Band Saw Scare

[soulcade]

Hello, I just got a band saw (my first) and had a scare this week. I was trying to trim the end of a round 5" diameter limb with bark, and it became stuck in the blade and smashed my right ring finger. I had previously been holding one side with both hands, and this time I tried it with a pencil pushing on one side and hand gripping it on the other. Is this something I'm not suppose to cut, or was I just not gripping it tight enough? The blade completely stopped when this happened and now is bent. Thank you for your answers. -Kenneth

[squbrigg]

Hummm ..... well first I'd get a new blade. What kind of bandsaw is it and what kind of wood were you cutting? A 5" piece of wood shouldn't bind it up, but may for a variety of reasons: under powered saw, blade not tensioned correctly, very wet or very dense wood, dull blade or foreign object in the wood, dull blade or just a poorly manufactured one, or crooked feeding. Those rise to mind right off.

I'm glad you still have your finger!

[slivers&dust]

Hmm…without seeing the limb, I would imagine it was hard to control the cut on the irregular shape ??

I would make a sled for next time, one that you can clamp the limb in to keep it against a fence or a sliding table, so you get absolutely no movement…in any direction.

It wasn’t wet was it?

[soulcade]

Hello, thank you very much for the replies. It is a 12" craftsman band saw, and the walnut wood was cut about 5 months ago, so somewhat wet, but not very wet. It wasn't an irregular shape, just a very straight piece of wood. And there was nothing metal inside. How do I find out how to make a sled? That would certainly calm my nerves for future cuts.

-Kenneth

[slivers&dust]

If the limbs are straight, you might be able to clamp it to a miter gauge.

I’ve never cut limbs before but seems to me, one cut only 5 months ago would have moisture in it still, maybe even enough to bind or grab the blade.


There are probably a number of ways to make a sled; I'm not familar with the Craftsman saw but off the top of my head you could cut a piece of plywood 18x8 as a sliding table. Cut a hardwood runner about 12” long that fits the miter slot and attach it to the underside of the sled, even with the back (side facing you) and let it run out the other side. Make sure the plywood table is clear of the blade, to the right. Make a fence (perpendicular to the blade) out of anything, hardwood or even plywood (if PW set into a slot) as long as it is straight. You might need to add a right side extension, in other words make the saw's table larger for the sled. You could even add a far side fence to which you could add a clamping system for limbs. Better yet, a T-track in the sled with an adjustable clamping system.

If you haven’t figured out I’m not very good at explaining myself, I could draw a plan better then explain it.

[Mitchell]

If it's a limb, then I assume that it is round.....this will cause the piece to twist if cutting anywhere except down the center. The saw is stronger than you, so you can't expect to hold it with your hands and not have it twist. {By "you" and "your", I mean anyone - not you specifically.}

The sled is a jig to support the wood to keep it from twisting. The wood must be FIRM against the table at the cutting point - since it's round you need to have something under to keep it against the table at the "edges" too.

[soulcade]

So I certainly need a sled. Can I buy one that is made for cutting round pieces?

[Claude]

You say you were trying to trim the end...I guess that means cutting off the saw and axe marks so you have a nice clean square end, right?

One quick and dirty way to fix a sled: Take a 1 x 6 about a foot and a half long or so. Nail or screw a 1 x 2 to it along each long edge, so you end up with a "trough" in the middle about 2 inches wide and 1 inch deep. Lay your limb in this and slide it along the table to cut the end off. If you can clamp the limb to this 1 x 6, using a pipe clamp, bar clamp, or really big C clamp, even better. If the limb still rocks back and forth in the "trough", move one of the strips closer to the other and try again. The key is to get the limb so it won't rock or twist as you try to cut it.

Claude

[AlArchie]

I've made several sleds for resawing logs and for holding round stock. For round stock, I made an "L" shaped jig out of 1x8 (3/4" stock 8" wide. and about 10" long. Cut a 3/8" strip from a 3/4" thick piece of material as long as the sled is wide and secure it to the bottom of the sled so it rides in your miter slot.

The vertical part of the "L" should be perpendicular to the teeth on the blade, and about 3 or 4 inches high. You can make this whatever height you want as long as it clears your lower blade guides when raised to cutting height. You can hold the cylidrical stock back against the vertical part of the "L" by hand or clamp it with a C clamp.

The left side of the sled should be cut off flush with the blade.....make it a little long and simply run the whole sled through the blade for one cut. The 3/8"x3/4" guide attached to the bottom will keep the sled running true.

What caused my saw to bind up like that (exact same setup except I was cutting a 1" dowell) was that I cocked the dowell just a hair and the blade, instead of cutting, grabbed the dowell and rolled it, eventually binding and bending the blade before kicking the dowell out to the side. Scarey!

Here's a rough sketch......should be wider and not needed to be that long.

Al

[dart]

Originally Posted by soulcade

Hello, I just got a band saw (my first) and had a scare this week. I was trying to trim the end of a round 5" diameter limb with bark, and it became stuck in the blade and smashed my right ring finger. I had previously been holding one side with both hands, and this time I tried it with a pencil pushing on one side and hand gripping it on the other. Is this something I'm not suppose to cut, or was I just not gripping it tight enough? The blade completely stopped when this happened and now is bent. Thank you for your answers. -Kenneth

Hi Kenneth. I had a 10 inch Craftsman bandsaw years ago. Probably just like yours. I made a sled to cut round stock across the diameter of the stock. I think that is what you are trying to atempt. The stock must be held so it will not turn at all. Al's sled would work fine. Just be sure to clamp the stock into it firmly. Your wood has moisture content and bark. This will try to bind the blade also. I put candle wax on both sides of my blade while the saw is running. Then cut the stock. It does keep it from binding. You have to keep waxing it tho. Be careful. A bandsaw loves fingers. Get a new blade. Don't use the bent one. It's no good for anything now. Glad to hear you have all your fingers and thumbs. I made a sled from a piece of 2"x8"x12" solid piece of pine. I cut a V down thru the center of it lengthways. This V craddles the round stock. I also use a few nails or screws to clamp the stock into the jig. I did not make a slide for the bottom of it to ride in the miter gauge slot. I attached a straight piece of wood to the side of the jig so that it would follow the edge of the bandsaw table. In any case be careful using the bandsaw.