Thread: BAS 350 blade tension advice please

Hello Richard.
I had a bit to say about my BAS350 in the thread below "Bandsaw maintenance".
The most helpful advice I have had came from the Nov-Dec 2004 issue of Fine Woodworking, "Five Tips for Better Bandsawing". I don't subscribe but I get the mag from our town library and keep copies of interesting articles.
To sum up the 5 tips:
Use a coarse blade for most work. 1/2" 3tpi blade will do most of your tasks. (Henry Bros. in Sydney made the same suggestion and they are absolutely right.)
High blade tension is unnecessary. Use modest tension only.
Adjust the tracking.
Set guides correctly
Add dust collection.
If you can get hold of the entire article, it really is worth reading and following.

Originally Posted by Wizened of Oz

Hello Richard.
I had a bit to say about my BAS350 in the thread below "Bandsaw maintenance".
The most helpful advice I have had came from the Nov-Dec 2004 issue of Fine Woodworking, "Five Tips for Better Bandsawing". I don't subscribe but I get the mag from our town library and keep copies of interesting articles.
To sum up the 5 tips:
Use a coarse blade for most work. 1/2" 3tpi blade will do most of your tasks. (Henry Bros. in Sydney made the same suggestion and they are absolutely right.)
High blade tension is unnecessary. Use modest tension only.
Adjust the tracking.
Set guides correctly
Add dust collection.
If you can get hold of the entire article, it really is worth reading and following.

Thanks Brian, I'll look up the article and your post. I guess, being a novice, I didn't want to overtighten things unnecessarily although I suppose, without an objective measure, tight could be interpreted in many ways depending on how many wheetbix you have had for breakfast. I have fitted a 3/8 inch blade with 6tpi I think but I'll be cutting out maple bits for a harp so I figured a fairly fine tooth would be good.

Originally Posted by RichardL

Thanks Brian, I'll look up the article and your post. I guess, being a novice, I didn't want to overtighten things unnecessarily although I suppose, without an objective measure, tight could be interpreted in many ways depending on how many wheetbix you have had for breakfast. I have fitted a 3/8 inch blade with 6tpi I think but I'll be cutting out maple bits for a harp so I figured a fairly fine tooth would be good.

Hi Brian
just read you post. Bit depressing really. I would have hoped all these problems would have been eliminated from what I consider not a cheep saw. Perhaps I should have got their 1400 model after all. I wonder if others have had the same problems. Is the Carbatec saw the same the same as the BAS 350 from other suppliers?

Hi Richard,

I bought a BAS350 from Carbatec in Auckland about 2.5 months ago.
Have mounted it on their wheeled base MB6 and am very pleased with it all. I have a 1/2 " blade. which I have used for some resawing, and a 3/16" blade which I have used to succesfully make my first bandsawn box, plus some curve and straight cutting on some plywood.

No problems so far and still have all the fingers I started with.

Having read a few books I followed the advice of not pushing, and letting the workpiece move almost at its own pace. The 3/16" blade cutting through 150mm recycled kauri was slower than I expected but very satisfactory.

Before settling on the BAS350 I checked out others in the 14 " range on the web, (which wasn't as easy as I thought it might be) and by leg work in Hamilton and Auckland. Other NZ suppliers have a model identical in body / frame to the Carbatec model, but either mounted on simple legs, or supplied without a base at all, and at ranging from about $180 to about $75 (NZ) cheaper. (Different paint job too!) Apart from the base the big difference is in the blade guide system. As the CT catalogue says, their blade guide system seemed to be significantly superior, even to my inexperienced eyes.

Changing the blade from the supplied 1/2' to the 3/16 I found quite a mission the first time, and I seem to have to readjust the blade guides when I raise or lower the blade guide housing, however, having changed the blade once, I don't now anticipate a problem.

I encourage you to persevere.

Kia ora

ROB NZ

Bit of a bandsaw novice myself, but have been happy with my BAS350 for the last year or so. I adjust the tension by instinct (till it makes a ping), and have found adjusting the guides to be the single most important factor in getting it running smoothly. I've use a coarse blade (2tpi?) for resawing 150 mm jarrah, and a fine blade (8tpi?) for everything else, and have had no problems. Had to push quite hard on the jarrah resawing, though.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I had a look at some cheaper models recently and, as you say, the guides were nowhere near the same quality as the BAS 350. I did think the casting was more rigid though and there was a spring system to tension the blade. Anyway, I'm sure it will be perfectly OK. I have been cutting 1 1/2 inch thick maple on it and it is rather a lot easier than the scroll saw I have used before!!