Awhile back I was making some building blocks with my old hand-me-down table saw (probably made in the 80’s if not earlier!). Cutting 1.5” blocks on a table saw…not such a good idea. One of ‘em somehow got into the blade slot and jammed the thing up, there was a tremendous bang and my pusher stick got a few interesting scars. Better it than me!
Of course the table saw’s blade was ruined, and I wasn’t really willing to trust the thing any more, so I got myself a bandsaw (Grizzly Ultimate 14”) to replace it as my general cutting tool. So far I’m loving it—it’s a lot more predictable than a table saw and while of course it needs to be treated with respect, I don’t ever feel like I’m putting life and limb at risk just because I want to practice carpentry. And it can make curved cuts, which make for interesting possibilities (made a few crazy-checkerboard coasters for a friend’s birthday, for example). However, I’m having some difficulty with making straight cuts.
Specifically if I want to do a cross-cut through a 7-inch-wide board or the like, or if I want to square up an uneven edge. Of course with a table saw there’s this great hunk of metal doing the cut that’ll hold everything on a line for you, but the bandsaw blade’s never going to be able to do that for you. The miter gauge goes off the table if I need to cut through something 7” wide or so, and I’ve had zero success trying to use the fence to make straight cuts.
Is this just something I’m going to have to live with? Or do I just need more practice? Or a new tool? I’m still working on building up a proper workshop, so I’m really disorganized right now; I’d rather not make my garage any harder to navigate than it already is.
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