Band saw miter gauge

[Bob Dubanoski]

Van,

Thanks for the good information. At this time, because I am a wood carver, my primary use of the band saw would be for making cutouts for carving. These are anywhere from 2x2x6 to 4x4x16. Most of the cutting will be freehand from a pattern drawn on the wood, when the blank is cut I start the carving process. I do need a device to cut the lenghts of wood with square ends before I start the freehand sawing. At times I have a need to miter cut some of the patterns in preperation for the carving process, therefore the need for a miter gauge.

I am not building furniture so I do not need exact miter cuts at this time and I do understand the limitations of the band saw to produce these. I also know the advantage of quality tools, but do not want to overbuy. On the other hand I do see a table saw in the future to maybe expand into some other type of woodworking. If this were to happen a good quality miter gauge could be maybe be used on both pieces of equipment.

Sorry for the long winded reply, but this may better explain my needs.

Again, thanks to you and all the others that took the time to reply. I do appreciate it,

Bob

[ian maybury]

Interestingly enough my UK model Agazzani NRA 600 (basically a B-24 in US speak) has no mitre gauge slot in the table.

I've never heard the official rationale, and would love to - but can imagine that between blade drift and the like that a band saw is not regarded as a serious cross cutting tool.

I'm not 100% convinced, in that with the advent of carbide tipped blades able to cut off the side of the tooth and larger saws capable of applying lots of blade tension some are capable of rather more than that.

You don't necessarily need a mitre gauge - I have a piece of accurately cut 18mm birch ply i use as a square on mine, and slide it along the face of the fence when making square cross cuts. So far so good, but it wouldn't work well on longer/heavier pieces...

ian

[Josiah Bartlett]

I use a miter gauge occasionally with mine. (Mine is an old Walker Turner 16" that has the same size slot as a Unisaw). As long as the blade is sharp and the feed rate is low, it works pretty well. I use it mainly when cutting tenon shoulders so I can safely and consistently approach the cut line with the work perpendicular to the table. I use an old Craftsman miter gauge- its probably 30 years old, and I don't know where I got it. You definitely need to be sure of your blade setup or you will get mixed results.

[Alan Schwabacher]

It sounds as if you do have a use for a miter gauge, but you don't need a fancy one. Almost anything should do. Since many people like the precision of aftermarket miter gauges for use on the tablesaw, and every tablesaw comes with at least a basic miter gauge, you ought to be able to find a simple used one for next to nothing. If you can't find a local woodworker to ask, perhaps a Craigslist WTB ad would help.

Another option would be to make a simple crosscut sled. This could be simply a conveniently-sized piece of plywood with a rail on the bottom to ride in the track, and a fence screwed on the back.

To make the miter gauge or sled work well, it will help to adjust the tracking of your saw so the blade runs in the center of the tire, which should minimize the drift angle. Ask, or google "bandsaw drift", if you're not sure what I mean.