Thread: Changing blades on a Woodfast bandsaw

Twice as wide means much more friction.

Rust likely will have dulled the teeth.

New ones aren't dear. Try eg. Henry Bros in NSW - tell 'em what it's used for and they'll advise on width and teeth config. They can make blades up to specific lengths.

Yeah, should be able to do it yourself.

May need some trial cuts after to get the blade tracking properly.

Even if the blads don't cost an arm & a leg,
if is reasonably easy & safe to remove rust
from a blade that's already here?

Eg, spray on solvent & (later) a careful
brushing or wipe down?

(We get post once a week here... ;-)

Depends on how badly rusted. Running it through a piece of scrap wood will clean off the worst if it's only light.

Turning the bandsaw blade inside out & running it so the teeth are "upside down" while you clean up the back of the blade with fine grit paper is also an option.

But as Ern has already said, if it's rusty it's probably also blunt. Not really worthwhile cleaning up unless you'll also be having it sharpened; do you have the gear/skill to touch them up yourself?

Replacing it yourself should be a relatively straightforward task. Don't forget to back off the tension & guides first!


As for the blade width; you're right. The wider one won't allow anywhere near as curved a cut.

But if the narrow one is 50mm (2inches) then the wide one must be 10cm (4" wide)!! At that size they're purely for ripping straight lines... I wouldn't even remotely think about trying to cut curves with either one!

I suspect that you've got your measurements wrong though...

As Skew said that bandsaw should not be running anything like a 50mm wide blade I would say the max for that saw would be 19mm

Yes, after hours measuring must sometimes be done twice or,
as in this case, what we write down must be written more clearly! /

Thanks for the width corrections, fellows.

Here's the most recent re-measurement:

our narrower blade's ~ 9 mm

Does that sound a little better...? )

Thanks for all the advice & your patience, folks!
I feel I've learned a lot, along the way.

Now, it's my students' turns... )

PS I've just installed a new blade, made some
straight & slightly curved cuts (into soft woods),
and all stay where it started out.

Onr problem: I think we'll need to replace the
lower bearing wheel; it's not turning as easily
as the top one.

The manual refers to SKF 6201-ZZ, saying it
should be available with Spigot & Spacer, which
I interpret to mean: all ready to pop into the place
of the older one.

So I wonder: Who sells that kind of thing?

Also: How to know how tight to set blade tension?

(It'd be nice to know what musical note it should
sound like, ie, when "strummed" once... with all
the modern electronic instrument tuning devices
around today, that might simplify things a bit. ;-)

Originally Posted by GrEy.Chas

Onr problem: I think we'll need to replace the
lower bearing wheel; it's not turning as easily
as the top one.

I had guide bearing problems with my Woodfast 350 bandsaw and there is a thread on it somewhere. The upshot was that the ones it was supplied with were poor quality and its best to replace them all, its the same ones they use for skateboards with red plastic seals. They don't cost much and are readily available. Sounds like yours might have been older and better, but even so I wouldn't mess about replacing one at a time.

Mine also came with a narrow blade, likely also 9mm, which was hopeless for resawing which is about all I use it for. I didn't realize the problem until it broke. I got a 19mm one and life got a lot easier. I got it from Woodfast but I just checked their site and they only go up to 12mm on the 370 model.

The bottom wheel wont turn as easily as the top as it is connected to the motor by a vee belt.
Is this a woodfast or as in your manual a steelfast? these are different saws the steelfast has a 4 step pulley and a reduction gearbox.
Are you trained to use this machine?
Do you have plenty of super glue to re attach fingers?
Good luck.
H

Originally Posted by GrEy.Chas

Yes, after hours measuring must sometimes be done twice or,
as in this case, what we write down must be written more clearly! /

Thanks for the width corrections, fellows.

Here's the most recent re-measurement:

our narrower blade's ~ 9 mm

Does that sound a little better...? )

Thanks for all the advice & your patience, folks!
I feel I've learned a lot, along the way.

Now, it's my students' turns... )

PS I've just installed a new blade, made some
straight & slightly curved cuts (into soft woods),
and all stay where it started out.

Onr problem: I think we'll need to replace the
lower bearing wheel; it's not turning as easily
as the top one.

The manual refers to SKF 6201-ZZ, saying it
should be available with Spigot & Spacer, which
I interpret to mean: all ready to pop into the place
of the older one.

So I wonder: Who sells that kind of thing?

Also: How to know how tight to set blade tension?

(It'd be nice to know what musical note it should
sound like, ie, when "strummed" once... with all
the modern electronic instrument tuning devices
around today, that might simplify things a bit. ;-)

Chaz ,

6201-zz is a common ball bearing available at any engineering supply or even some auto parts stores for few bucks each
zz means it has a shield each side of the race to stop crap from getting into the bearing and to keep the grease in that's packed into it when its made.

Try Carparts NT in Katherine they will definitely have them on the shelf .I'm sure they will post them to you .

You should be able to take the old bearings off the spigots and replace with the new ones.

You need to establish what purpose the band saw was intended for , metal of timber ,,you can cut timber on a metal saw ,but difficult the other way around unless you can change the speed and have the suitable blade.
Last lot of blades I got for mine was from Henry Bros in Sydney ,they are very helpful over the phone , they need to know what you are cutting and the length of the blade.

Here's a link to some bandsaw tips.


Kev

The ZZ ones are just the metal sealed bearings, better to get the 2RS equivalent, it has a rubber seal on each side and the last much longer. They only cost a couple of dollars more, they are available from any bearing place.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...as350+bearings

Yep , What Big Shed sed .


Kev. (still suffering return to work shock )