Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Feb 23, 2004 07:57pm | #1

   Ed,

   Are there kinks in the blade?  If there are, no amount of tensioning or guide adjustment will eliminate their effect.  Take the blade off the machine and lay it on a bench top, if it doesn't form a smooth circle, you can reshape it by hand. 

   If there is a kink at the weld, you can possibly smooth it out with a stone or light grinding, but a poorly done weld can't always be fixed.

   A certain amount of wobble is often visible in a running blade, but it doesn't translate into a poor cut, I wouldn't worry too much about the wobble if the blade is cutting well.

   John W.

1. 
   edevo | Feb 23, 2004 08:59pm | #4

   Thanks John for the input!!!...The blade was definitely kinked when i put it on. The result of poor folding on my part. (I just can't seem to get them into folded circles without alot of struggling). I assumed that tensioning would straight out the kinks.

   Thanks again

   ED

2. 
   forestgirl | Feb 23, 2004 08:18pm | #2

   Sounds like a bad blade.  The blade definitely shouldn't "chatter" -- and the blade guides are not there to keep it from doing so, they're just to support the blade during cutting.  If John's suggestion doesn't find/solve the problem, try another blade.

   forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)  you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

1. 
   edevo | Feb 23, 2004 08:53pm | #3

   thanks for the input Forest Girl!!! The blade was definitely kinked when i put it on. I assumed that tensioning would straighten it out.

   thanks again,

   Ed

3. 
   10fingers | Feb 24, 2004 12:06am | #5

   If you like using small blaces like 1/8 or 1/16, try the Carter stabilizer.  It is a wheel shaped bearing that has a groove the blade rides in.  You can use it with a blade up to 1/4".   I keep it on my 14" clone all the time.  Try a 1/16 blade if you like to cut out puzzles or anything similiar, it is neat how the blade practically turns in its own kerf.  They don't last as long as a thicker blace, but they are fun to mess with.

4. 
   slem2 | Feb 24, 2004 06:34am | #6

   Edevo   I use a 1/8 inch blade most of the time on my saw and have learned that proper adjustment sure makes a big difference when sawing. I use the hard rubber guide blocks and adjust them TIGHT against the blade top and bottom. When the blade starts to deflect too much to the right or left from wear I just take them off and sand  them flat  and readjust them tight against the blade again. The blade will wear a groove in the end of the rubber blocks. I sand my guide blocks if the blade starts to wander or tend to follow the grain of the wood. I keep a piece of a candle on my bandsaw and hold it against both sides of the blade while the saw is running before each cut to lube the blade. Now my blades last about three times as long as they used to. I also think using the rubber guides extends blade life. I had a lot of trouble with my saw when I first started using it. I eventually found that most of my troubles were from adjustment of the blade to the roller bearings, blade tension or guides not tight enough. The worst is when all are out of adjustment. I got my saw manual out and studied the section on blade adjustment and solved most of my problems.                                                                      BT

1. 
   edevo | Feb 24, 2004 05:17pm | #7

   Thank you for the input. My feeling is that i have not come close to mastering the set up yet. I've been doing this for about a year now.....mostly one or two days a week...and it seems that i am always fussing over the saw set up. I do  not own a  table saw mostly because of room and safety so I opted to learn how to use the band saw. At this point I'm a little frustrated. Simple things like cutting the shoulders for tenons just aren't accurate enough for my liking. Another thing my band saw blades seem to dull after a days use!!!    I think maybe I need to try a better quality blade. The ones I'm currently using are Olson because they are readily available around here. I've read a lot about band saws and how once properly tuned they are great. I just had no idea that it would so difficult to learn. I spent six months debating bandsaw or table saw, bandsaw or table saw, I think I may have chosen poorly.

   Thanks again,

   Ed

1. 
   JohnWW | Feb 25, 2004 01:16am | #8

   Ed,

   Setting up a bandsaw properly involves making several adjustments that only need to be done once at the initial set up of the saw and then get rechecked again maybe once a year.  In addition to those adjustments, there are settings of the guides and fence that get done every time a blade is changed.

   Neither the initial or the blade change adjustments are hard to do, but skipping some of them or doing them out of order will degrade the accuracy of the machine.  What sources of information such as books or magazine articles have you used to learn about the proper set up of a saw?

   John W.

1. 
   edevo | Feb 25, 2004 05:17pm | #10

   Hi JohnW,

   My primary source of reading was Mark Duginske's bandsaw book Tauton press. I read any article that mentions bandsaw in several publications. Maybe i have too much info!!!...haha. i'll keep trying. I'm thinking now that i may not be tracking the blade properly on the tire. Should it be dead center for all blades?

   Ed

1. 
   JohnWW | Feb 26, 2004 12:02am | #11

   Ed,

   The blade should be tracked so that it runs on the middle of the tires.  If the machine's wheels are properly lined up, the blade should be in the same position on both wheels.  If that isn't the case, just split the difference, a little forward on the top and a little back on the bottom or vice versa. 

   The proper procedure for setting the tracking is to pull back the guides so they don't touch either the back or the side of the blade and then, while rotating the wheels by hand, bring up the tension to the setting you want while also adjusting the tracking to keep the blade centered on the wheels.  Typically the blade will walk toward the outside edge of the wheel as you increase the tension, so you have to adjust the tracking as you increases the tension on the blade.

   Once the blade is tensioned and tracking properly, bring the thrust bearings, top and bottom, right up against the back of the blade, rather than leaving a small gap between the back of the blade and the bearing.  The bearings will spin even when you aren't feeding stock but there is no harm in that and the firm contact gives better blade tracking.

   John W.

    

   Edited 2/25/2004 5:46:23 PM ET by JohnW

2. 
   slem2 | Feb 25, 2004 05:32am | #9

   Like you I tend to use blades that are readily avaliable in my area which are either Sears or Vermont. I have tried Timberwolf which are supposed to be one of the best but I could not tell much difference in them except for maybe a smoother surface but I sand the surface anyway and the cost difference was twice the price of the two I use with no noticable extended life for the price. Once you get the roller barrings adjusted correctly they can stay where they are until you change to a different size blade 1/4 to 1/2 or 1/4 to 1/8 and so forth. If you change sizes like that then you have to adjust the barrings to the size blade you are using. If I change my 1/8 blade and put on another 1/8 blade all I do is  adjust the guides. I keep my guides real tight and  adjust the top  guide highth so that it is about 1/2 inch above the stock you are cutting which may help you get better fits on your joints. hope this helps some.    BT