Band Saws

Safety

Band Saw Operation

In the School of Architecture, we have Band Saws available in 4 different sizes: 20”, 18”, 14” and 9”. This measurement indicates the distance between the blade and the Mast, or vertical support structure. For this document, we will focus primarily on the 14” Band Saw. All four Saws are similar in design, but some differences will be noted for comparison. A Band Saw blade is a continuous metal strip with teeth on the edge. The blade is mounted on two cast iron wheels with rubber tires, which spin in tandem. Typically, each wheel is enclosed in a metal cabinet, one above the worktable and one beneath it. A motor powers the lower wheel, and the saw blade itself drives the upper wheel. The blade is exposed above the worktable with an adjustable shroud, to allow materials to be cut when moved across the worktable through the blade. Since the wheels are usually made of cast metal, there’s a lot of momentum even after the machine has been turned off.  Larger Band saws have a brake pedal to bring the coasting blade to a stop. Regardless of which Band saw you use, always make sure the blade has stopped moving before leaving the Saw.

Safety Precautions

• Wear eye Protection
• Contain or remove loose clothing items
• Tie back long hair
• Remove any extraneous materials or tools from the work area.

Blade Shroud – Crank Gear Assist

The two largest saws and the smallest saw have a blade shroud adjustment feature that utilizes a crank wheel to raise and lower the shroud. To unlock the blade shroud on the 18” or 20” Saw, loosen the locking knob located on the upper cabinet by turning counterclockwise, then turn the crank wheel to move the blade shroud up or down and re-lock it.

Blade Shroud – Manual

For the 14” Saw, the blade shroud must be lifted and lowered manually by first unlocking it with the knob on the back. Position it above the fence height and lock it.) The blade guard or “shroud” accommodates material thickness and protects fingers. It also gives the blade support for more accurate cuts. Do NOT adjust the 14” Saw’s blade shroud while the blade is moving! Always make sure the blade has stopped moving before adjusting the shroud.

Tilting Bed – Crank Gear Assist

All 4 Band Saws have a table or “bed”, which can be tilted. The two largest Saws have a crank and gear tilting system with a locking lever. There is an angle gauge located at the locking handle. A geared table-tilting procedure is required on the 18” and 20” Saw, by first releasing the locking handle located on the angle trunnion under the back of the table, then turning the tilting crank wheel clockwise with one hand while assisting the table by lifting it with the other hand. 

Tilting Bed - Manual

The manual table tilting procedure is required at the 14-inch band saw, by loosening the two bed locking knobs located underneath the table on the right side of the saw. Then, by manually lifting the table to a desired angle by referencing the miter or angle chart underneath the front of the saw, and re-tightening the two knobs, the position is set. All Band Saws have a positive stop at zero or 90 degrees.

Fences and Miter Gauges

The Band saws are supplied with a ripping fence and a crosscutting miter gauge. When using the fence near the blade, the shroud needs to be adjusted about ¼” above the fence or miter gauge. Otherwise, it should be lowered to a position about ¼” above the thickness of the work piece.

The fence is attached, by placing it on top of the bed and hooking the metal clip at the far side onto the rail at the back, and then clamping down the lock handle in the front. The miter gauge can be added to the table by inserting it into the slot to the right of blade. Both of these devices can be used together or independently. The 14” Saw’s fence is stored on the left side of the saw “locked” into the two clips and the miter gauge is stored on the right side.

Brake Pedal

The operator needs to make sure it stops before walking away. Our larger Band Saws have a brake pedal to help you do this. The 18” and the 20” Band Saw, both have a brake pedal that not only turns off the power, but also stops the blade. Gentle pressure is all that is needed. Do not “stomp” on the brake pedal because it could damage the brake and/or the blade.

Power Switch

The Power switch is located on the upper left side on the front of the machine. It is a pushbutton type switch. The green button turns the saw on and must be pushed in firmly to activate the saw. The off switch is a large red paddle or button that can simply be pushed in with either hand. All of the Band Saws have a similar power switch except for the smallest one, which has a lift-on, push-off type switch. The dust collector switch for the 3 main Saws is accessible from all three-operator positions.

Dust Collector

The Dust collector for the 3 main Bandsaws is centrally located between them with its power switch being accessible from each machines’ workstation. The Dust collector must always be used while operating the Bandsaw(s). The power switch is a red toggle type flap lever. Lift it from the bottom for power on, press it down for power off.

Don’t Touch

There are certain knobs, crank wheels and levers that are used for tensioning and “tracking” the blades, and those should not be adjusted once they are set. The 20” and 18” Band Saws have tensioning crank wheels just beneath their upper cabinets, and tracking knobs on the back of their upper cabinets. The 14” and 9” Saws have the same arrangement, but with tensioning knobs on top of their upper cabinets.

Hazards

Always keep your hands at least 4 inches away from the blade and out of the directional line of cutting. The pushing pressure of cutting suddenly stops when a cut is finished, so you don’t want your fingers or hands to be near the blade when the work piece is cut free. Always use a piece of scrap material to retrieve any small parts that are 1” or closer to the moving blade or turn off the saw and wait for it to come to a complete stop before retrieving parts.

Since the blade is always moving in a downward fashion, it will not throw anything at the operator or grab the work piece because it’s being forced downward by the blade. However, this is a rapidly moving steel blade with sharp teeth, spaced apart on it. You shouldn’t try to cut cordage with this, like Rope wire or string.

Also, if you try to cut something cylindrical like PVC pipe or dowels or tubes, we would need to build a fixture to hold those items securely so that the blade doesn’t grab them and make them roll over during the cut.

“Free Hand” Cutting

Each band saw has a different width of blade. This 14-inch saw usually has a quarter inch wide blade. The smaller one has a 1/8-inch wide blade, the 20-inch saw has a 1/2-inch wide blade, and the 18-inch saw has a 3/4 of an inch wide blade. When you make a curved Cut, the different blades will only allow a certain turning radius. For example, you can’t cut a 1-inch circle with a three-quarter inch wide blade, because it will bind on the blade and twist it, causing it to bend or break. Obviously you can’t make 90° cuts. But the smaller the blade, the tighter radius cut you can get. For example, with this quarter inch blade, you can make a circular cut at minimum of about 1 inch in diameter.

For larger curves, some straight “relief cuts” can be made first, to help release the scraps as the curve is followed. “Raking”, or side-to-side grinding cuts can also be made when necessary to accommodate the blade width.

Clean-up

Please be aware that there are 4 Trash barrels in this room, and that each one has a broom, bench brush and dust pan attached. You must use these items to clean up your work areas at each machine, when you are finished working there. Also, there are scrap barrels at each workstation to deposit scraps of material, which may be useful for someone else. Please do not put materials with stray hardware or glue on them, or food/drink items, only re-usable materials.