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HS attach bar

Question for the brain trust. On page 10-04 step 1, It has you fabricate the HS Attach bar from a piece of aluminum angle. The measurements are quite precise, however when I try to use my band saw with a metal cutting blade I can not get anywhere near as accurate as the instructions indicate. The saw blade bends quite a bit and it seems impossible to get a clean straight cut. I am wondering what tool others have used to cut this piece.

Thanks

Eric
 
Im not sure if it is the same on the 14 as it is on the 9, but I made 3 of them before I got it right. Then when I went to install it, I found it didnt need to be nearly as precise as I thought and a little bigger(1/16") didnt hurt.

My belief is they start you making some really exact pieces so you learn that there are measurements less than a 1/4".

I am not saying to get sloppy so dont take it that way. Precision is how the plane stays true and strong.
 
Belt sander

Band saw followed by mini belt sander from HF and then finish on 3M wheel. Just buy good 1"x30" belts to get rid of the jump at the belt splice (HF belts are very jumpy)
 
Tool setup...

If your bandsaw is "walking", make sure that the upper and lower graphite guides are just touching the blades, the ball bearing races are also just touching the blade, and the distance from the table to the bottom of the upper blade guide is as small possible.

Is the tension on the blade correct?

What size of blade are you using? For aluminum, I am using 3/8" 18TPI or better and the blade FPM is set relatively low for the machine -- 300FPM If I recall..

Best results if you feed the workpiece as slow as possible.
 
If your bandsaw is "walking", make sure that the upper and lower graphite guides are just touching the blades, the ball bearing races are also just touching the blade, and the distance from the table to the bottom of the upper blade guide is as small possible.

Is the tension on the blade correct?

What size of blade are you using? For aluminum, I am using 3/8" 18TPI or better and the blade FPM is set relatively low for the machine -- 300FPM If I recall..

Best results if you feed the workpiece as slow as possible.

Hey Brian your advice was spot on. My band saw is an inexpensive one and the guide vanes were all very loose. Tightening those up and lowering the upper guide vane as low as possible did the trick. My piece is now within a 1/16 of an inch of the specifications so I think that is probably close enough.

Thanks again

Eric
 
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