Veneering Info Needed

[sawnuts]

John,

Thanks for the treatise on setup. My grizzly comes up short on quality. I think I have adjusted as many problems out as I can without doing machining. My quicky review is "its almost a good machine".

Regardless, thanks for the review. I have used but do not own a wide belt sander. I can see where that would solve a lot of issues with thickness.

Seldom do I find I need one and the cost would be prohibitive for just my veneering. I am just starting with veneer after all.

Thanks for all the info guys. 

Mark

[jteneyck]

Mark, what problems do you still have with your bandsaw?  If the wheels are coplaner it should be able to cut in a straight line.  If so, then the only additional thing required to slice veneer is a good blade, and just about any 1/2", 3 tpi hook style blade will do it. 

You don't need a wide belt sander, just a drum sander.  While still not cheap, you can often find, as I did, a good used Delta or Performax for around $500.  You don't absolutely need a drum sander either, but it does make the job a lot easier, both flattening and controlling thickness of the veneer and the panel after veneering. 

If it still seems like a difficult challenge with the equipment you have, you could always start with commercial veneer.  Many folks are happy with that and never feel the need to slice their own.  And in case you didn't know, you can sometimes get commercial veneer at 1/16" thickness, which is a lot easier to work with, at least for me. 

Finally, if you have have some boards you'd like sliced into veneer I'm happy to do it for you.  Since I got my new bandsaw slicing veneer is nearly effortless, so it's not much work to make nearly any amount you might need.  Consider it a standing offer. 

John

[Sierramtns]

David Welter had an article in FWW magazine a few years ago on "Shop Made Veneers"; I think that was the title. He explains the same techniques used at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking School. David was one of James Krenov's students,

[professore]

FWW #224

[rwe2156]

There are pleny of videos on YouTube.

Don't sell your machine short till you've gone through the tune up process.
The key is a well tuned machine, a good stable fence, and a good *well tensioned* blade.
Make *sure* your blade is 90º to the table and adjust the fence to the drift angle.
(Don't get sucked in by the Snodgrass disciples who claim you can adjust drift out of a bandsaw.)

The process in a nutshell is start with stock that is milled square.  Rejoint the face after every cut. The type of wood and feed rate also affect the quality of cut.

A drum sander with a sled is quite handy for final surfacing.

With a well tuned saw as above, I have cut veneer a little less than 1/32" thick.

BTW, every bandsaw I've ever owned the wheels are not co planar. I think this is a myth. Check it out.

[jteneyck]

I disagree that you should adjust for saw for drift.  Quite the opposite; you can and should adjust your saw to eliminate drift.  It's not hard and, yes, getting the wheels to be coplaner is usually a key part of getting there.  I just bought a new Grizzly bandsaw and there were instructions in the manual on how to adjust the wheels so they would be coplaner.  Here is what the manual says:

"Wheel alignment is one of the most critical factors for optimal performance from your bandsaw.  Heat, vibration, wandering (i.e. drift), blade wear, tire wear and overall bandsaw wear are considerably decreased when the wheels are properly aligned or "coplaner".  Coplaner wheels automatically track the blade by balancing it on the crown of the wheel.  This is known as coplaner tracking."  

My 14" Delta would not cut straight no matter what I did - until I adjusted the wheels to be coplaner.  It cut straight immediately afterwards. 

If you have drift something is wrong.   Find and fix what's wrong and your saw will perform as it was designed to.    

John

[Texan]

Resurfacing after each cut is going to waste a ton of stock and hurt getting a good book match.  I think the only reason to resurface is if you get a bad cut, in which case you also need to adjust your saw to get a better cut.  In general you want to remove as little stock as possible with surfacing, cutting, and sanding so that you can get the most veneers out of your stock.

[rwe2156]

There is a lot of mis/dis information out there about bandsaws that do nothing but confuse people, as evidenced by some of the posts here.

Some bandsaws come from the factory designed with non-planar wheels so it doesn't necessarily mean "something is wrong".  Before one does anything, they should call tech support or consult the manual before changing the factory setup.  The manual for my saw has no references to anything regarding adjusting. Call Powermatic tech support and ask them about coplanar wheels you may be surprised at the answer.

As far as drift, it does NOT necessarily mean "something is wrong".  I don't even bother trying to eliminate drift & I can cut veneer quite satisfactorily - on a saw with non coplanar wheels a fence adjusted for blade drift.

Keep in mind every time you change a blade, or install a new one, or even in the middle of sawing, things change. If you want to spend more time fiddling trying to eliminate a 1/4" of drift, have at it.

To each his own, whatever works.

[jteneyck]

Yes, to each his own.  If you read my post carefully, you would note that I didn't say the wheels have to be coplaner in order for the saw to cut properly.  What I said was if your saw does not cut well then getting the wheels to be coplaner is often part of the solution, as it was with my Delta.  If Powermatic makes a saw that cuts straight without the wheels being coplaner good for them.  But I'm sure they have specs. of some type with how the wheels are supposed to be aligned and if I had a saw from them that would not cut straight I would want to know what they were. 

As far as getting good results with a blade that won't cut straight there's just no reason to accept that.  How would you cut tenon cheeks?  How would you use the miter gage to cut something off at particular angle?  But if you are happy with how your saw performs, that's fine with me.  My advise was targeted at folks who would like their saw to cut straight.  

John

[rwe2156]

Yes, to each his own.  If you read my post carefully, you would note that I didn't say the wheels have to be coplaner in order for the saw to cut properly.  What I said was if your saw does not cut well then getting the wheels to be coplaner is often part of the solution, as it was with my Delta.  If Powermatic makes a saw that cuts straight without the wheels being coplaner good for them.  But I'm sure they have specs. of some type with how the wheels are supposed to be aligned and if I had a saw from them that would not cut straight I would want to know what they were. 

As far as getting good results with a blade that won't cut straight there's just no reason to accept that.  How would you cut tenon cheeks?  How would you use the miter gage to cut something off at particular angle?  But if you are happy with how your saw performs, that's fine with me.  My advise was targeted at folks who would like their saw to cut straight.  

John

It sounded like adjusting wheels was part of your "solution". I was simply pointing out brands differ & one should not undertake that procedure without consulting their manual or tech support.  

Ultimately, the fiddling and time spend setting up a machine depends on what you use it for, doesn't it?  In my shop, a bs is not an all purpose machine.  I don't even know where the miter gauge is LOL.   No doubt if one is relying on a bs to have the accuracy of a ts is has to be highly tuned and repeatedly rechecked.

BTW, I make shoulder cuts with a TS which I think is easier to set up, more repeatable, and more accurate than a BS.

But thats me.