Kity 613 Bandsaw

[richard.heaton]

So after being an keen reader of this forum for sometime i was looking for a band saw with a decent cutting capacity that suited my budget.

Sometime last year i managed to get my hands on a second hand Kity 613 of eBay. Unfortunately in my excitement to get it home and start chopping wood I didn't really look over it very well. it is in good condition but has No lower guide blocks/bearings or a fence.

So i am after a bit of advice from some of you kity 613 owners, so i can get this band saw tuned in for me, or it might have to go back on eBay and the money put towards a new band saw

1) has anyone added an after market fence onto a kity 613? if so, do you have any suggestions that don't break the bank.

2) I have seen some after market band saw bearing kits you can buy, and i am curious if anyone has fitted one of these kits with any success to a kity 613 as a replacement to the wooden guide blocks that are fitted as standard.

3) How do i know how much tension should be put in the blade? I have no experience with this so I am just guessing how tight it should be, with no way of measuring the tension.

if anyone can help me with any of these i would be very grate full.

Thanks

Richard

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Richard,

If you want to know how to set up a UK spec bandsaw then you will do no better than buy the Bandsaw DVD from Workshop Essentials. Steve Maskery is a member of this forum.

Good luck,
Neil

 

[Stuart]

Hi Richard
I have had a Kity band saw for nearly 30 years and bought it new, they are very good saws and easy to set up. Kity brought out an upgraded version that had metal guides and I have used it but in my experience it cut no better than mine with the wooden guides and steel thrust bearing.
For setting tension I move the guides and thrust bearing out of the area around the blade
I get the blade on the wheels and rotate the wheels by hand and tilt the top wheel so the teeth just are just over the front edge of the wheel. This stops the teeth damaging the rubber on the wheels.
to get the tension I raise the top guide about 150 mm and then I slowly raise the top wheel and gripping the blade between my finger and thumb of my other hand. If I can flex the blade sideways between my finger and thumb 10 mm I stop.
Spin the wheels by hand and check the blade is not moving forward off the wheel, if it is stop and release some tension and tilt the top of the wheel back a little, check the tension again. Once you have the correct tension and the blade running on the front of the wheel adjust the thrust bearing.
The thrust bearing should not touch the back of the blade but be adjusted til till it just touches and backed away a quarter of a turn. When you cut the blade will move back and touch the thrust bearing.
Adjust the side guides so there is just a thickness of a piece of paper between guides and blade.
I do not know of a fence supplier but an engineer could make one for you.
There might be better advice coming from others but this has worked for me and I say again they are very good small band saws.
Regards
Stuart

 

[Alexam]

Hi Richard, if you want to know how to set up a bandsaw properly, watch this video a few times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

Never heard of any bandsaw having the blade teeth over the edge of the tyre.

 

[Stuart]

I am sorry if you think I am giving poor advice, I would not give any advice that I did not think was sound. The fact you have not heard of the blade teeth just over the front of the wheel, rubber or cork, does not mean it is not common practice. When the top of the wheel is very slightly convex, which on my Kity band saw it is, when the wheel is tilted back at the top the front top edge of the wheel is level and not slopping downwards and the blade runs in this position without any problem. Also the side thrust guides on the Kity would be too far forward if narrow blades were fitted and the blade then run in the center of the wheel as the sides of the teeth would cut into the wooden blocks. If you look at a Kity machine you will see what I mean if my explanation is not clear enough.
The final reason for running the teeth of the blade just off the wheel rim is to stop the teeth cutting into the surface when the blade is under tension and running. So far I have never yet had a B/saw that needed new tyres.

 

[Alexam]

Hi Stuart, sorry if you had the impression I was implying you gave poor advice. I have never heard of a blade being run over the edge of the wheel ............................ however, I have just read up on the Kity613 and the manual does say that it is the way the manual says it should be set up, and you were correct. I know something new.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mercian/s ... 013981375/
Always good to learn something new

 

[mikefab]

This is interesting reading for me too as I have just come by a 2nd hand Kity 613 from a local cabinet-maker. I initially set it up as per that Carter video with the blade in the middle of the wheel and ignored the prominent sticker on the saw showing that 2/3 of the teeth should be over the edge of the wheel. A bit of net-surfing confirmed that this is the way to go for this saw.

I don't have a fence either and currently use a batten clamped to the table which works but is a bit of a pain to set up. I'm eyeing up the axminster rip fence but it is not cheap.

While the saw is cutting beautifully square to the table, there is a considerable angle on the blade front to back. Is it better just to shim the table or should I look into whether the wheels are coplanar? Sorry for the hijack....

Mike

 

[Alexam]

This is interesting reading for me too as I have just come by a 2nd hand Kity 613 from a local cabinet-maker. I initially set it up as per that Carter video with the blade in the middle of the wheel and ignored the prominent sticker on the saw showing that 2/3 of the teeth should be over the edge of the wheel. A bit of net-surfing confirmed that this is the way to go for this saw.

I don't have a fence either and currently use a batten clamped to the table which works but is a bit of a pain to set up. I'm eyeing up the axminster rip fence but it is not cheap.

While the saw is cutting beautifully square to the table, there is a considerable angle on the blade front to back. Is it better just to shim the table or should I look into whether the wheels are coplanar? Sorry for the hijack....

Mike

Hi Mike, the carter video shows tha co-planer is not a concern. However, the Kity 613 user guide says about letting the teeth hang over the wheel edge. Something I have never hard of previousy to this thread.

Having the blade square to the table in both verticle and horizontal planes is important. The one older bandsaw I have used is the DeWalt and I set the blade gullet in the centre of the top wheel as per the Carter video. The wheels were no where near co-planer, but it worked really well.

Make sure the guides are set correctly and nt just when turning the wheels by hand, check when run under power before you bring in the guides and bearings.

 

[mikefab]

Ok thank you Alexam.

I have already adjusted the tilt of the bottom wheel too to get the blade running over the edge as well (it wasn't before). My assumption is that this is also important to avoid trashing the bottom tyre as for the top. I've also already made some new guide blocks and got them adjusted.

I guess all that is left to do is shim the table to get it square to the blade fore and aft. However.... My feeling is that were the wheels coplanar and if the blade was running at the same spot on both, it would be vertical and therefore square to the table avoiding the need for shims! Perhaps I need to check this over the weekend.

Any thoughts from anyone (particularly 613 owners?)

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Stuart]

Thank you for your response Alexam.
Mike I have never know of any need to adjust the bottom wheel, when you put the blade onto the wheels put it on the front edge, if the blade moves back to the center when you rotate the wheels by hand adjust the tilt of the top wheel forward a ease the blade forward into position and re tension.
I would not shim the table till you have the blade running correctly and I would test the accuracy of the cut with a piece of timber cut at 90 degrees against the front of the blade with the machine running. If you bought it from a cabinet maker I doubt if there is much wrong with the machine as there were very well made. I wish I lived closer so I could come and set it up and show you what good band saws they are but I am sure you will find this out for yourself if you persevere.
Stuart

 

[Steve Maskery]

The Kity is not the only machine whose manufacturers recommend hanging over the front, I think my first DeWalt was like that. I've never understood it myself and no-one has yet explained to me how you can eliminate drift if the blade is set in this way. I teach people to have the blade on the wheel roughly central, and finely adjusted so that the line of cut is absolutely parallel with the mitre slot of of the table, thus eliminating drift. On a new blade that is usually with the bottom of the gullets of the teeth in the centre of the tyre.

As far as co-planarity goes, they should be in line, but it is not necessary to be to the micrometer. A mm or two is not going to matter. If they are an inch out you will almost certainly get problems.

And as for the Snodgrass video, he is a very good presenter, and much of what he says and does I concur with. But if you look at what happens when he first tries to use the saw he has just set up... He has to adjust the table to get it to cut straight, because his blade is not actually set up perfectly. He got it wrong. Now shifting the table like that is easy on an American-style BS, but you could not do it like that on mine, nor on most UK/Euro-style BSs. He glosses over it very well, because he is a good showman.

In the UK, most people would be tempted to skew the blade to compensate but then this screws up any kind of crosscutting. It is much better to learn how to eliminate drift entirely and I've yet to find a BS where that cannot be achieved (although the one in our Community Workshop is the worst one I've ever come across).

Setting up a BS is not rocket science, it is just a matter of making the right adjustments in the right order and that is easy when you fully understand what each part does and how the various parts interact. Systematic, methodical setup is all that is needed.

Well, that and a Tuffsaws blade, of course!

 

[mikefab]

Thanks Steve and Stuart - more fiddling this weekend I think!

 

[Alexam]

Hi Steve, I think you are being a tad critial in your comments when you say ..................
........... 'And as for the Snodgrass video, he is a very good presenter, and much of what he says and does I concur with. But if you look at what happens when he first tries to use the saw he has just set up... He has to adjust the table to get it to cut straight, because his blade is not actually set up perfectly. He got it wrong. Now shifting the table like that is easy on an American-style BS, but you could not do it like that on mine, nor on most UK/Euro-style BSs. He glosses over it very well, because he is a good showman. ' ........

As he had changed blades he checked the table by making a reverse cut and made an adjustment, as most of us should do . I have the Record BS400 and although not as easy an adjustment as the small model that was being used in the video, it is not a major problen to make a slight adjustment to a much larger table.

I do agree with your other comments, particularly the last two paragraphs.

Malcolm

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

The Kity bandsaw has the blades teeth overhanging because when new at least, the tyres are not crowned! They may get a bit convex through constant pressure in use, but initially they do not have a crown and it is essential the teeth do not contact the tyres by setting the blade to run centrally on the wheel. Inca Bandsaws are set up similarly as well as some others. As regarding drift, it is partly due to the fact that tyres are crowned that is a cause. Obviously it can be mitigated by correct tracking, but Kity bandsaws having flat tyres do not drift. (Dull blades etc. excepted)

Mike.

 

[mikefab]

Hi Mike, thanks very much for confirming that about the wheels on this saw.

I've got the teeth overhanging the edges of both wheels, a new tuffsaw 3/4" blade in and it is cutting dead parallel to the mitre slot. The blade is still not quite vertical in the front to back plane but as it is otherwise working so well I think I'll probably shim the table rather than start messing about with removing the wheels and shimming them. In any case there is <5mm difference between the two wheels (and yes, it is a pain to measure on this saw!)

Thanks all for your help and sorry for the hijack Richard.

Mike

 

[richard.heaton]

I'm happy for my thread to be hijacked when it's providing more information about a tool I'm trying to get set up perfect.

I have still not had a chance to sort a proper fence out for it yet though, I have been using a clamped piece of 2x4 which isn't exactly perfect as you can imagine.


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