Speaking of cleaning up the shop

Re: Speaking of cleaning up the shop

echo8287

>You just reminded me to go downstairs and take the tension off my bandsaw,Thanks,David

Re: Speaking of cleaning up the shop

Sam Dean

>HA! Sorry, it's not that funny..... but.... I cut so much wet wood with my bandsaw, I don't even bother dealing with the rust until I need too. The best thing seems to be a random orbit palm sander with 220 paper, then wipe the dust off with WD40 on a rag. Usually takes about 2 minutes from start to finish, and leaves the table ultra smooth.

Sam

Bandsaw de-tensioning *LINK*

John K Jordan

>>You just reminded me to go downstairs and

>take the tension off my bandsaw

Anyone else use a quick release for tensioning? It has been a real time-saver for me. It's so quick I'm no longer tempted to leave the blade under tension "just in case" I need it later. Of course, later I would forget and leave it tensioned all night!

I bought mine on a mark-down table at Woodcraft for real cheap. The manager said there was no interest in the thing. After using it for a couple of years I'm amazed that these things are not standard equipment on a bandsaw.

As for the table, I treat mine occasionally (same as the lathe bed) with a spray metal protector followed by wax. Helps protect from rust, sticky finish/sap buildup, and things slide around much easier.

JKJ in East TN


Bandsaw quick tensioner

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

Ken George

>This thread is the first time I have seen anything about releasing the tension on a bandsaw blade. What is the down side of not doing it? I have had my bandsaw for about 18 months and the only time the tension has been released is for a blade change.

Now that I am thinking about it I can imagine some reasons to do it but would like to hear it from those who know.

Thanks,

Ken

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

Carole in VA

>Mine came with a quck release.

Re: Speaking of cleaning up the shop

Barry Irby

>YOU just reminded me to take the tension off mine. I put on of those Quick Release arms on it and it has a big red plastic ball on the handle. My goal is to get used to looking at it to confirm it is off just before I turn out the lights. Maybe we should e-mail each other or set up a phone tree or something. I must get better at this.

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

Barry Irby

>Supposed to keep the tires from developing flat spots and causing the the blade to not run true. Also takes the strain off the frame, wheels and bearings.

Re: Speaking of cleaning up the shop

Joe Herrmann

>Me neither. I've had my 14" saw since the early 90's and have never released the tension, except to change blades.

I also had a 20" Delta at the school shop that I treated the same way with no problems at all during the 30 years I was there. It was used when purchased and was there before I was hired. After I retired, they closed the program and just sold the saw 5 years later with the same tires, etc.

We sawed all kinds of materials from wet logs to thick dry wood and other materials. We didn't abuse it but it was worked "hard" as only kids can do.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

John K Jordan

>>This thread is the first time I have seen

>anything about releasing the tension on a

>bandsaw blade. What is the down side of not doing it?

Check your bandsaw manual - mine insists in BIG BOLD LETTERS that I remove tension from the blade when not in use. Perhaps the manufacturer knows my saw is cheaply made and will fall apart if not detensioned, who knows?

Many people leave tension on the blade for years and report no problems. (Many people also run chainsaws without safety equipment, smoke cigarettes, don't wear seat belts, change engine oil/check tire pressure infrequently, don't clean air filters, and never blow the dust out of electric motors - and life goes on.)

I don't know the long-term consequence of leaving normal tension on the blade. One thing it WILL do is help protect the saw bearings and blade if the blade is inadvertently overtensioned, reportedly the worst thing you can do for the saw and right up there with undertensioning as the top causes for poor cuts. Since almost no one seems to have a strain guage and the spring guages are notoriously inaccurate, it seems possible to me that some blades are accidentally overtensioned. Removing the tension will at least help protect the saw bearings and structure when the saw is not in use.

Another thing - this may be more important when using wide blades than narrow. I often use 3/4" blades when cutting 8"-12" thick blanks or resawing. These blades require MUCH more tension than narrower blades. It just seems right to me to only tension the wide blades when the saw is in use. I got in the habit of detensioning all blades when not in use. The quick release makes this a one second job.

BTW, I spent a couple of hours tuning up my bandsaw yesterday, doing a coplaner alignment and disassembling and cleaning the tracking mechanisms and bearings. It had been a couple of years since I did all this and I couldn't belive all the gunk that had worked behind things. The lower bearing wasn't even spinning freely, a sure path to destroying it. I do see an improvement in the cut.

JKJ in East TN

Re: Speaking of cleaning up the shop

Duane C.Leach

>Bandsaw blade tension. It is easy to see that removing blade tension would help keep tires from having flat spots. Learned that on the farm. When the tractor sets for weeks or longer in cold weather (sub o )the tires develop flat spots. But just on the bottom. A 6' daimeter tire with a cicumfrence of 17' to 18'will have a 2' flat spot. It makes for a rough ride. But will work it self out after a few miles.

But reduceing blade tension to reduce tension or stress on the bearings and or frame is behond my febal brain power. If that wrer realy the case we would have to jack up the car ever night. To reduce the sterss on the bearings and frame.

I seldom use the band saw for making round bowl blanks. Had the blade stuck to many times and that casues to much stress...On me...

Turning IS fun.

Duane

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

ken chase

>Any way to add a device to an Agazzani 18" band saw.

I was told the reason to lessen the tension is to keep the tire on the wheel from going flat. Apparently most of the tires have a slight crown. It doesn't appear to be the case on my Agazzani.

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

John K Jordan

>>Apparently most of the tires have a slight

>crown. It doesn't appear to be the case on my Agazzani.

There are two types of wheels that I know of, the crowned and the flat. The crowned are reportedly easier to track since the crown tends to pull the blade towards the center of the tire. The crowned is probably better for narrow (1/4") blades. The flat is supposed to be harder to track but far better for very wide blades used for ripping and resawing. A wide blade on a crowned wheel is not well supported across it's width and can more easily flex.

One resource recommends flattening one wheel (the bottom wheel) for a crown/flat configuration. This is supposed to be easier to track than two flat wheels, but supports a wide blade better than two crowned wheels.

Which Agazzani model? I hear they are serious band saws. The only specs I could find indicated the wheels have "cold-vulcanized rubber tires, slightly crowned".

JKJ in East TN

Re: Speaking of cleaning up the shop

Jerry Whitaker

>Same here....that random orbit sander works like a charm. I once bought an old Rockwell jointer for $25 with the rustiest table you ever saw. Nearly left it behind. Went home and put the random orbit sander to it and in about 10 minutes that table looked like it just came from the factory.

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

Mike L in Trabuco Canyon, CA

>Hi Ken and all,

I've been reading Mark Duginske's (sp?) Bandsaw Book and my understanidng is that the main reason to de-tension the blade when not in use is to prevent loss of spring in the tensioning spring.

Regards,

Mike - currently refurburbing a 14" Davis & Wells bandsaw

Re: Bandsaw de-tensioning

Russ Fairfield

>I don't have much access to the Internet while we are traveling around the country, but I couldn't let this topic get past me without saying somethiung about it.

I have always heard that not relieving the tension spring causes flat spots in the rubber tires. But, like the flat spots on a car tire from sitting overnight, they will be round again after a few minutes of running.

The real "downside" from not releiving the tension is that the steel shaft for the top wheel will deform the sliding pot-metal block assembly that it is attached to. This is a greater problem for woodturners because they usually crank in, and leave, more tension in the blade than other woodworkers. This was a problem with the first Rockwell saw of 50 years ago, and one that has never been corrected by Delta or any of the other saws that have copied the design since then.

As this metal creep progresses, it becomes necessary to keep advancing the tilt screw to keep the band running on the top wheel. Do this enough times and the pivot arm on the tilt machanism will jamb up against the back of the top wheel cover. When that happens, the top wheel becomes fixed and it cannot move to allow the tension spring to compensate for the the change in blade length as it gets hot from sawing the wood. The result is a detensioned blade that wants to wander, bow, and do other strange things in the cut.

There are a couple cures. One is to cut away some of the metal in the back of the top wheel guard to allow the wheel to move. Another is to replace the sliding top wheel block and tension assembly after it has been damaged. As a last resort, we can relieve the tension when we aren't using the saw so the problem never happens.