Thread: Kity 12" band saw

What do you exactly mean? I assume you are referring to properly install the band saw blade. The gullet should stay on the center of the wheel. Try reading this , not sure though if this can help.

Originally Posted by bosox

What do you exactly mean? I assume you are referring to properly install the band saw blade. The gullet should stay on the center of the wheel. Try reading this , not sure though if this can help.

Thanks Bosox, I have owned the machine from new & have the manual. The wheels are flat, not crowned. The manual clearly describes all adjustments & clearly positions the teeth just off the edge of the wheel, so as not to chew up the tires. I am really looking for a response from other owners & their experiences. It is a cute machine but frustrating. I payed $1750 for it 10 years ago & wish I had that amount to spend again, so much choice, such quality!!! Pete

Thanks Pete, you've unwittingly just clued me in how to set the blade for my new/used bandsaw ( https://www.woodworkforums.com/f27/ce...-450nl-166960/ )

I suspect that I will replace the lower wooden guides with bearing guides of the home made variety if I encounter problems such as you describe.

You've obviously used the saw a fair bit and I guess you would have checked the obvious suspects first off.

• Sharp Blade
• Blade Tension
• Table is Square to the blade
• Fence has been adjusted for blade drift if you use a fence (youtube has some good videos on that)

I'm sure there are a few more things, like ensuring all your guides are correctly adjusted, but if you are working from the manual then i'd hope you've done all that already.

Good luck, send us some pictures and let us know how you go.

Originally Posted by simonmags

Thanks Pete, you've unwittingly just clued me in how to set the blade for my new/used bandsaw ( https://www.woodworkforums.com/f27/ce...-450nl-166960/ )

I suspect that I will replace the lower wooden guides with bearing guides of the home made variety if I encounter problems such as you describe.

You've obviously used the saw a fair bit and I guess you would have checked the obvious suspects first off.

• Sharp Blade
• Blade Tension
• Table is Square to the blade
• Fence has been adjusted for blade drift if you use a fence (youtube has some good videos on that)

I'm sure there are a few more things, like ensuring all your guides are correctly adjusted, but if you are working from the manual then i'd hope you've done all that already.

Good luck, send us some pictures and let us know how you go.

Thanks Simon,
You're right, I have had the machine in bits!! The lower guides are are tight (see attached). I have tried Carter Products for a replacement. I would like to use ceramic or cool blocks but it only allows for 12 X10 mm blocks. I have built an adjustable fence but the drift still varies. Have also thought about having crown tires fitted so the blade are centred. Pete

I guess the other things which may or may not have checked already would be that the bandsaw wheels are parallel, as per these artilces from the ccwwa.org website?

http://www.ccwwa.org/NEWSITE/plans/BandsawTuneup1.pdf
http://www.ccwwa.org/NEWSITE/plans/BandsawTuneup2.pdf
http://www.ccwwa.org/NEWSITE/plans/BandsawTuneup3.pdf

What sort of material are you cutting and what is the blade?

Originally Posted by simonmags

I guess the other things which may or may not have checked already would be that the bandsaw wheels are parallel, as per these artilces from the ccwwa.org website?

http://www.ccwwa.org/NEWSITE/plans/BandsawTuneup1.pdf
http://www.ccwwa.org/NEWSITE/plans/BandsawTuneup2.pdf
http://www.ccwwa.org/NEWSITE/plans/BandsawTuneup3.pdf

What sort of material are you cutting and what is the blade?

Hi Simon,
I will read them after work, but the first adjustment I made was to ensure the wheels were parallel. I refer to The Bandsaw Book for help. The blade is a Henry Bros 1.5 TPI resaw blade which cuts well but the cut wanders! The scroll blade is the original 1/4" fine blade & works OK. Mainly resawing Silky Oak, Redgum & Jarrah as I have bucket loads! Peter

I just bought a second hand 14" generic Chinese BS. It was a real POS disappointment.

I replaced all the "bearings" with new ball bairings (eBay) and new neoprene tires top and bottom. Amazon has a huge selection.

Runs like a charm now. Makes me Santa bigger one now!

Originally Posted by Evanism

I just bought a second hand 14" generic Chinese BS. It was a real POS disappointment.

I replaced all the "bearings" with new ball bairings (eBay) and new neoprene tires top and bottom. Amazon has a huge selection.

Runs like a charm now. Makes me Santa bigger one now!

Thanks Evan, I have checked the bearings as well. Read the pdfs that Simon posted & will get a new blade from McDivens & try the Michael Fortune tips. It is amazing how much info & varied approaches are out there. The big shortcoming with my saw, I think, is the lack of support for the back of the blade on the lower guide, so fingers crossed!! Pete

Do you think you could bolt on a thurst bearing anywhere under or above the existing blade guides?

Have you checked out carter bearings to see if they do an after market one?

Would be interested to see what sort of cut you get when experiencing blade drift.

Cheers

Originally Posted by simonmags

Do you think you could bolt on a thurst bearing anywhere under or above the existing blade guides?

Have you checked out carter bearings to see if they do an after market one?

Would be interested to see what sort of cut you get when experiencing blade drift.

Cheers

Hi Simon,
I spoke extensively with Carters to no avail. See attached pic. As I mentioned to Evan, I will get a new blade as per Fortune's tips, set the fence parallel & tweak with tension!!? To date I am using a single point fence with the resaw blade & the cut is rough. Earlier, with the wide Kity blade, I was getting a bowed cut..... Pete

Thanks for all the tips. Simon's links have made me look at all the settings again. I have squared the fence to the table accurately, fiddled with the tension & the position of the blade on the wheel, squared the fence to the mitre slot, resquared the table to the blade & managed to cleave off a 3 mm X 120 mm veneer of Silky Oak. Very nice! I have found that I needed to be more aggressive controlling any tendency to drift by forcing the piece against the fence. The 2 TPI Henry Bros blade is a little rough but with more practice, I'm sure the feed rate will solve that! Cheers, Pete

Glad to hear that you've successfully managed to solve the problem with your band saw. Choosing the correct TPI is really important and somehow critical as well as the accuracy of the feed rate.