Thread: Bandsaw Blade Dull After One Month?

Originally Posted by Fergiz01

Hi all,

I purchased my first bandsaw about two months ago, a 16" Sherwood brand new from Timbecon. The blade it came with was a 12mm 3tpi blade. I also bought a 25mm 1 1/4tpi blade for resawing.

I have two problems, the first being that I cannot get the resaw blade to cut well at all. I'm using the recommended tension for 1 inch blades, but the blade wobbles from side to side cutting at least a 4mm kerf. I watched the Alex Snodgrass video but can't do anything to stop it.

Secondly, on the back of the resaw blade failure I put the original blade back on and it worked great. But it's now dull after one month of occasional use. Is this to be expected? If so, where do I get a good quality blade from in WA?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Zac.

What and how much are you cutting? (i.e. width of cut, total lengths of cut , and type of wood)

You can touch up the old blades yourself a couple of times, look for BS band sharpening on this forum

For new band Try Hughans saw service in Osborne Park.
I'd be looking get a bimetal band,

Originally Posted by Fergiz01

Hi all,

I purchased my first bandsaw about two months ago, a 16" Sherwood brand new from Timbecon. The blade it came with was a 12mm 3tpi blade. I also bought a 25mm 1 1/4tpi blade for resawing.

I have two problems, the first being that I cannot get the resaw blade to cut well at all. I'm using the recommended tension for 1 inch blades, but the blade wobbles from side to side cutting at least a 4mm kerf. I watched the Alex Snodgrass video but can't do anything to stop it.

Secondly, on the back of the resaw blade failure I put the original blade back on and it worked great. But it's now dull after one month of occasional use. Is this to be expected? If so, where do I get a good quality blade from in WA?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Zac.

Hi Zac,

I bought a band Saw in 2004. It came with a 1" approx. resaw blade. I was ignorant of the proper care and feeding of band saws, but persisted and the blades that I purchased as replacement blades for the saw were no better than the original. At $63/each, I was quite dismayed. Finally a friend helped me set up the saw correctly and about the same time I bought a bimatal blade from McDivens in Williamstown (Melbourne) What a change. The blade was 3 TPI and designed to cut deep hardwoods, such as you may get for a blade to cut slabs from a tree. As I said, I was paying $63 for a crappy blade. I paid $25 for this one. The cuts are superb now. fast, very little need to clean up the pieces after sawing and quiet.

so what I'm saying is, I was happily paying $63 for a blade a month! Looking further afield can be a fruitful enterprise.

Regards,

Rob

Good point about setting up the band correctly.

For example, Fergiz, do you have the bottom of the gullets sitting on or close to the middle of the top tyre?

I did have the half inch blade set up this way. The one inch blade seems too wide to do this ie the back of the blade hangs off the wheel.

I've found the recommended settings on Bandsaws can be quite a bit off the actual tension required.

Depending on the wood you're cutting dulling the blade as you describe is very well possible, eg trying to cut through hard knots, overheating blade, or resawing old wood with lots of dust/sand embedded into to timber.

Some questions to ask yourself
Is your blade tracking ok? or does it move back and fourth?
Are you setting the top bearings just above your cut to minimise blade flex?
Are your bearings set up correctly? is there sufficient gaps between the bearings and blade?

Sorry, I should have specified what I was cutting. I did a few resaws on a 1m long Karri board 200 x 50. I cut some small turning blanks in Sheoak, Jarrah and Wandoo. I did cut some greenish Queensland box. The blade was useless pretty much straight after that - do you think it's gummed up the blade or some such thing?

Originally Posted by Fergiz01

I did have the half inch blade set up this way. The one inch blade seems too wide to do this ie the back of the blade hangs off the wheel.

That's what it is supposed to do and it's probably why the band is wandering in the cut.
The max tension has to be on the bottom of the gullet and not the middle of the band.

did a few resaws on a 1m long Karri board 200 x 50. I cut some small turning blanks in Sheoak, Jarrah and Wandoo. I did cut some greenish Queensland box. The blade was useless pretty much straight after that - do you think it's gummed up the blade or some such thing?

Post some close up side one photos of the big band.

How much gap are you leaving between the side rollers and the band?

I agree with BobL, some close up photos would be helpful.

Here are some close ups.
18518468_10154815385241185_508043369_n.jpg18518532_10154815385151185_2146969934_n.jpg18492447_10154815385196185_1713770647_n.jpg18516085_10154815385271185_1656231401_n.jpg

The last photo is of the blade that the saw came with. Is it possible that it's just gunked up?

Also, the bandsaw cannot run with the blade in the position shown in the first photo. It hits the blade guard at the back. I'm playing around moving it slowly forward until it stops hitting the guard.

Edit: This is the position in which the blade can freely spin without hitting anything. It was actually rubbing against the frame behind the top wheel (pictured).

18471544_10154815408296185_2125814530_n.jpg18516337_10154815408326185_443659761_n.jpg

I can see the side rollers on top and bellows the table are too far apart, and the bottom roller behind needs to central to the back of the band

Look up the Alex Snodgrass (AS) bandsaw setup on You tube and go right through the vid and do exactly what he says.

The gunk on the band is not too bad but you can get that off by taking the band off and painting it with diesel, leave it overnight and then wipe off the excess and run it through a bit of jarrah.

Also, the bandsaw cannot run with the blade in the position shown in the first photo. It hits the blade guard at the back. I'm playing around moving it slowly forward until it stops hitting the guard.

That means that saw is not really designed to run that size band and Timbecon are claiming something they shouldn't with that BS.
Bring it forward on the tyre and adjust the side rollers as per AS and you might get away with it.

Thanks, BobL. I'll adjust the side rollers and try to get the back thruster bearing central, but it's being difficult. I think that ultimately this is the wrong blade. I had better success resawing with the thinner one, so I think if I can't get this one to work, I'll buy a better quality thin blade. Thanks for your help.

The blade wobbling back and forth leaving big grooves in the cut is called "flutter". Probably covered somewhere in the videos...

Just looking at the lower blade guide rollers, they are set too wide, they need to be just shy of touching the band, a cigarette paper clearance is about what you need to allow for expansion with heat. If you run the band with the teeth on the tyre, especially with a wide band, you might have problems with the rear thrust bearing so the band may need to come forward a bit. The rear thrust bearings also need just a little clearance when the band is running free, they are there to take the rearward thrust of the band when it's cutting, not to hold it in place all the time. Years ago the side thrust/guide bearings were made of hard wood or some sort of synthetic material rather than the roller bearings we use now. I don't know which were better.
That 25mm blade can be sharpened at home with a Dremel type tool and a fine grinding stone. I run a rather larger bandasw cutting Paulownia logs. My sharpener is based on a 4" angle grinder for a 38mm wide band with 30mm tooth spacings.
When you set the saw up the blade should run free of the guides and the band should be centered on the wheel. Turn the wheels by hand and get things running true and free before you plug the machine in and switch it on. Make certain the wheels run true, there should be no wobble in the rim, well, .1mm is OK but not more than that. Make certain that the wheels are parallel to each other, a bandsaw is pretty basic but all things need to be just right for it to work at it's best.
Good luck and have fun.