Tutorial on Cutting With a Band Saw

Another quick little skill-building video tutorial today; this one is on the basics of cutting with a band saw.  I know that most of my readership is more interested in my electronics, and those projects will return when I get back in Davis in January, so just hang tight and enjoy this month off while I spend some quality time with my dad's wood shop.

Video:

It has become easier and easier to get access to this type of equipment through hacker spaces and facilities like the Tech Shop, but if you are looking to put together your own serious wood shop, we wasted a lot of time and money before we finally bought all DeWalt tools.  Ours is 20 years old, but I expect little less from the current model.

I've already gotten some comments asking for information on how to actually change the blade in the saw, so enjoy a bonus second tutorial just about how to change the blades.

Video:

The band saw tracking I mentioned in this second video works on the principle of a crowned pulley.  Woodgears has a good introduction to crowned pulleys, as does Make Magazine in issue 22 pp 158-160.

 Finally, here is a close-up of the band saw and guide blocks themselves.  The blade will ideally not be touching any of the three of them (so if it is, adjust the guides and/or the blade's tracking), but inevitably will touch them as you feed stock into the saw.