Ryobi bandsaw conversion

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This morning I needed to cut an angled piece on the small BS and had no mitre gauge. Took the plastic head from a crappy HF mitre gauge and made a custom mitre gauge for that Ryobi BS using oak and walnut scraps.

 

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JmAs Scott (@tvrgeek) noted above, a ZC throat plate is necessary. I don’t plan on tilting the table so I made it as tight as I could.
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Previously I described the crosscut sled and I recently added a rip fence.
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I scratched my head for quite a while to figure out how to do this. I had a scrap of t-track and that became the basis for this fence.
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It clamps under the rear of the table like this:
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Here is walnut cut using the crosscut sled.
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And here is a rip cut. I did stone the band a bit which made the cuts a little smoother.
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This setup has proved useful since I seem to make a lot of parts that fit in my hand. Also, I can cut smallish parts easily and avoid the temptation of using the chop saw when that is not safe.

After using the above for a while, I decided on a trying different tack. The sled was OK but the rip fence was slow to mount/remove and sometimes collided with ribs under the table.

My new sled covers the table and has one guide since there is only one slot (as with most BSs). The nearside fence extends below a bit and acts as a stop. The rip guide clips on quickly and one moves the sled to make the rip. First task was to rip some popsicle sticks.

The piece of BB that I had was only as wide as the BS tabletop so I could not clamp the crosscut fence while adjusting. Therefore, I screwed it down as best I could and took increasingly longer overlapping cuts with a shoulder plane for the final 5-cut testing/adjustment.

Only used it a little so far, but I think it will be worthy of my coveted “worth a sh*t” rating.

 

[ErinJ]

So, what is the difference between a band saw guide upgrade kit and the stabilizer kit?

 

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If you are referring to Carter products, the various guide offerings are replacements for your factory guides.

The Carter Stabilizer is nominally meant for smaller blades used for scrolling. That said, on my 9" BS with this stabilizer, 1/8" blade, and the above accessories, I have found it to be very useful for safely cross-cutting and ripping smallish parts.

 

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…I have found it to be very useful for safely cross-cutting and ripping smallish parts.
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Here is an example. Not a job for a table or mitre saw.

 

[ChemE75]

I really appreciate the details since I recently purchased a used ryobi 9” that is in great condition. Primarily was thinking of cutting the gentle curves for the Adirondack inspired patio chair I’m sketching up, but this gives me many more options to consider. I also appreciate the sled and fence ideas. The seller did not have the miter gauge but he did toss in a decent base. Anyway mostly thinking about the sled since the miter gauges that come with these type saws are usually worthless. The spare sled bars I have for my tablesaw are too large so I have to wait until I unearth some hardwood scrap that I still have stashed in my router table base cabinet.