Happy Mother’s day to those so afflicted–it’s the toughest job in the world.
Whats the poop on the quick release by Carter ? I can pick one up for less than $120 delivered. I keep forgetting to de-tension -DUH- and have resorted to a paper sign taped to the side of the power switch. is it worth the bucks, any negatives? Paddy
Replies
Paddy,
I've had the Carter quick release installed on my Jet 14" bandsaw for a few years. It's a GREAT addition! I, too, was always forgetting to release the tension and when I remembered, it was a real pain. No longer!
John L
John, thanks, I just ordered it. Paddy
Are you telling us that there is a detensioner that remembers for us?
What will they think of next!
Cadiddlehopper
Clem, I ordered it and I can now move the sign to the shop light switch --but I WILL stop using the string tied on my finger. Paddy
Though I technically did not buy the lever itself, I did spend the extra money on the Powermatic band saw because I like their stuff and it had the upgrades like the Carter Guide System, the Rip Fence and the De-Tensioning lever, among other things. I am glad I paid a little more for the PM. I think the tension bar is great because it saves time on both ends...loosening and tightening back up. Not to mention, it puts you right back to the perfect tension. Not that it is any harder to forget to undo the lever than it is to forget to loosen the blade by hand...it's just much easier. At least it is almost impossible to turn on your band saw without noticing the big orange ball right behind the blade. Some would say, if you use your BS a lot, it is worth it, I would say it is even more important if you don't use it all the time, since forgetting to back off the tension could leave it sitting like that even longer. I would not have any qualms about telling you to get it.
Joe, thanks for the info and you are more correct than you know about lack of use. I leave it for months at a time till I make the final move to the new house(shop). Paddy
Hey! You're a week early on Mother's day. You scared the crap out of me because I thought I missed it. That's not even close to funny dude.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
The more things change ...
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC
John, just think of all the guys that I saved from the unforgivable forgetfull mistake. Sorry, Paddy
Save your money and don't worry so much about detensioning.
Pete
Pete, thanks but I also like the lack of cranking when in a blade change so I bought it . Paddy
My Griz bandsaw came with a detensioning lever, and I really like it, BUT..I have to put a sign on (I clamp it right to the blade) to REMIND me to RETENSION the dadgum bandsaw before I try to use it again. Twice I've cranked her up without pulling the tension lever and both times it wasn't good!!!
Jeff
Jeff
That sounds fun--not! Don't know about your Griz, but on the Carter, the lever drops down onto the tabletop when you de-tension the blade. Can't miss it when you are ready to cut. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
I have been using a 14" rockwell since about 1979 with nothing to de tension the blade , only when I first install the blade and to crank it up once in a while during its lifetime. So far I have had to change the tires 3 times. The bearings once. No big deal. This saw just keeps on ticking. Only upgrade to this saw is a 2 hp motor for re-saw. Are we being sold these accesories as part a marketing ploy?
Well, I'm sure I'm going to draw a zillion testimonials to the contrary, but yes. A buddy of mine works in a professional shop and ridiculed the whole idea of detensioning. I've pretty much given it up unless I know my machine is going to be idle for a long time.I know of one European manufacturer that claims if you leave the band tensioned, it will compress the rubber and throw off the balance of the wheel. C'mon, are their wheels really that balanced? Even if they were, would a few grams out of balance matter? Of course not.It's a natural human instinct to want to customize your car|home|machine, and naturally there are products ready to meet the demand. "Internet wisdom" (statements repeated over and over in forums like FWW until they're accepted as fact) plays a part too. The result is newbies who think that step 1 after buying a band saw is to drop a few hundred on "upgrades", when they'd get far more out of experience with the machine. Pete
Edited 5/9/2007 12:27 am ET by PeteBradley
Detensioning not necessary? We'll see. I don't have twenty years of data...yet. But I've had my bandsaw a couple of years now. Blade drift is a myth in my shop, my machine cuts straight no matter what blade (or material) I run, so I'll keep on detensioning my blades to keep my tires from developing flat spots. As a bit of annecdotal evidence, there was the same issue with all tape players. When left on pause with the rubber roller (capstan) stopped but engaged, they'd develop flat spots and degrade over time. Back to my bandsaw, it ain't broke, so I'm not gonna fix it...
I will admit, my saw came with a detensioning mechanism, it's not an upgrade I added. However, if I was in the market for another saw, you can bet I would not buy one without a quick detensioning mechanism. To each their own....
Jeff
> if I was in the market for another saw, you can bet I would not buy one without a quick detensioning mechanismAnd that's exactly why we'll see more and more of them. I haven't see this feature show up on anything but consumer machines, which is another data point.Are you suggesting drift is overhyped too? Could it be? ;-)Pete
Good point. However, I would speculate that production bandsaws are a bandsaw of another color, so to speak, designed to be run in a production environment where you wouldn't expect it to sit idle for long periods of time.
On the other hand, my consumer bandsaw is used heavily but sporadically, and does sit for long periods of time inactive. This may be the difference and why production bandsaws don't have a need for this feature.
But I will admit that in the consumer market mfgs are much more inclined to add bells and whistles of dubious value as marketing ploys to sucker er entice the public into buying their product over their competitors. Does this feature fall into that category? I don't know.
Another interesting 'data point' is that at least one blade mfg (Suffolk Machine - Six rules of Sawing) recommends to ALWAYS detension the blade. Why would a blade mfg. recommend this if it weren't important? They certainly don't have any investment in detensioning features as they don't sell bandsaws....
In the final analysis, if it is important, and it seems like it is to me, then I find it much more convenient to just cycle a lever and start sawing, instead of having to spend time setting my tension by cranking a screw knob whenever I want to use my saw. I'll split the difference with ya and say it's a valuable feature on a consumer saw...lol....
Best Regards
Jeff
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