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  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post


    John my machine has max depth of cut of just shy of 180 mm. Does this mean that this further limits my choice for blade width?

    My old 14" Trade Tools saw has a similar depth of cut, and it manages to tension a 3/4" blade just fine.

    With that depth of cut, you won't need any more than a 3/4" wide blade for beam strength. There seems to be no point even considering a bigger blade, unless someone knows something I do not.

    I can't help you with removing wheels etc ... never having done it myself makes me a poor candidate to give advice.

    However, given that a 3/4" blade looks the business, and given that my old saw is definitely weak in the tension department but still manages to do OK with a 3/4" blade, why not put on such a blade and see if it tensions OK before you commence surgery on your saw? If it is OK, you are creating unnecessary work. If you do need a stronger spring, you still likely have the optimum blade for your machine and have lost nothing.

    Cheerio!

    John

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  3. #17
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    John I will bear 3/4" advice in mind when I speak to the sales rep. on Monday.

    Okay we will play a wait and see game - fit the new blade and then see what kind of tension I get. Then make a decision about bandsaw surgery.

    I have read about blade tension testers. Some claim that they are essential some say do not bother and others have all sorts of jigs and tricks to calculate tension.



    Quote Originally Posted by John Samuel View Post

    My old 14" Trade Tools saw has a similar depth of cut, and it manages to tension a 3/4" blade just fine.

    With that depth of cut, you won't need any more than a 3/4" wide blade for beam strength. There seems to be no point even considering a bigger blade, unless someone knows something I do not.

    I can't help you with removing wheels etc ... never having done it myself makes me a poor candidate to give advice.

    However, given that a 3/4" blade looks the business, and given that my old saw is definitely weak in the tension department but still manages to do OK with a 3/4" blade, why not put on such a blade and see if it tensions OK before you commence surgery on your saw? If it is OK, you are creating unnecessary work. If you do need a stronger spring, you still likely have the optimum blade for your machine and have lost nothing.

    Cheerio!

    John

  4. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    John I will bear 3/4" advice in mind when I speak to the sales rep. on Monday.

    Okay we will play a wait and see game - fit the new blade and then see what kind of tension I get. Then make a decision about bandsaw surgery.

    I have read about blade tension testers. Some claim that they are essential some say do not bother and others have all sorts of jigs and tricks to calculate tension.
    My saws run fine, and I do not have a tension tester. There are plenty of videos on youtube that provide good advice on blade tension and band saw set up. One I like is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU.

    Cheerio!

    John

  5. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post


    Photo 04

    From my examination it seems that the Arbour runs from the wheel as show in Photo 04 through the sheet metal casing and into the tension housing mechanism. It is impossible to access the spring in the housing without removing the wheel first. There is a small U shaped clip resounding the end of Arbour of the wheel I managed to remove this however how to go from that point I have no clue.

    Attachment 308141

    Therefore my question is - How do I remove the top wheel? Please be specific as I am a complete novice when it comes to machines and anything mechanical.
    Once that "circlip" comes off by my reckoning the wheel is right to be removed, how difficult that is depends on how good a fit the bearing is on the arbour, initially I would just grab either side of the wheel and give it a pull towards you, be ready for the weight of it tho, might be good to have someone steady the machine from the other side while you yank on the wheel, the key to removing the wheel is to apply even force with both hands and in the same plane as the arbour, don't just grab it on one side and pull, that'll just be a whole lot of frustration and head scratching.

    If there's no movement you could get another helper to give the arbour a slight tap with a hammer while you pull, don't burr over the edge of the arbour tho, more frustration and head scratching, if in doubt use a brass drift/punch .

    I doubt it will be any more complicated than that to get off, it looks to be clean (no rust) a little squirt of crc won't hurt, see how you go.


    Pete

  6. #20
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    Today I purchased a 1/2" Bi-Metal blade for $30 and a 3/4" for $16 Carbon blade from McDriven saws. The reason for the carbon blade was that McDriven said that a 3/4" blade in bi-metal on a 14" Woodfast would result in metal fatigue and cracking because it would be in heavier gauge. I also decided to spring for the carbon blade because I could use the worn out blade in time top make some small tools like hook, marking & chip knives.

    I am holding off on buying a Lenox Tungsten carbide blade since I do not have the cash $170 at 19mm and secondly it was a cheaper risk to buy two blades to figure out how the machine works and how the blades would fit. I opted to get a 2520mm long blade, the old blade that came with the machine was 2525mm long. I decided to wind the wheels down and up to their highest and lowest points. The distance measured 2520 at the shortest and 2540 t the longest.

    I installed the 3/4" blade. It was a good choice that I did not go wider. As the 3/4" just fits I had to push the bottom thrust wheel fully back to get the blade to fit. It ripped through some vicAsh and Malaysian tropical hardwood with absolute ease.

    I also purchased a Kreg Bandsaw fence from Carbatec who had them on sale. A nice piece of kit. I am however have a few minor problems with it. Mainly with the nylon screws that are meant to be used to adjust the fence into square with the bed. The screws protrude and get in the way of the work piece, causing it to rock. I think I need to drop the fence a little lower so that it sit a little more below the table.

    I also want to drill two new holes in the bed on the outfeed side of the table, and then turn the table 180 so I can leave the fence in the place when I need to remove the blade at the moment I need to remove the fence before I can remove the blade. Which is a pain to set up to a parallel depth to the top of the table bed.

    I configured the saw and fence and am able to rip 40 thick x 1000mm long stock with 0.3mm drift over the entire distance. Is this okay or can I do better with my setup?

    The bandsaw cost me $150, plus $300 for the motor, plus $160 for the fence plus $46 for two blades. I am in the process of stripping the paint and will have it professionally sprayed in time. I also want to get new guides and a few bits and bobs from Carter in the USA to make the machine sing. So it is going to cost me almost $1000 but in the end I will have a sweet machine and I would have learned a bucket load about bandsaws.

  7. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    I configured the saw and fence and am able to rip 40 thick x 1000mm long stock with 0.3mm drift over the entire distance. Is this okay or can I do better with my setup?
    Are you sure this is drift? Could it be the workpiece not sitting firmly against the fence? If it is drift, you should be able to adjust it out on the fence. All band saw blades have a tad of drift, so the fence is never exactly parallel to the edge of the bed, it is set parallel to the kerf.

    It sounds as if you have done a good job. If you have not used a TCT blade on a band saw before you are in for a pleasant surprise. The veneers come off quite clean and accurately. It also sounds as if your saw tensions a 3/4" blade just fine, which is good news because it saves you further modifications. I doubt that there is any advantage in trying to fit a wider blade.

    Have fun!

    John

  8. #22
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    Would you be so kind as to explain how many kilometers of cut, in what sorts of woods, you want to make? Woodwork or resaw? I have cut more than 1 km birch with a crappy saw and a 1/4" blade. . . seemed OK to me, knowing that all saw surfaces would disappear.

    I would never expect that a band saw result would give me cabinet making surfaces.
    But, a local gang saw with 6 x 6" blades can do a 32' log in about 20 seconds.
    Quite fun to watch.

    I'm very curious about all sorts of applications as I really want a new, bigger and better BS.

  9. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Samuel View Post
    Are you sure this is drift? Could it be the workpiece not sitting firmly against the fence?
    John I resawed some pine today making sure to keep the work hard up against the fence, there is now less then 0.1mm difference beginning to end.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Samuel View Post
    If it is drift, you should be able to adjust it out on the fence.
    That was one of the selling points to the Kreg Bandsaw fence being able to easily adjust for drift. The blade that came with the saw was so fubared that I needed to feed work in at almost 25 degrees to the blade to stay even close to the line. Now the fence sits about 1 degress off sqaure.


    Quote Originally Posted by John Samuel View Post
    If you have not used a TCT blade on a band saw before you are in for a pleasant surprise.
    TCT is the way to go, it seems that TCT is the way to go with all machines these days.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robson Valley View Post
    I'm very curious about all sorts of applications as I really want a new, bigger and better BS.
    At university where I did my training bigger was always better when it came to bandsaws. We had a massive Hitachi resaw with a 3" blade on it, and it left this very nice even ripple on the wood. We also had an old bandsaw with a 3/4" blade that was also nice. The worst one was the little modern bandsaw it had only a 1/2" blade and it performed subpar and it was mostly used for model making, pine and cardboard. I am no expert I however at this point the quality of the blade particularly the weld is a large determining factor in how the saw works. As I said I want to buy new tires for my machine and get new guides as the ones that came with the machine are just brass blocks. The bottom guide in particular sits very low. We were always taught to get both the top and bottom guides as close to the work as it is possible. James Krenov did most of his work on a small 14" bandsaw because that is what he had and he did fine work with it. I have also found that a constant steady rate of feed that does not stall the machine gives the best finish if the blade stop starts then the finish will be poor.

    I’d rather put a $200 blade on a solid used $300 band saw than a $7 blade on a $3,000 Laguna. The blade counts. - Christopher Schwarz
    QUESTION - At the moment the bandsaw does not have a power switch to turn it on/off I do so at the wall. Were can I get a good switch so I can turn the machine off at the machine?

    http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/ES266



  10. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robson Valley View Post
    Would you be so kind as to explain how many kilometers of cut, in what sorts of woods, you want to make? Woodwork or resaw? I have cut more than 1 km birch with a crappy saw and a 1/4" blade. . . seemed OK to me, knowing that all saw surfaces would disappear.
    My new saw is used exclusively for re-saw and veneering. Kept the old saw for general work ... curves etc.

    When cutting veneers we want both accurate cutting and a smooth finish. Accuracy means the veneers don't have a taper and are the same thickness throughout.

    The smoother the finish, the thinner the veneer can be cut, giving more veneers per inch. My old saw left a rough surface, and was not as accurate as the new saw. So, I needed to cut the veneers at about 3.5 mm to be sure I had a finished size of 2 mm after all the sanding flat, edge gluing, sanding flat again, gluing to substrate and finish sanding. With the new saw and a good veneering blade I now cut the veneers to about 2.8 mm, and still get a finished size of 2 mm. This means the same amount of wood will now yield 15% more veneers. It also means less sanding.

    To give you an idea what a good saw will do, this is a 0.6 mm veneer of NG Rosewood. Note the smooth and shallow "ripples" left by the blade.
    0.6 mm veneer.jpg


    Then I wanted to test it at full stretch ... a 350 mm deep cut. Had no timber that size, so a piece of MDF was cut 350 mm wide and run through the saw to remove a 0.6 mm veneer. Here it is.
    350 mm MDF Veneer.jpg

    You don't need a brilliant saw to cut veneers. I managed with my old el cheapo Trade Tools 14" saw for many years. But I now get far better yield, less sanding, a 355 mm depth of cut (a very big deal for veneer cutting) and a saw that is a delight to use.

    Have fun!

    John

  11. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    John I resawed some pine today making sure to keep the work hard up against the fence, there is now less then 0.1mm difference beginning to end.
    Close enough to perfect! Well done!

    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    I am no expert I however at this point the quality of the blade particularly the weld is a large determining factor in how the saw works.
    Amen! I hated my old saw until I put on decent guides and a bi-metal blade. Now it is a perfectly good machine for general work. The blade is the part that does all the work. If it is below par, the saw will not perform. QED.

    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    QUESTION - At the moment the bandsaw does not have a power switch to turn it on/off I do so at the wall. Were can I get a good switch so I can turn the machine off at the machine?

    http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/ES266


    For far less money you can buy a remotely controlled GPO with a RF remote. A single unit can be bought on ebay for about $12. A pack of three GPO's with an RF remote is about $35. I control my cyclone, vac and drill press with mine.

    Have fun!

    John

  12. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post

    The bandsaw cost me $150, plus $300 for the motor, plus $160 for the fence plus $46 for two blades. I am in the process of stripping the paint and will have it professionally sprayed in time. I also want to get new guides and a few bits and bobs from Carter in the USA to make the machine sing. So it is going to cost me almost $1000 but in the end I will have a sweet machine and I would have learned a bucket load about bandsaws.
    Given that it includes blades, guides and some of the nice Carter bibs and bobs as well as a good fence, $1,000 is very cheap for a good machine. You should be well pleased. The only reason I did not follow a similar path (nearly did) was that I fell in love with the depth of cut and the 3 HP motor the Laguna SUV offered.

    Laguna wanted $250 for a re-saw fence alone ... I made it from a piece of HMR melamine coated chip board ... works like a charm.

    Have fun!

    John

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    Quote Originally Posted by John Samuel View Post
    The only reason I did not follow a similar path (nearly did) was that I fell in love with the depth of cut and the 3 HP motor the Laguna SUV offered
    I keep reminding myself that while it has cost me more then I had anticipated its still a great deal. I am severely cost constrained at the moment. If I had to come up with $1000 or $5000 dollars today I could not do it. But a $100 to $200 a week I can do. So for the moment I keep building up my workshop a part at a time.

    Next is dust extraction my bandsaw does not have any and I will need it for my up and coming router table.

    My reading indicates that fitting a Universal Dust Hood Ø100mm to the bottom of the machine will improve the situation greatly. But I need to see exactly were and how I can fit the hood.

  14. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    I keep reminding myself that while it has cost me more then I had anticipated its still a great deal. I am severely cost constrained at the moment. If I had to come up with $1000 or $5000 dollars today I could not do it. But a $100 to $200 a week I can do. So for the moment I keep building up my workshop a part at a time.
    Most of us build up our shops a bit at a time.

    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    Next is dust extraction my bandsaw does not have any and I will need it for my up and coming router table.

    My reading indicates that fitting a Universal Dust Hood Ø100mm to the bottom of the machine will improve the situation greatly. But I need to see exactly were and how I can fit the hood.
    Do you have a dusty as yet? If so, what kind?

    Cheerio!

    John

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    Quote Originally Posted by John Samuel View Post
    Do you have a dusty as yet? If so, what kind?
    No not yet, I have only started researching. I most likely will buy one second hand. My reading tells me that 1-2hp machine are not worth it and that I should opt for a two bag 3-5hp machine. That is as far as I have gotten. Northern machinery has a nice Taiwanese one going for $300 at the moment.

    I had a look at fitting a dust hood to my bandsaw. The only place I could fit it is on the front face of the door at the bottom. I cannot fit it at the back because the motor pulley runs at the back and so is a good chunk of cast iron. This would mean that I would have to attach this hood to the door and then a Dust Hose Elbow to it. It will not be perfect and may get it the way but I have little other choice.

    My concern is that the front door fits poorly to the actual bandsaw. There is a 5 mm gap in places. In fact there are 2-5 mm gaps everywhere. Were the pressed metal door meets the cast iron frame of the bandsaw. Will this compromise my dust collection? I know that you need a certain amount of air for the extractor to suck on but what would be to much air?

    I was thinking of buying tight-fitting weather stripping then lining the gaps with it to seal up the gaps. Worth it?

    Yesterday I released the tension on my blade as a few people advice doing so. That was a mistake, I could not get the tension right again. I had to go through the whole setup and confirmation of the bandsaw again. Undoing all the guides, removing the table reposition the blade and starting from scratch. Will finish the setup again tomorrow.

    I am uncertain about the 3/4" blade. I am using the Alex Snodgrass https://www.woodworkforums.com/f27/alex-snodgrass-181129 video as the bases for my set up and he has been most helpful. However to get the deepest part of my bandsaw gullet to sit on the apex of the crown of the well that back of the blade overhangs the back of the wheel. Now the gullet of the carbon blade is almost non existent it essentially just teeth, so I move the blade a mm forward so that back of the blade is flush with the back of the wheel. Then I adjust to top wheel until the blade stays in place, if I try to make the two wheels co-planer then the blade wants to move forward eventually trying to pop off the wheel.

  16. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    No not yet, I have only started researching. I most likely will buy one second hand. My reading tells me that 1-2hp machine are not worth it and that I should opt for a two bag 3-5hp machine. That is as far as I have gotten. Northern machinery has a nice Taiwanese one going for $300 at the moment.
    Suggest you start a thread in the dust collection forum. BobL is sure to chime in, and he is the best source of info available. A good second hand machine will save you a bunch, if you can find one.

    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    I had a look at fitting a dust hood to my bandsaw. The only place I could fit it is on the front face of the door at the bottom. I cannot fit it at the back because the motor pulley runs at the back and so is a good chunk of cast iron. This would mean that I would have to attach this hood to the door and then a Dust Hose Elbow to it. It will not be perfect and may get it the way but I have little other choice.

    My concern is that the front door fits poorly to the actual bandsaw. There is a 5 mm gap in places. In fact there are 2-5 mm gaps everywhere. Were the pressed metal door meets the cast iron frame of the bandsaw. Will this compromise my dust collection? I know that you need a certain amount of air for the extractor to suck on but what would be to much air?

    I was thinking of buying tight-fitting weather stripping then lining the gaps with it to seal up the gaps. Worth it?
    I would not worry about the gaps. In fact, even these gaps are unlikely to let in enough air to get the flow you need. I cracked the door on my band saw by 20 mm to let in enough air. The setup on my old saw is three 90 mm lines to do the dust extraction. It works like a charm. See pic.
    IMAG0036.jpg

    Can you post some pics of your saw so we can discuss port placement etc?

    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    I am uncertain about the 3/4" blade. I am using the Alex Snodgrass https://www.woodworkforums.com/f27/alex-snodgrass-181129 video as the bases for my set up and he has been most helpful. However to get the deepest part of my bandsaw gullet to sit on the apex of the crown of the well that back of the blade overhangs the back of the wheel. Now the gullet of the carbon blade is almost non existent it essentially just teeth, so I move the blade a mm forward so that back of the blade is flush with the back of the wheel. Then I adjust to top wheel until the blade stays in place, if I try to make the two wheels co-planer then the blade wants to move forward eventually trying to pop off the wheel.
    So far as I can see, the Snodgrass recommendation was for a carbon steel/bimetal blade that was not a wide resaw blade. I don't believe that putting the gullet on the crown is possible, let alone advisable with a resaw blade, at least for most saws. On my 14" SUV machine I run a one inch TCT resaw blade. The tips of the teeth hang over the edge of the rubber tire, and the back of the blade just fits on the wheel. There is no way I could position the blade so the gullet was on the crown of the wheel. When I was running a 3/4" blade on my old saw, the blade was about centred on the wheel and it ran just fine.

    You will note that Snodgrass does not recommend making the wheels co-planar, but that we should leave them at the manufacturer's setting unless we have trouble. I have not touched the wheels of either of my saws, and they are running just fine.

    Cheerio!

    John

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