Today, after using the tension knob on top of the bandsaw, I tried resawing the Bubinga board again, this time I also slowed down my feed rate. The results were like night and day. The upper piece is when I had no tension on the blade, the bottom piece is with the slow feed rate and the blade was tensioned for 1/2”:

I wiped on some Tung Oil just to highlight the differences in the pieces.
Okay I feel better now about this blade, but looks like a I need a lot more practice, practice and more practice….LOL

Keep in mind that this is my first bandsaw, so I reviewed several technical documents to ensure I wasn’t missing something or doing a newbie mistake. Nope, I have everything correct. Damn, what’s a sailor to do?
I know, I’ll just force it on while the spinning the wheel, yeah, that’s the ticket! Okay it’s on without snapping off, but I cannot use the blade tensioner handle, there just isn’t room for an adjustment. I was able to tension the blade using the tension knob ontop of the Bandaw. I readjust all the guides and make a test cut in the same piece that I had cut yesterday using the OEM blade, here is the result:

What a big difference, you can definitely tell which blade cut which board. Then I decided I would try some hard wood next and pushed thru a piece of Bubinga. The picture shows a slice just a hair over 3/32”, not to bad in my book:

I sanded down the right side of the Bubinga with 150 grit, then 220 grit to see how long it would take to get from resawing to finish ready. Only took about 45-60 seconds with each grit to make it smooth again.

I think I am going to like my new toy ;o)

I couldn’t wait for my friend to show up this morning to help, so I lifted the bandsaw onto the base cabinet and mobile base, then stood back to view my new toy. Hey wait a minute, that looks tall, wait…uhmmm, that looks very tall….is it going to fit thru the garage doors!!?? DOH nooooooo!!!! My heart sank, I quickly grabbed the tape measure (hmmmm why didn’t I think of this first? uuggghhhhh). Here is a picture:

Whew, that was too close for comfort. Now other owners of the Rikon will be chuckling to themselves as they look at that picture because I had not fully assembled the bandsaw at that point. So you guessed it, I still needed to add a knob and cover to the top of the bandsaw:

My first thought was where was I going to make a kerf cut into the garage to be able to push the bandsaw thru. But luckily, the knob is a drop in piece so it just lifts right out and the cover just snaps in and out as well, crisis averted.
I used the supplied blade and fired up the saw after setting the blade guides and tension. It cut like crap due to the cheap blade. However, I did resaw a 3” tall board with only using the standard fence and cheap blade. Surprisingly it sliced an 1\8” board in a straight line, extremely rough of course but straight, I was very impressed. Plan to install the Timberwolf blade tomorrow and give it another test run.

I picked up a heavy guage ext cord at the BORG to use as a power cord for the DC. I cut the plug off the cord and wired it to the DC connection terminals, plugged it in and fired that puppy up. It worked like a champ, so far for $61 I have a DC. I still need to order a replacement on\off switch and new dust bags, these bags look like they are original. I am going to order the lower micron bags and call it good.

I also stopped by HF to try to get a 4” hose and a couple of fittings. They only had a DC kit, which was $50, no way I said, it didn’t make sense to pay as much for the kit as I did for the DC. I am shopping online for just the items I need instead of a kit with parts I don’t need.

The first delivery was from LV, a new woodworking knife (I lost my last one), their new mini shoulder plane and their new pocket marking guage. I am going to post reivews for two out of the three items. I quickly went to the shop to use the new tools while I waited for my next two deliveries.

A couple hours later the frieght truck arrives with my new Rikon Bandsaw, oh happy day, that is until I see the damaged corner of the box :o( I made the delivery guy cut open the box, but we could find no damage, just some dented in styrofoam. I made him document the damage on the shipping bill anyway just in case I find something later. I even got lift gate service and didn’t have to pay for it :o) My buddy came over and we moved the box from the driveway into the garage.

Next I jumped into the truck to go look at a Grizzly Dust Collector a guy was selling on CL, model G8027, which is a perfect size for my small shop and needs. He listed the price at $100, but dropped it to $75 when he explained that is has a brand new motor, but he has not connected the new motor or used it since then. When I arrived at his place, the new motor was missing the on\off switch and power cord. He took another $25 off the price, so now it is only $50, fine with me I say. He provided a money back guarantee if it doesn’t work, can’t beat that. He was a very kind and honest man, it was a pleasure meeting and doing business with him.

When I got home, my third delivery of the day showed up, a new mobile base assy for the bandsaw. I quickly set out to cut a piece of plywood for the platform for the mobile base. I then assembled the bottom cabinet for the bandsaw and mounted it to the mobile base assy.

Tomorrow, my friend is coming over to help mount the bandsaw to the lower cabinet assy. Then I can spend the rest of the day finishing with the bandsaw assembly and alignment. Then plug it in for a smoke test ;o)

All in all, it was a good wood working day!

Here are a couple of pictures after assembly and adding Danish Tung Oil:

After the Tung Oil dries, I will add a wipe on poly finish (Liberon). I don’t have enough wood left to make another Pencil Box, but will save the scraps for some other use in the future.

Here is a pic of the cupped side:

Here are some pics after using the LA Jointer:

The gap at the edge of the board was on the “live” edge side and since I was cutting off that edge, I didn’t try to get that edge level.
Here are some pics of both sides after using the #4 Smoother:

The board is still not perfectly flat, there is still some twist to it but it is waaaaay better than when I started. I have been racking my brain as to what I should make with this board. I was thinking about making a couple of pencil boxes as gifts for some co-workers. We have an annual conference in a couple of weeks that would make some nice surprises. I put a coat of Danish Tung Oil on both sides of the board to give an idea of what the finished product will look like:

Now, there is only one last problem, shop cleanup! ;o)

That’s all for now, take care and keep on posting those excellent projects, they definitely inspire me and help me in my work.

I do feel very lucky and I am grateful for finding this site one year ago today.

Take care everyone, be good to each other, now go make some sawdust! ;o)

Plan to deliver the toybox in the next couple of weeks after it airs out. I will post a pic of the toybox in the Project Section, once the toybox is in it’s permanent location :o)

I already have several new projects to build, a TV stand for my daughter and this morning, SWMBO asked for a new bookcase to hold more of her quilting fabric. But all that will have to wait until I cement in the garage floor, assemble my new tablesaw, build a rolling platform for my drill press, and make a new router table.

Oh, that dark spot on the driveway next to the freshly stained toybox, nope I don’t see what you are talking about? ;o)