Making Internal Cuts on a Bandsaw

If you’ve been using a bandsaw for a while you may have run into this issue; how do woodworkers do internal cuts on a bandsaw? For instance, if you’re doing lettering, how do you cut the inside of an O or D? We were lucky to recently have Jimmy Diresta in the shop, and he showed us a great bandsaw technique that allows these internal cuts.

An amazingly versatile tool

Bandsaws are great. They can be used for so many different tasks. Ripping wood? Use a bandsaw. Crosscutting small parts? Use a bandsaw. Doing joinery? Use a bandsaw. WWGOA has lots of great bandsaw tips and tricks you can take advantage of.

The thin kerf pays off

If you typically use a table saw blade with a ⅛” kerf, compare that to the kerf of a bandsaw, about .032”. What’s the benefit? Less of your expensive material going up the dust chute. This may not be a big deal on everyday material, but when you’re cutting wood that’s $$$ per board foot, every little bit helps.

Unlikely to have kickback

All the cutting pressure from a bandsaw blade is down toward the table. On table saws the cutting pressure is toward the operator. So, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever get kickback when using a bandsaw.

And now you can do internal cuts

On top of all of these great bandsaw attributes, now you know how to do internal cuts with your bandsaw. Remember to open the internal cut up by cutting with the grain whenever possible. That’ll make the glue seam even more invisible, leaving your woodworking friends wondering how you pulled this off.