Adjusting band on Chinese bandsaw

[rbarnold]

Hi,

I have bought a secondhand Chinese made 14" bandsaw and need to replace the band. I have bought a new band from
Carb-a-tec and basically put it on but am unsure of how much tension to put on the band for safety.
The adjusting knob has some sought of scale but they are only lines spaced the same distance appart with no other indications.

Is there any set way to determine the tension i.e. like adjusting a V belt?

Would appreciate some help ASAP and any other information that might be relavent to setting it up properly.

Thanks in advance for any help

Roger

[JackoH]

I presume you mean blade?:confused:
I tune mine to about middle 'C' when you twang it, with about 5mm of sideways movement. Experience will soon teach you how much tension you need to apply.
Get yourself a copy of the June issue of 'Australian Wood Review' #39. Excellent article in tuning bandsaws of all nationalities in that.
(Also a very good piece on 'Decorative Finishes' by Mr Neil Ellis. crawl, crawl, grovel, grovel. to get me free samples at the upcoming WWW Show in Melbourne.):D
.
Please , no jokes about chinese bandsaws and sideways movement!:o !

[Dean]

Does the scale have indicator marks like 1/4" 3/8" 3/4" next to the lines? If so, these indicate the bandsaw blade width, so if you have a 3/4" wide blade, then you tension the blade until the tensioning screw lines up with that mark.

I always tension it a little bit further past these marks as more tension is usually better than less, but you can also do the High C tuning thing, but music was never my specialty :)

[JackoH]

Dean.
Experience has taught me that bandsaw blades differ in length depending where you get them made up, and even differ from the same maker. My 14 inch Taiwanese model purchased a few years ago from Carbatec (Back when I was buying stuff from them) takes a 2375mm blade and these can vary by up to 25-40mm. Fortunately the saw has enough tolerence in the adjuster to cope with this variation, but it makes the actual indicator guide marks irrelevent.:(