Bandsaw question, what does this gauge represent?

[justinpeer]

Missed that quote.
Can you adjust the cable to put the gauge to the bottom mark then try again?

Not sure, will have a look tomorrow. Spent the afternoon giving it a clean, taking the guides apart and cleaning them as the threads were pretty gummed up and sanding and waxing the table.

Tomorrow I’ll look at the guage, refit the blade and have a go at tuning it up. Need to sit and watch videos from Steve Maskery and Paul Sellers on setting it up properly this evening.

 

[pgrbff]

My small Hammer has blade widths on the indicator but it is pretty much meaningless.
It's all part of learning to set the saw up for effortless drift free cuts.

 

[Nick.]

I'm sure the marks on the scale are for blade width in mm. Looks like max 1" (24mm)
Most bandsaws I sold used this type of scale, although as already said - it's only an approx. reference - all depends on blade material etc. and you are best working the correct tension out yourself by just using this as a 'ball park' guide to get close.
When you unwind the tension, also try manually pulling down the top wheel - it may well drop some more if it's gunked up or stuck on the threads - I've seen that on new machines with grease that has hardened.

 

[Sideways]

Numbers are blade width in mm.
The idea is to tell you to use a high tension for a wide blade, low tension for a narrow blade.
It is out of calibration.

Be aware that if you or any perious owner wind up the tension screw to the point where all the coils of the spring are compressed to touching, you have overstressed the spring beyond it's elastic limit and it will not recover to it's original length. Each time you repeat, the spring will take more set.

Some experimentation with bandsaws has suggested to me as mentioned above, that even quite reputable bandsaws can fall short of their claimed specification and are not strong enough to properly tension their largest size blade. Certainly not if using M42 alloy steel rather than simple carbon steel blades.

 

[Noel]

Write to Meber in Italy and they might send you a manual, most of which come in 4 languages including English [email protected]
or fill in the form, worth a try: https://www.meber.com/en/contatti-2/

 

[pgrbff]

I picked up an old Meber bandsaw that works well but is in need of some tic. I've not been able to find a proper manual online, just an exploded diagram so I'm not sure what the 10-15-20 means on this gauge, which looks to be blade tension related but I'm not sure if it's percentage of something like wear or how tension should be set relative to it. Has anyone seen anything like it before?

View attachment 190285

The saw in question, needs some cleanup and fettling which is a winter project.

View attachment 190286

If you have a model number I can see if I can get a manual. Italy not really very up to date in the digital world.

 

[pgrbff]

Write to Meber in Italy and they might send you a manual, hopefully in English [email protected]
or fill in the form, worth a try: https://www.meber.com/en/contatti-2/

In my 12 years in Italy I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of replies I have had to an email. Telephone still rules here, and fax.

 

[Noel]

In my 12 years in Italy I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of replies I have had to an email. Telephone still rules here, and fax.

Maybe. Fancy helping if the email option doesn't work?

 

[pgrbff]

Maybe. Fancy helping if the email option doesn't work?

already offered

 

[justinpeer]

If you have a model number I can see if I can get a manual. Italy not really very up to date in the digital world.

Thanks very much, that's very kind of you, I'll get the exact model tomorrow.

 

[justinpeer]

OK, so I did a bit more cleaning and then installed the blade. Went through all the setup and think I have it running nicely. Blade tension I set the way Paul Sellers recommends which is to raise the guard up and then, with a block against the blade, push on the blade and see how far the gap is between the blade and the block when the blade returns. I adjusted it until the the gap was 4-5mm which seems to be about right as he said between ⅛"-¼". Adjusted the table to get it square to the blade in both directions.

I need to fit the Kreg fence before I can check, and adjust for, drift and to fit the fence I need to drill and tap both the fence and table, which is a job for the weekend.

Blade deflection

This is where the gauge currently sits with this blade tension. Blade is a Tuffsaws super premium ½" 6tpi