Thread: Releasing the blade tension.

Over the course of a year the blade may expand and contract up to about 1.5mm in length. I'm saying that's not a problem, but then again I always release the tension on my bandsaw when it's not in use.

Originally Posted by DaveVman

My bandsaw goes for some long periods without use, depending what I am up to. Yet I never release the blade tension. Am I a bad person?

Mine is so fiddly to set the blade I don't like to touch it if it's tracking right.

I tend to forget. If I do release the tension, odds are I’ll use it again in a day or two and wonder why it’s so loose. If I leave it tensioned I’ll probably not need it for a month or two. So I just leave it tensioned now.

I have operated some big bandsaws over the years so will be interested to hear the hive minds perspective on this one.

On a side note, never understood why bandsaws don't come standard with a safety switch to ensure the saw won't start without tension on the blade. I understand the difference in blade size >< tension = no easy solution, but personally think it's an oversight.

Small band saws don't require a lot of tension compared to their larger brethren running 150 mm + bands / blades that require staggering tensions.

Leaving the tension set would cause issues with compression of a sector of the tire, flattening off the crown (if any) which then may cause tracking issues as the band runs on a part of the tire with a crown then no crown.

Most small band saw frames are fabricated from folded sections and aren't as robust as their cast iron forebears, so leaving a 3/8" band tensioned would not be as problematic as say leaving an 1 1/4" band in full tension for long periods. Many of the other components are relatively light duty castings etc which may not be as robust as earlier machines which tended to be over engineered.

Tension release on Bandsaws is a modern addition, in the "old days" Bandsaws had no such mechanism, and had no problems, My Bandsaw has tension release I have never worried about it and have never had any issues

Originally Posted by pintek

I have operated some big bandsaws over the years so will be interested to hear the hive minds perspective on this one.

On a side note, never understood why bandsaws don't come standard with a safety switch to ensure the saw won't start without tension on the blade. I understand the difference in blade size >< tension = no easy solution, but personally think it's an oversight.

The new Rikon bandsaws do.