DanCampbell Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 All, I am working with a 1/2" thick wood lure and attempting to cut a lip slot with my 9" band saw. The issue is I can't get the band saw table level, even with a bulls eye level it is off on one side of the blade.The adjustment are not very precise, I keep going back and forth. When I make the cut and then look at the lip slot from the belly of the lure I can see it is slighter lower on one corner, otherwise it looks pretty good How critical is it for this cut to be dead level? I am thinking about building a "Sled" with a leveler in each corner in an attempt to make this cut. It would be a wooden section with screws on each corner and a clamp of some sort to hold the bait. I would run it along the fence in an attempt to keep things square. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benton B Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 Just take a small metal fingernail file and dress up the lip slot. I have to do this on 90% of the baits I make. It will only take you a couple of minutes and it's a must to have a straight lip in your bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 Having the bed level isn't what's critical. It's having the bed square to the blade. Also, a blade that's duller on one side will wander, and not cut as true a hole. The side that's dull will cut with more resistance, and the blade will tend to belly away from the dull side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 My bandsaw table has a clamp bolt at the back which I slacken and the table rotates. I use a square against the blade, to judge the perpendicular and clamp up. I then cut half way through a block of scrap, then then turn the block (not flip) around and cut from the other side.If the two cuts are parallel, you are good to go, if not, back to the table angle adjustment. On my table, the 90 degree angle that I want is right at the limit of the adjustment. If there is something wrong and you just cannot reach perpendicular, you may have to grind a bit off the stop to allow the table to rotate a smidgen more. The sled idea is good. Make it three legged, or you will still have problems. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) However you do it, yes, it's important that the lip be squared to the bait. Cutting a true perpendicular slot is best by far. But even if you have to make the slot oversize so you can adjust the lip during installation, that's better than a crooked lip. Doesn't the table on your saw have an adjustment to make the blade perpendicular to the saw blade? I use a carpenter's square on my scroll saw to check the alignment, and I cut the lip slot slowly so the blade stays true during the cut. Edited September 21, 2011 by BobP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanCampbell Posted September 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 Hi, My saw has lots of adjustments, it's new and I'm not sure what I am doing. I will re-read the manual start with the square. Thanks for the help guys. It's a real problem for me to get the lip slot cut straight, I have tried to get this right for a while. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 I totally agree with what has been said about squaring the blade to the table and will add one thing. Just because you eventually get the blade square to the table don't think that it will stay there permanently. It's a good idea to check it every so often to make sure it remains square. It's a lot easier to check the blade and table for squareness than it is to try and square up a lip slot that was cut wrong. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanCampbell Posted September 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Ok, Please take a look at the cut and give my your thoughts. It looks fairly even to me. By the way, this is not the angle I want but was just testing the cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 The cut looks fine to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 I agree, they look good to me to. It is difficult from pics to see precision because of parallax errors. You can magnify any errors for visibility by inserting a thin plate. I use a 6" steel rule or a long strip of the lip material. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 I do what Dave does. I have a 6" steel rule that luckily is the same thickness as the blade on my band saw. This gives it a good snug fit and any alignment issues are greatly multiplied by the length of the rule. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanCampbell Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Great idea on the steel ruler to check for errors, I have never been able to get this cut remotely square and this is a big step for me. Thanks everyone for the tips and the walk through to getting this done. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
