taunton Press - ISBN 1-56158-104-6