Recommendation? Thinning attached scales with a bandsaw?

J

Justin W

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Jul 30, 2019
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I have a small bolster style knife. It is currently fully glued and all pin holes drilled and the profile of the handle rough cut to final shape on the bandsaw. The scales are a bit thick, so they stick out about 0.15 inch per side. Is it a good idea to thin the scales on the bandsaw? Pins are not yet glued in. Wood is bloodwood. Bandsaw blade is 1/2 inch width, 3 tpi carbide tip which cuts the stock easily.

I normally thin on the belt sander with a 60 grit AO but I am curious if the bandsaw is a good alternative to reduce time.
 
I am certainly not that knowledgeable when it comes to wood cutting band saws, which I am 99% sure that's what you have, being 1/2" wide blade with 3 tpi. I know that blade can just RIP through wood, but when it comes to the pins and the bolster material (especially the bolster material), I don't know that the 3 tpi blade would cut it, no pun intended!

I have thinned quite a few thick handles on a portaband, but that's a whole different animal. Hopefully you'll get a better answer than mine, but......

I would say just take it to the belt sander.
 
I wasn't clear, but the wood is 0.15" proud of the bolster, and the pins aren't installed yet. My question is if it is a good idea to slice off about 1/8" on each side with the bandsaw, given this is a really hard and dense wood.

Pics for reference.
https://imgur.com/a/AtXl87w
 
I've never used bloodwood, but I've had occasion to thin down Ironwood this way. With a carbide tipped blade I think you'll be OK. Just take your time
 
I think it’s just gonna depend on how comfortable you are with your bandsaw skills.
But either way I would put the blade flat on a 123 block that’s on a flat surface and scribe lines with a hight gauge where you want the final thickness to be.
 
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I'll use a fence and keep it flush to the side of the fence as I cut. I dont need to follow a line precisely as much as set up my fence and support the handle with a makeshift sled since the spine isn't flat. I use 2 push sticks and go slow and steady. Very similar to rip/resaw cuts for splitting a block into scales. This saw does a good job as it is currently set at cutting a clean, straight line that require minimal sanding to flatten scales.
 
Rasp or belt grinder would have made quicker work of that than making this post. I wouldn’t consider taking off that amount of wood with a 3 TPI blade.
 
i've done that with a hand saw. it could work with a bandsaw.
remember that the faster you remove material the easier it is to remove too much
 
By the time you wrote this post, and read the relpies... you could have gone slow and ground it down with the belt sander. You have to go slow at this stage or melt the epoxy and burn around the pins. In my experience trying to speed it up, will just amplify mistakes, if you screw up with the bandsaw, well...
 
I've done that on a batch of fillet knives when I used up a bunch of thicker handle wood. Feed them slow and have some way to maintain a SAFE but firm grip/control.
 
Thanks for the replies all. As a hobbyist, I have time in the day to post here, which helps me optimize my (limited) time in the shop.

Who makes a 36 g belt that is appropriate for wood? My 36 g ceramics are crap in comparison to cheap AO belts at 60 g, but I'd love to try coarser.
 
About a year ago I was doing that with too much pressure and punched the bandsaw blade with my middle knuckle. Be careful.
 
Justin W said:
Thanks for the replies all. As a hobbyist, I have time in the day to post here, which helps me optimize my (limited) time in the shop.

Who makes a 36 g belt that is appropriate for wood? My 36 g ceramics are crap in comparison to cheap AO belts at 60 g, but I'd love to try coarser.
Click to expand...
I use a new ceramic 36. It will remove wood cleanly without heat. Just swap ends and sides to avoid spending too much time on the pins as they can heat up. Once finished I brush out the belt and it's pretty much still new for steel.
 
Yeah I do it all the time on ironwood and walnut. I use my lil portaband though. I'll use a 14 tpi blade and do the pins at the same time as I'm already trimming excess pins and tubes and handle materials on a batch before heading to the grinder anyhoo. I try to leave it just a hair proud of the bolster.
 
If your bandsaw cuts straight, do it.

I love my hand held planer for prepping scales lately. My procedure is now, cut to thickness+2mm with table saw. Flatten one side with the planer, draw a parallel line on the other side, plane to parallel. Needed some time to figure out that it is easier to work with flat and parallel scales for drilling and shaping before glue up.
 
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