# Function of bandsaw fence???



## rwm (Jan 13, 2018)

This may be a silly question but here goes. I have owned several vertical bandsaws and they always come with a vertically oriented cylinder attached to the rip fence. I have never found a use for this! What is the proper function and use of this device?




I suppose it is just test stock 

Robert


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## DougD (Jan 13, 2018)

Whenever I set up a bandsaw for a straight dimension cut I use a contact point a set distance from the blade. A full fence on a bandsaw, unless a wide blade, is ineffective due to blade flex. A contact point alligned with the blade allows for the piece being cut from to be moved while cutting to maintain the desired cut off dimension. My assumption is the cylinder is used as that contact point and the fence locks it in place.  Again this is an "assumption". 
dd


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## Alan H. (Jan 13, 2018)

Allows you to steer the cut.  The blade rarely cuts perfectly parallel to the fence and will drift unless it is perfectly setup.

I think you mostly see that on a saw intended for woodworking.


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## woodchucker (Jan 13, 2018)

really useful in woodworking for cutting a desired size. I don't use it. I set my fence for the drift of the blade so I get a perfect cut, I could never cut veneer accurately with a point.  This is not something that one would use for metal cutting.


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## T Bredehoft (Jan 13, 2018)

I understand the logic of the  point-guide, but I use the rip fence 100% for cutting balsa to size, fractional size, nothing critical.  I start with stock about 3" by 5" by length, to make propellers from, rip it down (forinstance) to 3/4 by 1 1/8 by 8".


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## Robert LaLonde (Jan 13, 2018)

Alan H said:


> Allows you to steer the cut.  The blade rarely cuts perfectly parallel to the fence and will drift unless it is perfectly setup.



... and a perfect blade.


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## woodchucker (Jan 13, 2018)

T Bredehoft said:


> I understand the logic of the  point-guide, but I use the rip fence 100% for cutting balsa to size, fractional size, nothing critical.  I start with stock about 3" by 5" by length, to make propellers from, rip it down (forinstance) to 3/4 by 1 1/8 by 8".


Balsa for propellers? We talking rubber powered? Balsa cored Carbon props?


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## derf (Jan 13, 2018)

Cylinder fences are most commonly used on re-saws. When re- sawing thick stock into thinner pieces it may be necessary to guide it out of square with the fence to get the cut straight.


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## T Bredehoft (Jan 13, 2018)

woodchucker said:


> We talking rubber powered?



Absolutely, I have a machine to make them, that I can change the pitch of the prop, 6p to 26p, diameter, 6 to 17". When the customer gets them he has to carve/sand the airfoil.  I don't know about carbon or its use, though I have seen props with carbon filaments glued from end to end. I also make Old Timer Folding props, from 13 to 26 inches, hinge applied and threaded. 
Google Volaré Products. Find Superior Props.


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## f350ca (Jan 13, 2018)

As nerf said they're meant for resawing wood. The wood will often warp as tension is relieved. If the part against the fence curves out from the cut you get a gap between the wood and the fence at the blade, hence a thinner than wanted section. With the vertical cylinder you can guide the board along and let the end go where ever it wants. 

Greg


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## Bi11Hudson (Jan 14, 2018)

In addition to the above, there is the "set" of the saw blade. On a perfectly(?) tuned blade, every other tooth is set off center by a predictable amount to left or right. In essence, the "kerf" being wider than the thickness of the blade... It applies to circular saw blades as well as band saw blades. The "set" steers the blade in one direction or the other. For circular saws, it can be controlled, to an extent, with a fence. For a band-saw, the Mk.1 eyeball is the most usable.

This, of course, is dependant on who sharpened the blade and the care they took to make the set correct. For a band-saw blade, it is* very *costly as each tooth must be "set" individually. Where you won't find it is on a store bought blade. Those, at best, are machine cut. Adjusting the "set" is a manual adjustment only. Thence the necessity of "steering" a cut, usually manually for a bandsaw. 

In reality, proper "setting" will only be seen on commercial blades, such as at sawmills, where it really matters. Or on a "resaw" machine. I recall a metal cutting bandsaw at the mill where I worked that was used to cut a slice off of a 10" square billet. The blade had no "set" when it was new. And got changed when it developed one. The blade was some three inches wide.

I bought my wife a bandsaw for woodworking that I occasionally use to pre-shape metal, with the appropriate blade of course. The fence that came with it was set aside and is now probably lost or modified into something else. I still have, somewhere, my father's saw set. There is (was) a fence for doing band-saw blades. Which I never had the patience to do. Pop did set a carpenter's rip (hand) saw whenever he resharpened one. But that is primarily a lost art these days.

A hacksaw would be a good example. As the blade wears, it starts to cut off-center. Steering..... The older the blade, the more correction needed. Starret blades have a good "set" off the shelf. and are retired to steel stock as they cut to a curve. The opposite would be dime store (or HF) blades, that often cut sideways from the git-go.

The "peg" on a bandsaw is the equivelent of a prop to allow you to use that Mk.1 eyeball to steer the work.


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## rwm (Jan 14, 2018)

Thanks for all the replies.
Just as I suspected it is practice stock!
R


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