Guest Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 I have an inexpensive Craftsman 10" table top bandsaw. I am planning on cutting some legs out of cypress for chair legs. In my mock ups the 1/4" blade cuts are a bit wavy. I do them free hand. Blade has 6TPI. Will a narrower or wider blade with more or less teeth give me better results or is it really just operator error? I was making a template out of 3/8" plywood I was going to use for my router set up to clean up the final pieces after curtting them on the bandsaw. I am concerned about the undulation in the template? Thanks. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 if it's hard to follow your line, it could be one of two things not enough tension on the blade, or it's your blade if it's a stock blade they are usualy crap less tpi and deeper gullets make for a smoother feed rate. now i don't have a benchtop unit but on my bandsaw i put a 3tpi deep gullet 1/2 blade on my 14" grizzly ultimate and the differance was like night and day. i don't have a 1/4" blade so i don't know whats out there for tpi just try and find one with deeper gullets i think thats the key to smoother cuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Thanks for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bois Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 It wasn't clear if you are cutting curves or not, but if you're making legs I'm assuming there are no tight curves involved here. I use a 3 TPI 3/4" wide blade for any operation where I want a nice even straight cut. Typically you want to use the widest blade you can for the operation (this is where tight curves require thinner blades). A wider blade will be more stable and help you track a straighter line. Fewer teeth and bigger gullets do mean a faster feed rate as Higtron mentioned. I find the faster the feed rate, the more likely I am to track a smoother straighter line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 if it's hard to follow your line, it could be one of two things not enough tension on the blade, or it's your blade if it's a stock blade they are usualy crap less tpi and deeper gullets make for a smoother feed rate. now i don't have a benchtop unit but on my bandsaw i put a 3tpi deep gullet 1/2 blade on my 14" grizzly ultimate and the differance was like night and day. i don't have a 1/4" blade so i don't know whats out there for tpi just try and find one with deeper gullets i think thats the key to smoother cuts. I put on an Olson 1/2" 4tpi hook and it cut like 'butter.' Much better and straighter. Thanks for the help, much appreciated. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimV Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Brian, If I understand your concern correctly, you are worried about the cut on the template, not the actual legs? After I cut my template out on the bandsaw, I always sand the edges smooth. If the template has curves, I use a drum sander in my drill press otherwise I sand by hand where necessary. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bois Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Good catch Tim, if I'd paid any attention to detail on Brian's original post, I would have picked up on that. Any router template should be cleaned up with a spindle sander if at all possible. This smooths out the shape, and also ensures a 90 degree edge (which is important if you want to make sure the top and bottom profiles are identical). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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