Thread: BS 4A Bandsaw blade issue

Mike. Here are some steps that may not be covered in the manual.
1) Remove POS stock blade
2) Throw stock blade in bin
3) Fit decent blade
4) Enjoy saw



Seriously though, the stock blade that comes with the saw is a joke. Get a decent one and make sure it's not just that. It's probably something else as well, but it's a bit like buying a car with bald tyres and saying it doesn't handle too well. Maybe there's a fault with the car, but maybe the only problem is the bald tyres.

Pete

Hi,
I agree about the standard blade, fit another good one. I get good results out of the Starrett blades sold by H&F's.
The bearings are on eccentric cams for adjustment, maybe they are adjusted to one side. If you adjust one you will need to bring the other side over as well.

Also with the blade coming off, the top pulley is adjustable for tilt by the bolts on the outside, it may need adjusting back a bit to keep the blade on..

If you follow Stuarts link, it's a much better manual. I wish I had that manual when I first bought mine, but had to work it all out the hard way because we had no internet back then, LOL

I have heard a few people having problems with there not being enough adjustment for twist on the blade guide assembly, so they have had to file it wider. It's the part that has the single bolt horizontally (like a housing joint) that allows you to raise and lower it and also tilt the bearing carrier.

At first they can be a nightmare to set up, but once you get used to it you will be fine.

I usually use a square resting on the fixed jaw to set up the blade/jaw in that direction, then clamp a 6 inch rule onto the blade and use the square on the bed to get it right vertically by adjusting the bearing blocks. I use a small spring clamp, but a cloths peg would do the same job to hold the rule on their.

Dave


Edit
Stuarts post disappeared, so here is the link
http://cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g0622_m.pdf

i have similar issues with there not being enough adjustment to get it cutting square. a new blade did help to get it a little better but i still have trouble getting it to cut exactly square. ontop of that the bed has developed a quite severe twist in it, probably from the pathetic legs it's supplied with bending out of shape during setup, so i have to be careful with how i put the workpiece in the vise

Sorry Dave you're not seeing things I deleted as I found I had given Mike that link about a week or so ago.
Stuart

Mike
In my experience, the only thing to address is the tightness of the blade. I remember reading a write up where a user had a gauge to measure the deflection of the blade and he found that he could not meet the tension requirement by turning the hand wheel. He settled for the maximum tension he could achieve and had no further problems. I did the same and have never had a problem since. Remember to release the tension when you park the machine as my blade supplier says this can cause join failure.

I had a similar problem and found it was all due to lack of sufficient tension. Once I sorted that the blade rarely comes off. I found it has to be tightened very very tight.

If the blades going to fail when not in use how the hell is it going to work when your using it,I think he might be tugging it a little too much.

When you guys talk about the machine not cutting square, how far out is it? Mine was pretty good straight out of the box, but maybe I was just lucky ... or I need a better square

Pete

Originally Posted by barry240

Mike
In my experience, the only thing to address is the tightness of the blade. I remember reading a write up where a user had a gauge to measure the deflection of the blade and he found that he could not meet the tension requirement by turning the hand wheel. He settled for the maximum tension he could achieve and had no further problems. I did the same and have never had a problem since. Remember to release the tension when you park the machine as my blade supplier says this can cause join failure.

Hi Barry,
I was going to say welcome to the forum because I haven't seen you around, but then realised you have been around since 2009, LOL But it's still good to have you here posting.

You are right about tension, some guys have even fitted gauges and found the hand pressure on the knob was below recommended tension for the blade.

I agree with Pipeclay about not backing the tension off. Wood workers do it all the time to their saws because of the rubber tyres on the wheels getting squashed. This is also the reason you see a lot of quick release tension kits for wood bandsaws.
I back off the tension on my wood bandsaw, but with a metal bandsaw it's not needed as it has plain cast iron wheels.
I have had my saw for a lot of years and I never seemed to have never a problem of shortening blade life by leaving it tensioned. It would be a real pain to have to tension it every time I used it.

Dave

Greetings chaps. Band saw blades. I have found the bi metal blades the best in my saw. Are we talking about the horizontal vertical version. In the Model Engineers we called them Taiwanese Terrors The first one I had would not cut square. but the second one does a great job. I have cut 6 x 4 HRS and 4 inch round in mine. My mate Boris has just changed one that had three silver soldered joins in it. Has anyone had any sucess in silver soldering band saw blades. 4-6-4

OK, I have spent several hours trying to get this POS to run the blade square.

Have adjusted everything that can be adjusted, the blade is still on a 10 degree cant towards the vice.

I don't want to buy a good blade for this until I am sure it will adjust square.

What do you all think, should I return it?

Honestly getting bloody frustrated.


Mick

Hi Mike,
Got some pictures?

Stuart

I will try and post some pics tomorrow Stu.


Mick

Hi Mick,
They can be frustrating and with no one being their we don't really know if it is the machine itself. So I will try to help from over here as best I can.

When you say 10 degrees is the blade itself leaning over at the top one way, or is it not square with the vice looking down from the top. If it's not square looking down on it, I wouldn't take the marking on the movable vice jaw to be exact. Mine is that old it doesn't even have markings as they where off when I bought it second hand, so I have to use a square to set it up..

I will wait for your reply and go from there.

Dave