Don't let big bowl blanks bust your bandsaw blades

Like most woodturners, I cut bowl blanks round on my bandsaw before mounting them on the lathe. Those blanks can be pretty heavy and have a tendency to tilt down the front of the table during sawing, even using a large, heavy-duty cast-iron saw. And when that table tilts in the middle of a deep cut, the blade often breaks.

My solution: Add a turnbuckle to hold the back of the table securely down on its stop. For times when I need to tilt the table, the turnbuckle has a hook on one end for easy disconnect from the eyebolt. Now I saw green blanks up to 18" diam. with no table movement and no broken blades!
—Jim McCleary, Apache Junction, Ariz.