This attachment to your bandsaw will aid in cutting circles for the lathe directly from the faceplate making for perfectly centered bowl and plate blanks. Or use it with a centre point to cut circles. The attachment also doubles as a guide fence for ripping wide boards. (See illustration 1)
To make this fixture you need to attach a length of 3/4" angle iron to the upper guide block of your bandsaw. (See illustration 2) The length of the angle iron you use is dependent upon the size of the circles that you will want to cut - remember this will be the radius of the circle so if you want a maximum of 16" diameter circles you will only need 8" of angle iron. If the angle iron wobbles a little this is not critical as you will find that with practice you will want to move the center forward or back to accommodate blade wear since bandsaw blades tend to cut to one side or the other after they have been used for a while.
Now make the approximately 3/4" thick 2" x 3" block of wood with a dowel the size of your lathe spindle glued into it. The centre of the dowel should line up beside the centre of the saw blade when the block is clamped to the angle iron. Drill a hole for a trammel point for cutting circles whenever you do not want to use an attached faceplate.
Attaching a guide fence to the bandsaw table can be a hassle but it can be attached to the angle iron easily. The guide fence must be sharpened so that the point rides beside the centre of the blade. (See illustration 3) When ripping with the bandsaw use the guide fence but "steer" the wood through the saw making allowance for the imperfect tracking of the saw blade.
