I am relatively new to a bandsaw. My experience with it is limited and I have had it in my shop for about a year now but have trouble using it, especially while resawing. It is a 14″ Reliant with a 93″ band…typically, I will clamp a board to the table to use as a fence (I didn’t opt for the optional ripfence) and almost as soon as I start the cut the band wavers and bows and I never get a decent “split”. It doesn’t just waver a little, it can be as much as 3/8″ or more…Forget cutting for veneer pieces, they would end up looking like a used napkin more than a flat piece of wood. Is there a trick to learn here?
I have tighted the blade exactly at and over the manufacturers scale shows on the back …(I.E. – 1/2″ blade-3/4″ tightness reading) this made no difference! I also have made sure the blade is riding as perfect as it can on the tires. I feel like this things only worth is for cutting shaped objects since a straight line seems more like wishful thinking…..any help would be certainly appreciated!!!! Thanks!
Barry
Replies
Have you adjusted your fence to compensate for the drift in your blade?
Scott
Bandsaws can be tricky to operate, but the situation you describe points to some kind of major problem with the machine. My first guess is that the blade is not tensioned properly. On my Jet saw, I order my blades welded ½ -3/4" smaller than the recommended size. I also purchased an after market tension spring, that is far better than the stock spring. Another problem could be the blade, if it is kinked somewhere, it would be nearly impossible to get a straight cut, and a quality blade is of course the only way to go ( I like Starrett Bi-metal blades) . I once kinked a blade by sawing a disk, for thickness ( really dumb), while the kink was minor it destroyed blade. I have not found drift to be a problem, when doing anything other than resawing, and even then I don't pay too much attention to it. There are several good books on setting up bandsaws, including an article in the current issue of FWW. The bandsaw is a great tool and is worth the effort to get it running correctly. For me the bandsaw is the premier power tool, so much so that I rarely use my table saw anymore
I tried to set up my Jet 14" with riser using a timberwolf 3/4" blade. I had no luck getting the tension that blade needed. I had the thing cranked all the way up (just short of full compression) and it made me very nervous to have the spring that tight. I have just ordered an aftermarket spring from Iturra designs which will hopefully solve the problem. Anyhow I wanted to say thanks for the tip of having the blade made 1/2" shorter.
Bob H.
Bob,
What problems did you have that made you up the tension that high? I have several of those blades with a Jet-14 with risers. I set the low tension as they recommend and it worked. I compared cutting 1/32 slices off 12" hardwood with both low and high tension, and there was little difference. On the other hand, precise tuning of the bandsaw was a big factor.
Gerry
Well, the directions I have suggest removing all constraints on the blade, such as guides etc, and running the saw, lowering the tension until the blade starts to "flutter", raising tension until the flutter stops and giving another quarter turn or so.
I am a rank beginner but it seemed to me that my blade was fluttering the whole time. Looking at the blade on edge it seemed to vibrate in and out of phase. Once I had the tension way up it resolved into a thin hard line. Any lowering of tension and it blurred out again.
To be fair I didn't give it much of a chance and was impatient. It felt to me that the blade was not getting stretched as taut as it should, I even had to adjust the blade guard on the riser side out as far as I could because the blade was rubbing against it as it described a slightly elliptical path around the wheels.
I have never tuned up this saw and I'm also remembering that I didn't get the belt tension to what I would like, again through impatience.
I'll have to go over it again tomorrow and see if I can get it working right.
Thanks
Bob
I know this may go against the grain (pardon the pun), but a typical 14 inch saw can not tension a ¾" blade. I won’t even use a ½" blade on my saw, I tried but the results were at best mixed. My standard purpose blade is a Starrett 3/8"x.025 8/12 pitch BI-metal blade. This blade will resaw boards up to about 6" wide, and will turn a fairly small radius. For tighter work I have a similar blade in the ¼" width. The variable pitch on these blades nearly eliminates vibrations. For heavy duty resawing I use a 3/8" 4 pitch hard back blade, since I think they have a little more beam strength, unfortunately Starrett does not make a variable pitch blade in this line. I do a fair amount of resawing, mostly to make drawer bottoms. I made a high straight fence, and I pay little attention to the drift. The real important aspect of resawing is a smooth steady feed, and this takes some getting use to. Most people want to muscle it, to keep tracking on the cut line, but this will always lead to over compensation, causing you to drift to the other side of the line, and then back and so on.
Hi Rob,
It seems that many have had success with the "low tension" swedish steel type blades such as the Timberwolf by Suffolk. I called them up and explained what I wanted to do and they sold me a 3/4" 2 tpi blade. I had planned on sticking with a 1/2" blade but I figured these guys knew what they were talking about.
Another poster here is wondering why I need to have so much tension as he has not had any problems with a similar setup. I'm curious to hear what his setup procedure was like (Gerry?).
At this point I think I need to go over the saw making sure everything is in order and I will put in the stronger spring when it comes in a few days and I believe it will work out. I want to be able to resaw 10-12" hardwood.
Bob
the Poulsbohemian
Just to continue....
I bought the saw new and have run 1/8" on up to 3/4" blades through it...the 3/4" blade seemed to do somewhat ok but the saw lacked power or maybe speed and would bind or lag with any feed pressure which is very frustrating!!!....the pully system has adjustable speed capability with a One horse motor. should the speed be set fast/fastest or slow/slowest? Also...I am using the stock type teflon guides...do these add to my troubles? How about the plastic plate in the table?
Yes, I think a book on bandsaws would be quite useful but for now the tips and suggestions I receive here will be taken into account and any progress I make will be noted here. Thank you all!!!
Barry
Barry,
Don't know if this relates, but a friend stopped by today with a problem. He's not experienced with a BS and only just tried to use it, to cut slices off 6" wide hardwood. He said that, even with a very slow feed, his blade jammed and stopped. Turns out he has a Reliant. From his description, sounds like the pully belt is slipping. He's off to other things right now, but if I end up stopping over to see his problem, I'll post whatever I find.
For speed you want something between 2600 and 3100 feet per minute. If the guide blocks are set away from the teeth and not touching the blade, they're not the problem. But, try removing them and see what happens. A one hp motor should be enough, but different manufacturers lie differently about their hp rating.
I still suggest a step-by-step tuneup. And when you measure the wheels iwth a straightedge, tilt the table out of the way and check them on the side at front, (near) middle, and back. They can appear coplanar at one point, but still be twisted. In any case, you should start at the beginning (motor) and work outward from there.
Gerry
Bob,
I'm not sure what part of the setup you're asking about. When I first started resawing veneer, I experimented with the effect of each adjustment. For instance, with a good blade and properly aligned saw, the guide block spacing is not important. Here I tried several different spacings, including removing them, and couldn't see any difference.
I found the first blade wasn't welded straight (>0.030 out) and this made the cut rougher. The manufacturer replaced it (0.008) and the cut improved. Then I varied the thrust bearing and saw a difference. Now I rotate the wheel until the blade is forward by that 0.008 (or whatever), and move the bearing to just touch it.
Same thing applied to tension. I started with Suffolk's suggestion, then tried three greater levels. Didn't see any difference, so I run at low tension.
One other factor, however. The biggest problem hides the next one. IOW, until I fixed my wheel alignement, I couldn't see any effect from the bad blade, nor the thrust bearing. So every time I improved one item, I went back and checked everything else.
A bit odd that Suffolk recommended a 3/4-2tpi blade. I have several of their 3/4-3tpi AS-S/PC blades, and they handle 12" hardwood.
Gerry
Rob,
I fear we're a bit opposed on this one. I just ran through a number of bandsaw boxes, that require mixed grain and tight radius's in hardwood just under 6". The book suggested a 3/16-10 for a smooth cut, and that worked okay for awhile. By the third box it started to crown, and I had to keep increasing the tension to get that done. Before long, the blade was shot. I moved to a 3/16-4. The cut was just as smooth, there was no crowning, the blade held up, and I used minimum tension.
For resawing with a 3/4 blade, I've compared results with others using different blades, and they were similar.
However, we do very much agree on your last point. The last factor I found that controlled the roughness is the feed rate and especially how smooth you feed it. Even if you don't drift, any change in the feed rate will apear in the cut.
Gerry
I'm confused by your reply, since I did not advocate using 3/16"blades, I said I use 3/8" for most situations, and won't use anything wider, because I feel the saw won't tension them properly. I have used 3/16" blades on my saw, and they have worked okay, but I have only used them to cut the tight radiuses on cabriole legs, and few aprons. They have seemed durable to me.
The focus was more on tpi. That with too high a tpi the blade started to dull rather quickly or couldn't clear the kerf, and that required much more tension to avoid crowning and get a smooth cut. You said that you felt the saw wouldn't tension a 3/4" blade properly, but didn't say why, and I'm assuming it was either a rough cut or crowning. In the case I cited, the 3/16-4 was tensioned to about 1/8 on the saw. My 3/4 blades read just over 1/2 on tension. In both cases, increases in tension didn't change the result.
Gerry
Barry, give a call to the folks at Suffolk Machinery (Timberwolf blades people). They can help you out. 1-800-234-7297
You can resaw with your bandsaw. Don't give up!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Barry,
The first thing I recommend to most people is to throw out the cheap blade that comes with the saw. That could be your entire problem. Have you picked up one of the books by Bird or Duginski and tuned up the saw? Even if your tension was a bit low, it shouldn't crown like you described. However, a blade that's dull or improperly set on one side will do as you described, and the tension will have little effect.
Also, some of the Reliant bandsaws have had some issues. I knew one fellow who needed a machine shop to get his working right. A decent blade and a full tuneup will answer that one.
Gerry
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