I was wondering if anyone who owns this band saw on here could help me out. I am a beginner to using/setting up a band saw and need some advice.
1)I was wondering if there are any recommendations for a source for not-too expensive 106″ band saw blades as this saw requires. I would like to start with maybe 3 sizes – 1 for resawing, one more general purpose and one for tighter curves etc. I make medium size furniture projects- small tables, chests, nightstands that kind of thing out of oak, pine, and mostly “traditional” types of wood. As far as the resawing goes I seem to be getting and equal amount of advice telling me to get a 1/2″ vs a 3/4″ blades. What would be the major difference in the cut etc? My project stock thicknesses usually run from 2″ to 3/8″
2) I think (?) I would like to replace the blade guides that came with this saw with something like these cool blocks I read about or a similar product but don’t want to purchase something I don’t need or won’t work with this particular saw any recommendations?
3)If on the initial entry of the wood to the blade the cut is consistently out of alignment and then it returns to the cut path what would be the reason for that?
I appreciate any help anyone can provide- prior to this all my curves were done with a jigsaw and spokeshave and elbow grease but now that I finally have a band saw I am seeing that it takes a lot more tweaking than any other machine I own so again any advice would be appreciated.
Ralph
Replies
You have a great saw that will give you excellent performance...
1) Suffolk Machinery http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/ call them, they will advise you on saw blade selection, they are excellent to work with, their products are some of the best and price is amazingly inexpensive.
2)This saw has excellent guides, you want to replace them WHY??? My recommendation is to wait until you get some working time with this saw, before you change out the guides. I'm betting with the Timberwolf blades, properly tensioned, you'll find there's no justification to changing the guides...
3)My guess is you're trying to use the blade that came originally with the saw. If so, these are junk blades, they're stamped out and only have tooth 'set' on one side, which causes them to wander. Throw out the factory blade and buy a Timberwolf blade, properly set it up and prepare to be amazed....I used to cut veneers with my G0457 and I didn't have .02 variation on a full width cut.
Jeff
Ralph,
Read this article before you go off changing guides for no reason:
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=24093
I have the bearing style guides and have no issue with them.
Just adjust them like Michael does the steel block guides on his saws and they should be fine.
Don
Looks like I have some setup to do! I am going to try everything in this article and see what happens. Somehow I have the feeling that I am in for a surprise. I don't have much band saw experience so I appreciate all the advice. I'll let you know how it goes. Ralph
Ralph,
I had thought my bandsaw purchase was a dumb idea until I followed
Michael's tuneup recomendations. A totally different tool, and pleasure to use.
I think you will find your to be the same.
Don
Well-I started with most of the adjustments today as I only had an hour or so of time for myself. I can say this--- with just the de-tensioning of the blade and setting the guides per instructions it is already cutting better. I don't know if you have follow the advice about the 3 tpi 1/2 blades but before I go ahead and buy this for general work I would like something that can turn a tighter radius. Would you recommend staying with the 3 tpi in a say 1/8 inch blade for the tight curves etc? or should I then bump up the tpi on the blade i buy for this type of application... any help would be appreciated.thanks.Ralph
In my experience, narrow blades like the 1/8" blade you mention, are very detrimental to the tires on the bandsaw wheels. I can cut a pretty tight radius with a 1/4" blade, which is as small as I'm willing to go on my saw, so I don't ruin my tires...Any radius smaller than I can cut with the 1/4" blade, I 'nibble' out the material with the larger blade and smooth with a file.Your mileage may vary...
Raplh,
There are charts available which provide guidelines for blade width and radius.
This is an example:
http://www.allbandsawblades.com/blade_width.htm I cannot speak to the accuracy, so you will have to experiment.
Just be careful when using finer cutting blades as Michael points out the gullet is much smaller so the blade dos not clear the cuttings away as fast. You may have to slow down your rate of feed.My blade distributor also advises against using the same blade to cut circles and straight cuts. He says cutting circles and similarly curved cuts will change the wera on the teeth. This will negatively impact your ability to make straight cuts.Don
thanks for all the good advice. I'll start with a 1/2 inch 3 tpi blade and a 1/4 inch 3 tpi blade if it is available and see how that goes. Today I trued up the table very much more so than when I hastily assembled the bandsaw over a month ago. I did not get a chance to do any cutting however because my son started crying and my other son had a similar melt-down at the same time so I had to cut it short- but I am going to post my results anyway when I try it out in the next couple days and my results after switching the blade to another type with less tpi. Ralph
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