Jan Adkins
This large bandsaw is locally built and powered by a large electric motor; it serves a boatyard in India making traditional wooden dhows. It shapes interior structural elements and offers the bandsaw’s virtue of ripping consistent plank thicknesses with a minimal kerf, cutting with very little waste. The table is broad, the fence clamped to the table is stable, so wood fed through the blade by hand yields excellent results.
Bandsaws are simple, practical, and indispensable for the boatwright. They can cut through a depth of wood with minimum waste and predictable accuracy. Most of the boatshop’s cutting tools aspire to the truth of the cut—a straight line at a precise angle. The bandsaw can perform curved cuts through heavy timber.
The bandsaw has another specific ability. A balk of wood is not a popsicle stick but a heavy, rough slab. The bandsaw can cut away a precise thickness of stock from heavy timber for robust deck planks or delicate cabinet panels. The scope of rip sawing is limited by the gape of the bandsaw—the height of the bandsaw’s usable blade from the bandsaw table to the upper limit of the adjustable, blade-taming upper blade guides. For stationary bandsaws in the shop, 12" or 14" is common; benchtop models usually have a smaller gape and may feature three blade-supporting wheels.