How do you throttle a Bandsaw

[Aggrajag]

How do you throttle a Bandsaw"

Quite easily if you imagine it's Nigel Farage?


Sorry I couldn't resist, please don't let this moment of brevity hijack the thread!

 

[custard]

Further to the discussion about feed speed for deep ripping. I cut some Oak drawer sides this morning, the donor board was 480mm long and 115mm tall/wide, dead on the quarter and straight grained. I needed four pieces that start at about 15mm thick and will get planed down to about 8.5mm thick in probably three stages over the next month.

I timed the rip and it came to a whisker under 2 minutes for each cut, in other words the feed rate is virtually four minutes per metre for a 115mm deep cut with a 1/2", 3tpi, bi-metallic bandsaw blade. Many woodworkers would be surprised at how slow four minutes per metre feels like, for wider and thinner veneers it would be significantly slower still!

 

[david123]

Just got back from,once again going through and ajusting everything from scratch. This time I checked the wear on the tyres and although they seem to not be badly worn I noticed that the blade on the top wheel is in the center of the tyre the blade on the bottom has the teeth just off the belt on the outside edge. I assume that the coplanar alignment is out but I will order up new tyres before going down that route.
Thanks for that custard I appreciate your help.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I think your blade it too wide. I would use a 1/2in 3-4 tooth per inch. From tuff saws. You will have more chance tensioning this width blade and the variable teeth reduces resonance during the cut. I bet a pound to a pinch this will solve your problem.

Mike.

 

[david123]

You may be right, but I have used them before without a problem and it was Ian from tuffsaws that suggested it. Still I will wait until l have sorted out the above problem and see what happens.

 

[Glynne]

Dave
Just a thought but measure the length of your blade.
I had one from Ian that was 20mm longer than it should be and only found out as I couldn't tension it properly. Once I got a new blade to the correct length it was fine.

 

[woodbrains]

You may be right, but I have used them before without a problem and it was Ian from tuffsaws that suggested it. Still I will wait until l have sorted out the above problem and see what happens.

Hello,

Tuff saws blades are fine, but your saws ability to tension the 3/4 in one is the thing. I use those blades in my bandsaw, but mine is industrial and will tension it. (Axminster 5300) It might be that that blade is tensioned fine for thinner ripping, but a resaw will test that, and it does not follow it will still track OK with such a deep cut. Custard is correct, too, that it is glacially slow to re saw that sort of thickness.

It is fine to re saw with a narrower blade, though, and possibly the optimum way for your saw. The fact that your 3/4in blade is not tracking on the centre of the lower wheel could be due to insufficient tension. I re saw often with a 1/2 in blade in a startrite machine, with excellent results. I've never known a smaller saw to be able to tension blades close to the max stated for resawing.

Mike.

 

[david123]

Hi Glynne, I remember you having that problem and have done a check and it's fine, but thanks for reminding me.
Hi woodbraims. I appreciate your advice and will take on board your comments, good of you to pitch in thank you. The saw has a 2 HP power unit and has coped with a 3/4 inch 3 TPI blade last year with similar sized Oak. I am now racking my brain and wondering if it was 3/4 inch and not a 5/8. I think my brain has turned to mush.

Think I need a glass of something...strong
.

 

[CHJ]

I have a SIP 14" bandsaw, no way will it tension a 3/4" blade, 1/2" is as far as I go.


On my saw, ripping deep stock is more problem free if I use 3/8 or 1/4" blades with a good tooth set, this means that the blade body has little or no influence on drift or direction and relies totally on tooth set and balanced sharpening.

It does of course result in a less than optimum surface finish and a greater waste % in the kerf, not a significant problem for my turning needs.

This is a 6mm blade:-

The same one being used here, you can see the value of the increased tooth set for blade body clearance.:-

I do occasionally use a thin stock 1/2" skipped tooth blade for best surface finish


I don't worry about blade position on the wheels (as long as it's on them) narrower blades ride somewhere near centre on top wheel, 1/2" ride near centre but teeth are perhaps just clearing tyre.

 

[david123]

Most of the opinion on here is that I am using to big a blade, and will take that on board and revert to the smaller size. I will wait until the tyres arrive and see how I get on.
Thanks guys, I appreciate your help.

 

[woodpig]

Let us know how you get on when you've found the answer, it may help someone else.

 

[david123]

Will be delighted to do so

 

[david123]

First let me say a massive thanks to all of you. You where spot on as usual, I was using far to big a sized blade for the job. I did check and did use a 3/4 inch blade for my last re-saw and it was spot on. I think in hindsight that I must have been lucky and the machine also must have been set up perfectly.
I received two blades from Ian an Saturday a 3/8 and a 1/2 inch 3 TPI this morning I set up the 3/8 blade and cut a veneer from an 8 inch wide oak board at slow speed and it came out perfectly. Another lesson learned.
A big thank you for all your sterling advice.
Although I did order a couple of new tyres I have not had to change any of them, but they are handy to have when I do have to change them.