Hi everyone, I have a problem with re-sawing on my bandsaw. It takes about 14 minutes to re-saw a 3″ X 48″ piece of cherry, which seems a little on the slow side to me. I am using a Rigid 14″ bandsaw with a new Timberwolf 1/2″ 3 tpi blade. I have my fence adjusted for blade drift and keep the stock tight to the fence using a featherboard while I saw. The stock is supported on the outfeed. I’ve got the blade tensioned as tight as it will go, and it sounds like a guitar string when I pluck it. Even so, if I try to feed the stock any faster, the saw blade starts chirping like a banshee and the motor begins to bog down.
Any suggestions?
Replies
That does seem very slow
Susan,
This is very slow. I haven't really timed it, but I would say it should take less than a minute to resaw a board like that.
My first thought is the teeth are too coarse, for such a narrow board . For resawing boards under about 6" wide, I use my standard blade, which is a 3/8" 8-10 variable pitch bi-metal blade from Starrett.
Also, and I'm not sure about this, but I think the Timber Wolf blades are made to run on less tension, so you might try lessening the tension. Finally, check to see that the blade is not hitting the thrust bearing too hard. When this happens on my saw, it causes all kinds of strange behavior.
Rob Millard
http://www.americanfederalperiod.com
http://www.rlmillard.typepad.com
PS to Rob-- I will check the thrust bearing, however. I did move it in slightly when I tightened the blade.
Solved the problem
It turns out the belt was loose. I got the idea that it might be after reading a couple of things on the internet and in Lonnie Bird's book. Mind you, I know nothing about motors, but as soon as I took the belt cover off, I could see it was too loose. It slipped in the wheels with hardly any pull from me.
The motor mount was also loose; I was able to loosen each of the nuts and bolts holding it down with hand pressure only. Also, the pulleys were out of alignment. The set screws holding them were also loose.
So I fixed all that by re-positioning the motor, making sure _not_ to make the belt too tight (but tight enough not to slip), making sure that the drive shaft was perpendicular to the pulley systems, and re-aligning the pulleys.
When I tried it out on a 2" piece of soft maple, it cut like a knife through butter in no time at all. Plus, there is less vibration now.
I'm not sure if it came from the factory that way or if it loosened up over time. Probably a little of both, since it has always seemed a tad underpowered to me.
So I learned something today.
Plus, there is less vibration
Vibration also can be fixed by replacing belts with those chained linked belts. If you've never seen them you probably are thinking motorcycle chain drive, but no joke, Woodcraft used to sell them. They work for me.
Chained link belts
I'll check those out. I have no idea what they are, but I'm feeling pretty feisty now that I've fixed the problem and learned a little bit about belt drives. So I'm starting to think, "Maybe I could tweak it a little more..." Ha!
From Woodcraft website
Reduce vibration in any of your belt driven machines with the Power Twist Link Belt! Common V-belts develop a "memory" and retain their non-operating shape causing annoying and unnecessary machine vibration. However, these specially engineered link belts do not develop a "memory", but retain their flexibility for smooth operation.
Link Belt is 1/2" wide
Easily adjustable
Available either by the foot or in a prepackaged 4' length
Includes instructions for use
I knew I had the name wrong.
chain link belt
Just ordered it last night. Thanks for the tip!
You'll like the belt.
Susan,
I have had a link belt on my bandsaw for almost 12 years. It did seem to transmit the power better, and certainly reduced vibration, especially under load.
Rob Millard
Look no further than Knots but do look : )
I was just saying to a friend:
http://forums.finewoodworking.com/fine-woodworking-knots/power-tools-and-machinery/resaw-king#comment-706111
Glad you fixed it. Aren't bandsaws the cat's meow ?
Excellent!
Ah, Roc, I did look, but didn't find your excellent response to the other person's troubles. Wish I had--it might have saved me some fretting.
I am wiser now, though.
Oops ! You are a brand new member of Knots. Sorry. Just noticed. Can't expect you to get around in here easily on the first round or two.
Welcome to Knots !
I was just saying to Queenmasteroftheuniverseandbabybunnytrainer a few days ago that about all the women have disappeared from Knots. Ah well probably off making stuff instead of just talking about it.
>Slipping belt<
I learned the hard way. I knew I had set the belt tension with care when I set up my bandsaw so I didn't think to check the belt. It seemed I hadn't used it enough to put wear on anything.
I was cutting OK but had quite a shriek when I switched on the saw. Brand new saw shrieking like that. Glad it was just belt tension.
Be sure to post photos of cool stuff that you are working on. Let one of us know if it isn't clear how to put photos on with your posts. Mostly it is just the button that shows up bellow this text field when writing a new post or comment. The one marked "Choose File".
Thanks for your patience,
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