Thread: Bandsaw Maintenance

Taunton press have a series of great DVD's, one for bandsaws. Well worth investigating. Shows lots of uses, maintenance etc. Check out their website.

Hi,

Get "The Bandsaw Book" by Lonnie Bird

A fantastic book that will cover everything you need to know.

I think it's published by Taunton Press but I'm sure I got mine through Amazon, it arrived in around 3-4 days and cheaper than I could buy it for here.

Cheers,
Kev

Here you go Roger and it's on a sale price

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=...bandsaw%20book

Roger.
Try your local library .

Hi Guys,
Thanks allot.

Two simple upgrades I made to my SW-1401 saw were to add a small brush to the lower wheel to brush the dust off the wheel and keep it clean, and to install ceramic guide blocks. I find the ceramics work great for straight rip/resaw cuts (which is what I do most with my bandsaw).

Next upgrade is to switch the regular v-belt with some link belt to help reduce vibration.

Bit late, I'm not spending as much time on the internet as I obviously should

This link will take you to a handy little article on setting up a bandsaw, which I found quite useful when I got my (secondhand) bandsaw.

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~pwguild/i-bndsaw.htm

Buzz

Originally Posted by Dean

Next upgrade is to switch the regular v-belt with some link belt to help reduce vibration.

G'day,

This link belt, is this the magic bullet for reducing some of the vibration in my b/saw? If so, where do I get one?

Originally Posted by Waldo

This link belt, is this the magic bullet for reducing some of the vibration in my b/saw? If so, where do I get one?

Link belt is available from Lee Valley (surprise surprise) and a number of other US sites. I haven't seen it in an Aussie cattledog yet.

I wouldn't guarantee it to solve vibes on a BS, though it will help. BS vibes are more likely to come from other areas, such as the wheels themselves, poor rubber job, blade etc.

Try taking the blade off and running without it; is the vibration still there?

I have a few tuning tips here.

G'day Groggy,

There is one thing to fix on my b/saw yet to get rid of some of vibration, the rubber on the lower wheel is 3/4 split through - but I've yet to work out how to pull the wheel off - anyway it can stay there until it falls off, then I will have to fix it.

The other thing I'm going to do on my next trip to C/Tec is replace the blocks with guide blocks with roller bearings.

Thanks for the link Groggy, I've printed it off before and refer back to it now and then.

One more thing Waldo, is your BS tied down? They can get the wobbles if not bolted to the Commonwealth.

G'day Groggy,

No she's not bolted down to terra firma, not yet anyway.

The thing is I've been ordered to move the office out of the house down to the shed, which means I'll lose about 4m x 3m of shed space - so until I have to build my office, which won't be until after Winter, the b/saw and everything else will stay in it's current position. Once the office is built and machinery re-arranged then I'll bolt it down.

Long answer sorry. But, a very good point you've made and one which will be done.

Sorry to be a bit late replying to this.
I'm also a BAS350 owner.
Firstly the bearings are not high quality. They are only shielded bearings and several of the blade guide bearings siezed up. Just replacing all six with fully sealed bearings from an industrial bearing supplier made a world of difference to my saw. Shortly I will replace the wheel bearings with some quality. The top wheel bearing is already sloppy.
Another weakness in this machine that the guide assembly is itself guided by two thin sheet metal angles. They are not very visible and you can distort them just changing blades. Then your blade guide setting varies as you raise and lower the top guides.
When I eventually get around to it I will have to replace these with something more substantial.
I've asked about ceramic guide blocks and Carba-Tec assure me they can't be fitted to this model.
And, BTW, my saw performance was only mediocre until I got blades from Henry Brothers in Sydney.