Acoustic Guitar Construction

I was given an old but good Delta-Rockwell bandsaw/jointer combo unit - weighs a ton, sturdy.

I haven't used a bandsaw much - scare me little to be honest - but at Ken's suggestion I did cut a tenon yesterday and it went pretty well - could have been better with a decent blade and a miter gauge that doesn't slop around in the slot.

Question - there is no manual for this that I kind find, but I'd like to know the size blade it can handle. There is a 7" blade in there now, but it looks like there is enough room for up to a 10" blade - how can I tell for sure?

And what about that sloppy fit of the miter gauge in the slot?

Picture?

edit: it's a TABLE saw, not a bandsaw. I actually know the difference!

Dave Bagwill wrote:edit: it's a TABLE saw, not a bandsaw. I actually know the difference!

Ahh, I was going to write wasn't a 7" blade wide enough ...

These machines came in different sizes. Stick a 10" blade on and see if it fits. I think you have good reason to be afraid especially with an older unit without a riving knife. Table saw accidents happen so fast. Even using a push stick, when a board kicks back taking the push stick with it, it is amazing how far the hand continues toward the blade in the first moments before you can react.

Ken also suggested a combo blade with lots of teeth - I'm looking to see what the HD down the road has in stock - in the 7 1/4" blade there is no combo blade - there are a few finish blades with lots of teeth, and one 'general use' blade with 40 teeth.

Is either of those a good option - the use will be for cutting tenons and blocks, that's about it.

Let's see a picture. I like old tools. If there's a model number on it that can be googled, I'd be surprised if the internet doesn't have any manuals showing what size of blades to use. As Ken suggested, a combination blade with carbide teeth is a good general purpose blade for ripping or crosscutting. Does the 7 1/4" blade you mentioned have carbide teeth or is it just steel? If that's the size you need to get (instead of a 10" blade) then the general purpose blade should be okay.

About your sloppy miter slot: take your miter bar and clamp it in a vise so the thin side is up. Take a metal punch and hammer some dimples along the length of the bar. Repeat on the other side. Now try the bar in the slot and see if it is less sloppy. If it sticks, file down the dimples until it slides nicely. This should work for a situation where you've got a little bit of movement. However, if you have a huge amount of play, then you could drill and tap the bar, and put some set screws in that can be adjusted. Easier than it sounds. Or get an after-market miter gauge - some of the new ones I've seen have an eccentric disk in the bar that allow it to be adjusted for slots of various widths.

This tool is from around the '60s.
Here is a link to the model number, mine is a lot cleaner and very usable compared to the one in the pic.
If you can find blade specs somewhere I would appreciate it!!

http://www.old-woodworking-tools.net/de ... 62253.html

edit: here's a web pic that looks just like mine. This one says 9" but I'm not sure..

http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/ ... px?id=4314