There are many uses for a table saw in guitar building. “A joiner is used to put a straight edge on a piece of wood. This can be especially helpful if the piece of wood is three feet long or more. It is also used to flatten one face of a board before putting through the planer. If you buy rough cut lumber both faces are bump and far from smooth. One face will need to be flattened before it goes in the planer or there will be trouble. For guitar building an 8” model will suffice. “For guitar building a 12” table top model will suffice.
As others have stated, what bandsaw to get depends on what you want to cut and what you want to spend on the saw. I’ve cut 9″ deep rosewood and cedar on it, amongst many other things. With the 6″ riser installed, there is a lot of “bounce” in the upper wheel reducing cut quality: unless the riser is needed for capacity, I use the saw without the riser.
Any 14″ band saw should be adequate to the guitar making tasks since the wood we use in guitar making is relatively small. As long as the diameter of the arbor hole on the stacked dado blade set matches the arbor diameter of your table saw or radial-arm saw-and the arbor is long enough for a dado blade-you can use an 8-inch dado blade on a 10-inch table saw. Typically, a 10-inch miter saw will cut a 2 x 6 at 90 degrees and a 2 x 4 at 45 degrees; a 12-inch miter saw will cut a 2 x 8 at 90 degrees and a 2 x 6 at 45 degrees.
If you buy a 12″ saw now, and later get a larger one, you’ll still want to keep the small one. If you are only going to get one bandsaw for Luthier work, then I recommend a 14″ saw for the power reasons that I talked about earlier. If you can only afford a 12″ saw now, then get it, and plan on eventually adding a second larger saw.
Bandsaws are one of the most important tools that luthiers use in order to cut guitar fingerboards, shaping guitar bodies, necks, and other pieces repeatedly with little to no deviation from the intended measurements. Hand cutting movement isn’t as precise as the bandsaw’s, and also the blades will heat up more, which eventually leads to breaking and losing their cutting edge. While bandsaws are excellent for building guitars, they also enable you to optimize and repurpose wood, cut curves for molds, cut 2 or more pieces in a consistent way together on top of each other, book matching that beautiful piece of wood, and building totally unrelated objects that will be useful nonetheless.
what size bandsaw for guitar making Related Question:
How big bandsaw do I need?
For a hobbyist, a 12″-14″ bandsaw is the ideal size. This size saw will provide plenty of power and a good deal of resawing capability. A professional will be better served with an 18″ bandsaw for a larger resawing capability. Choosing a 14″ band saw would provide plenty of power in a smaller footprint.
How thick of wood can a 9 bandsaw cut?
There are several $99, 9 inch band saws on the market in my area (Ryobi, Skill). The are able to cut a thickness of 2 ½ inches.
Is a 14 bandsaw big enough?
Re: Bandsaws: 14″, or is bigger better? If you are not going to do any resawing, then a 14″ will do just fine. If you may be cutting out bowl blanks for a lathe, then you should consider a riser to get more vertical clearance.
Is 1 hp enough for a bandsaw?
1 Horespower is a lot of power, it is aproximately 50% more work than a horse can do on a long term basis, and aproximately 6 times what a person can do. A 3/4 or 1 HP bandsaw is pefectly adequate for re-sawing stock at home….
What is the maximum thickness of material to be cut for a bandsaw?
Band saws are the undisputed champ when it comes to cutting curves and slicing through thick material. Many small band saws can slice though lumber a full four inches thick, and bigger saws handle six-inch cuts.
How thick can a 12 band saw cut?
A twelve-inch band saw is adequate for most home workshop jobs, typically cutting up to a six-inch capacity. (Cabinetmakers would do well to opt for a larger one, perhaps one with a sixteen- or twenty-inch throat.)
What does 14 mean on a bandsaw?
Rob Johnstone: Band saw sizes are derived from the diameter of the wheels in the saw. So a 14-inch band saw will have wheels that are 14-inches in diameter. There is another measure that indicates how wide a board you can resaw.
What power bandsaw do I need?
Most home-level models incorporate a 3/4 to 1 horsepower motor, whereas professional models will have larger motors with variable speeds. For woodworkers, the variable speed won’t really matter, as slower than max speeds should be incorporated when cutting metals and some hard plastics.
What is the throat on a bandsaw?
The throat is the distance from the blade to the vertical frame section of the body of the saw. This distance determines the width of cut that can be completed on the band saw. The throat on a free-standing cabinet band saw typically exceeds the 12 to 14-inch throat of smaller, bench-top models.
What is resawing on a bandsaw?
Bandsaw Resawing from the beginning: resawing is cutting a sawn plank of wood into thinner planks on a bandsaw. Thus the cut runs through the plank’s width, which distinguishes bandsaw resawing from ordinary bandsaw rip cuts where the blade runs through the stock’s thickness.
How do I know what size bandsaw blade I need?
In inches, determine the radius of each wheel, by measuring from the center to the outside of the wheel. Apply the following formula: (R1 x 3.1416) + (R2 x 3.1416) + (2 x C) = Saw blade length. Put a strip of tape on the floor to mark a starting point.
What is a 3h bandsaw blade?
Description. These are excellent-quality steel bandsaw blades that excel at ripping thick stock and resawing, and are also suitable for roughing blanks for carving or turning. The coarse 3 tpi hooked teeth power through hard woods and difficult grain, and have deep gullets for clearing sawdust.
Is a wider bandsaw blade better?
The wider blades are stiffer overall (more metal) and tend to track better on the band wheels than narrow blades. When cutting thicker material, the wider blade has less ability to deviate because the back end, when in the cut, helps steer the front of the blade, especially if the side clearance is not excessive.
How much power does a bandsaw use?
For ordinary work, cutting through no more than 1.5″ (4 cm) of wood, at speeds below 2000 fpm, 1/3 HP is adequate. If you want to do a lot of resawing, and run the saw at high speeds, you may want up to 1.5 hp. A sharp blade will use less than half the power of a dull blade.
How long is a 14 bandsaw blade?
Olson® All Pro&trade band saw blades 93-1/2″ length fits most 14″ band saws (Delta, Jet, etc.), hard back and exclusive material, in skip, hook, or regular teeth.