Recently I installed the Driftmaster fence from Laguna Tools on the band saw. I finally had a chance to try it out: yesterday I grabbed some walnut and some cherry laying around the shop, and started resawing thin pieces 90 to 100 mils thick (0.090″ to 0.100″). In the video below, I don’t talk much — I simply grabbed some wood, made some adjustments to the band saw and fence, and started slicing.
I knew from past experience that resawing on the band saw is demanding; for example, if the band saw is not set up properly to correct for drift, or if the blade tension is not set correctly, or the blade is not the right type, or… (you get the idea), the results of resawing will be less than acceptable. I have published in the past several articles on resawing on the band saw.
This has changed: A few months ago I bought a ¾-inch wide Resaw King blade from Laguna Tools; I reported results here. The second major change involves using the Driftmaster — Laguna Tools sent me a unit for evaluation; I installed it, and I am happy. Why? Because I can get terrific results in resawing, results like never before.
I always did the resawing by cutting the thin slices nearest the fence. With the Driftmaster, the thin slices now fall off on the right hand side, while the bulk of the wood rests against the fence. This is possible due to the micro-adjusting capability of the fence.
What does this mean? For one, the resawn pieces are quite even in thickness, typically within 0.005″ (five thousands of an inch!) across the width and the length of the cut pieces. The new fence allows adjustment for drift very easily; in fact, the built-in cam is designed to do this without the use of any tools. Once installed and adjusted, the Driftmaster is a great accessory on my 17-inch Grizzly band saw.
Disclosure: Laguna Tools is a sponsor of my blog. On occasion, I receive tools and other components for evaluation; I maintain total editorial freedom of the comments and reviews I present on the blog. Plain and simple, I never receive or accept cash for anything I review. You also must know that I don’t receive any income if you click on the links I provide for any of my sponsors or Affiliates; the only source of income I receive is from Google-sponsored ads, and from actual purchases through my Affiliates (a small percentage of the purchase price).
Download this episode in *.avi format
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Duration: 8:36 minutes (Size: 166 MB)
In a future episode I will cover in detail how I use the Driftmaster in the shop. Meanwhile, you can watch the four videos on this fence at the Laguna Tools video web page for the fence system; simply click on the video tab for the page.
All the music in the video is courtesy of my friend, Jason Riley.
— Al Navas
About Al Navas
Looks great Al, but did you mean 97 thousandths .0097 or 97 hundredths .097. I was shocked by that and it did seem that the pieces were closer to 1/8″ or ~.097. Just checking
Thanks, Shannon.
One thousand of an inch = 0.001″ – therefore, 97 thousands=0.097″. And 97 hundreds = 0.97″, or nine hundred seventy thousands (almost one inch). The resawn pieces were 0.097″, or 97 thousands (97 mils) thick. In fact, this morning I was able to go down as far as 0.030″ (30 thousands, or 30 mils thick), while keeping the integrity of the resawn veneers.
Thanks for making sure I did fine on this. It can be confusing, but you got it right at the very end, as 1/8″ = 0.125″, or 125 thousands of an inch. To one decimal point accuracy, both 1/8″ and 0.097″ are close enough to be called identical: 0.125″=0.1 inch, and 0.097″ also ~=0.1″ (we simply round off to the closest decimal).
Impressive!
Really enjoyed Jason’s music too.
Bob,
I am glad you like the fence; it will make life easier. Jason is a terrific person, and a superb musician!