Bandsaw issues

[disco_monkey79]

Hello,
I had a go with my recently acquired bandsaw at the weekend, but I'm having a slight problem.

I ran off some 12mm thick hardwood (beech), and it was fine. It was slow, but it did the job (I accidentally ordered a 14 tpi blade - doh).

However, when I tried to run through some 15mm softwood, the blade kept veering off to one side.

My question is - is this because there isn't enough tension on the blade, and if so, how do I increase the tension (it's a Proline BBS20 mk 2)?

Alternatively, is it due to the wrong blade? Though I would have thought too many teeth per inch would have meant it was very slow and prone to clogging, rather than making it veer off.

Much obliged,

Matt

 

[Harbo]

Cannot help with your make of saw, but I would have thought it would have some form of tensioning - normally a screw/spring system?
The blades should be very tight.
6TPI or 3 are much better for wood - also for straighter cuts the wider the better.
Also a good quality blade is important - there has been much debate on blade suppliers on this forum!

Rod

 

[disco_monkey79]

Thanks for the reply. I'll be investing in a more suitable blade, once I've been able to get it to run right. I'll get one with toothing like you suggest. Re quality, I went for an Axminster.

There is indeed a spring tensioner. I had it wound down as tight as it would go. The bearing for the top wheel is also on a slider, which presumably allows variance in the blade length up to an inch or so. I tried levering the pulley wheel up as an additional form of tension. However, this (a) didn't seem to have much effect and (b) seemed a bit half-@arsed, me heaving at it with a screwdriver.

Can anyone with a manual for this model shed any light?

 

[crazylilting]

I looked around for one but couldn't find one. Could you post some pictures? To me it sounds like the blade is a bit to big for the saw if you have it as tense as your machine allows it. I am no expert on Bandsaws I barely use mine, but after hearing how handy others find them i want to get to know mine a lot better and put it to use. So i'll be watching this thread to. good luck

 

[wee dram]

hi it sounds to me that you've knocked the set off the blade, the reason i say this is you say it cut the beech ok but it was slow going
in my experiance a blade with no set will seem ok but still stuggle cutting hardwood but when you try to cut soft wood it tends to weave about and burn a bit, don't know why but you'd think it would cut the softer wood easier :?
can't suggest anything on the tension on that model as have only worked with wadkin and robinson bandsaws

 

[crazylilting]

As i know very little about bandsaws what do you mean when you say

hi it sounds to me that you've knocked the set off the blade

Thanks

 

[wee dram]

As i know very little about bandsaws what do you mean when you say

hi it sounds to me that you've knocked the set off the blade

Thanks

if you look directly down the cutting edge of a newly set/sharpened blade you will see that every other tooth is pointing outwards at different angles that angle is called the set(or was when i was taught) and should cut wider than the thickness of the actual blade leaving clearance for the back of the blade to pass,if the set is lost the width of the cut reduces to the thickness of the blade and causes it to burn and weave
not the best at explanations but hope this helps also a 14 tpi may be a bit fine as said would go for a wide 6tpi for straght cuts