Band Saw vs Time

[Michael Mills]

I have a 14" BS with riser block and about a year ago did purchase a blade for wet wood.
As background I only turn bowls (or other wet items) maybe twice a month.
I typically leave my sections about 4" longer and then trim them to length with an electric chainsaw when I get ready to turn them, at the same time I knock off the corners.
The post by Ralph Lindberg inspired this so...
In your opinion is it worth rounding one or two blanks a month on the BS rather than the lathe given the potential clean-up time on the BS?
Do you run anything else through at the end to help clean the blade or reduce moisture (scrap plywood, 2X4 sections)?
Blanks would typically be 6" or < thick and 14" or < diameter.
My daughter does turn when she visits so it may be worth while making a circle jig for those times.

[Reed Gray]

If you are doing production turning, having a round blank fairly well centered, and parallel sides is a huge time saver. Mostly it saves roughing out time as you don't have so many uneven projections to take off before you get into solid wood. Wet wood is always a bit of a problem because it rusts most metals. Not too much of a clean up issue. Top Coat and T 9 Boeshield (made by Boeing) are two rust protectors, and they reduce friction. They help. I have never used a circle jig. I just scribe a circle with a compass.

robo hippy

[Thomas Canfield]

I don't have a riser, but do use a homemade circle cutting jig often when preparing blanks. I also will use a cardboard (easier and cheaper than plywood) template attached to wood with nail to prepare blanks or just mark the blanks using the template. I find the cardboard (cereal & pizza box) templates store easily and help to determine use of the wood better than using a compass. A circle cutting jig is useful for other things than preparing green blanks.

[Tim Rinehart]

Mike, you didn't mention what you do to clean your BS blade that may be making you think about the trade off. If I've cut wet or sticky wood, I will take a hardwood stick with a sharply cut end and use it to scrape my blade ( unplugged! ) when done cutting, then clean remaining residue with pitch remover, like Trend product set Woodcraft, by wetting down a small piece of green scotch rite, moving the blade in reverse. I think simple green is likely to be as effective used like this too. I've tried using Boeshield and some Teflon products once clean, but hasn't proven to last long for me. YMMV.

[Michael Mills]

Thanks for the responsed guys.
I will make a circle jig this weekend and give it a try. It will only cost me the price of a tee nut.
If it takes ten minutes longer to round it on the BS (with cleanup) I will probably go back to rounding on the lathe.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Michael.
For what it's worth, I have a band saw but still prefer to chain saw blanks as large as you mention. I think it's safer. You have the advantage of an electric saw and don't even have to stand out in the cold to run your chain saw. I spent the night in Harrisonburg last evening and I can attest for the depth of the cold. Besides, the oil on the chain keeps sap residue from building up on the blade like it does on the band saw. There are no serious corners left after rounding with the chain saw. If I am turning natural edge bowls, I even use the chain saw to remove bark and cadmium where the drive center will go. I always start bowls between centers and almost always have to adjust one side or the other to get the grain where I want it. That means a perfectly rounded blank is still thrown off center most of the time. You can even slant the chain saw to begin the taper of the bowl.
Just my 2 cents.
faust

[Tom Hartranft]

Mike,

I built a circle jig for my 14" band saw that has a riser block installed ... quick and accurate for flat work circles and for my up to 14" dia turning blanks. I really don't use it to save time; I use it to lessen the pounding on my lathe and on my arms from roughing out-of-round log blanks. The ~1/16" BS circle jig centering pin hole also serves as my center for drilling a hole for my Nova pin jaws for blank mounting.

Tom

[Scott Conners]

Turning on a small lathe, I really appreciate rounded blanks for the time saved from roughing at slow speed. However, I do find that I tend to make more unique and interesting bowl shapes when i turn from rough. I end up with many more natural edge or out of round bowls, as I can see the cool shape as I'm roughing and choose to stop or change the plan.

[Michael Mills]

Reed, I am definitely not a production turner. Just for fun.
Faust, that is what I have been doing and it works fine. I just thought I would give this a shot. I have not used the chain saw to cut at an angle as you describe.
Tom, very nice jig. I will probably only use mine 1 or 2 times a month so it will not be as detailed.
I spent about 45 minutes on it this morning and have about 30 more to go. It seems to always take longer than I think.
If I get back to it and finish today I will start a new thread with pics later.
Thanks everyone.