Thread: BobLs bandsaw brake

I used the BS this morning and decided to do some "time to stop" tests on the brake.
With no braking, when the bandsaw is turned off the ban saw runs on for more than 30 seconds before stropping.
With medium/gentle braking I can stop the blade in about 4 seconds, If I push on the the pedal a bit more aggressively I can stop it in less than 2 seconds (now it's getting hard to time accurately).
I could stop it even quicker but I'd be worried about the forces being generated.

8 years later this the brake is working just like when it was first made.
I've never had to make any adjustments or worry about wood dust.

It does get a bit mucky down there from time to time after cutting up a batch of frozen beef bones for the dogs.
The dust extraction doesn't work all that well on frozen bone, and meaty tallow chips that settle everywhere and then of course melt providing a sticky layer that attracts dust. I've found it best not to try to remove this mess when its wet instead I let them dry out and eventually wood dust generated by the BS absorbs the water/grease. The result is a dry crusty layer that I loosen with compressed air while ether DC is running.

Doesnt seem to have affected the braking at all.

Originally Posted by BobL

8 years later this the brake is working just like when it was first made.
I've never had to make any adjustments or worry about wood dust.

It does get a bit mucky down there from time to time after cutting up a batch of frozen beef bones for the dogs.

Doesnt seem to have affected the braking at all.

Gives a new meaning to the term flywheel

AS it so happens I just swapped out the 3/4' 3TPI blade for the 1/4" 6 TPI and noticed the tallow/bone meal spatter buildup up in the lower cabinet. There were also a bunch of tiny spiders webs as well so something must have moved in to eat the bonemeal and then the spiders moved in to eat them A whole little eco-system perhaps

Well that's certainly a good excuse to have such an effective brake, we don't have much creepers in Eire
but would be weary none the less!

Having made plenty of nuts and saddles from cow legs before using a hacksaw, I can see why one might prefer to use the bandsaw,didn't have one at the time.

As an aside, do you notice any performance difference (bar this being a temporary thing, or destructive to the tire material)
I'm eager to do some testing with my machine (mine has flat tires)
so don't want to touch anything, but reckon after dressing my tires (really well this time)
I have a feeling, could be talking rubbish, and even if not, then likely could just be temporary,
but seems that I have improved grip of a wider blade, probably just more contact area if anything, but if the case of the former
and that might mean one could possibly have even less contact with the thrust guide,
( I've got no dust extraction and aiming on making the quietest machine possible for multiple reasons)

Be interesting if you notice performance, what might be a bit more long term compared to my wheels,
Bloomin takes an age to repeatedly clean those bone blanks though!

Tom

Originally Posted by Tom trees

Well that's certainly a good excuse to have such an effective brake, we don't have much creepers in Eire
but would be weary none the less!

Having made plenty of nuts and saddles from cow legs before using a hacksaw, I can see why one might prefer to use the bandsaw,didn't have one at the time.

As an aside, do you notice any performance difference (bar this being a temporary thing, or destructive to the tire material)

I bought that band in 2008 and we got these dogs in late 2012 so that is when I started cutting up beef bones.
Not much bone meal etc seems to stick to the tyres and I do clean the tyres in between band changes which probably averages about 3-4 bags of dog bones.

FWIW I also cut a lot of Al with this Bandsaw. The dust extraction is pretty good at collecting the AL chips and dust but some sprinters do get stuck in the tyres but will generally brush off easily.

The tyres on the bandsaw lasted for about 10 years, they sort of went hard and fell apart. Like I said I am not a stickler for releasing the tension either, so all of these things could have contributed to band failure.