Thread: Something to check for on small bandsaws

Mine are on eccentric shafts, I thought they all where?

When I fit my blades I put them in the guides first, thinking about your problem this way you would pick up on it right away.

Dave

I have an eccentric shaft/bolt on each guide. Some people have reported having all 4 bolts as eccentric. The first thing to do when changing the blade is to loosen them off to provide clearance.

I want to cut some 3mm acrylic to shape for a new window pane on our ute canopy. I threw the original table away as it was useless. I am now making another one that will hopefully work. 3mm steel plate. I am thinking about mounting a heavier plate underneath to make it more rigid. It has a slot cut for the blade more than half way through the length.

Dean

Originally Posted by Dave J

When I fit my blades I put them in the guides first, thinking about your problem this way you would pick up on it right away.

It's one of those things where I've never really looked because I knew they were fixed. I only noticed the other day because the light was at just the right angle. I seem to be in the minority having fixed guides, but still worth checking even if you do have eccentrics (probably more so as they are designed to move).

Originally Posted by Oldneweng

Some people have reported having all 4 bolts as eccentric. The first thing to do when changing the blade is to loosen them off to provide clearance.

4 would run the risk of throwing out the squareness of the blade in the other direction if you did not have them right. 2 should be ample. My blades just slide in, so no need from that point of view.

Originally Posted by Oldneweng

I want to cut some 3mm acrylic to shape for a new window pane on our ute canopy. I threw the original table away as it was useless. I am now making another one that will hopefully work. 3mm steel plate. I am thinking about mounting a heavier plate underneath to make it more rigid. It has a slot cut for the blade more than half way through the length.

If you drill a few holes in the 3mm plate you could spot/ puddle weld some angle or even some strip on to stiffen it rather than use heavier plate (dress the weld back to flush of course)

Michael

I never touch my guides when changing blades. My blades are all the same thickness but if you had different thickness ones you would have to adjust them each time.

Dave

4 would run the risk of throwing out the squareness of the blade in the other direction if you did not have them right. 2 should be ample. My blades just slide in, so no need from that point of view.

My thoughts at the time as well. My eccentric bolts were on opposite sides when I got it. I moved one to the other side mainly because I wanted to fit coolant nozzle brackets under the fixed bolts at both ends and did not want to mess with the adjustment when moving them etc. I also did not think it was ideal to have them set this way anyway.

If you drill a few holes in the 3mm plate you could spot/ puddle weld some angle or even some strip on to stiffen it rather than use heavier plate (dress the weld back to flush of course)

Good idea Michael. I want more thickness under the mount points to provide strength for the countersink holes. These will need to be fairly deep to allow the screws to sit flush. Your idea will work here as well. Be good experience with the new welder which has got quite a workout already.

I never touch my guides when changing blades. My blades are all the same thickness but if you had different thickness ones you would have to adjust them each time.

Dave

I only have 1 blade. I only remove the blade to replace it. The saw has ??/4/12 written on the top of it. That was when that blade was fitted.

Dean

Hi Michael,

The heska has eccentric adjustable blade guides. When I first adjusted them, I made them a nice snug fit but I ran into problems with the blade tracking. Where the blade has been welded and joined, it's a little thicker and when it passes through the guides it tend to skip or ride downwards on the guide.
I quickly learnt that I had to leave the small amount of clearance for the blade. I hope they last a while, 12 bearings for the 2 guides tends to get expensive!

The eccentric is adjusted with an allen key and then tightened with a grub screw to stop the shaft rotating. It's a little bit fiddly but once it's set it's not too bad a system. When I swap blades, I can get a feel for the blade clearance in the guide while feeding the blade through.

Cheers,

Simon

I am constantly changing from blade to blade to cut different steel. The course blade does not like thin wall stuff.
I picked up a bigger bandsaw earlier this year so once its up and running I wont have to change blades anywhere near as often.

Dave

Originally Posted by simonl

Where the blade has been welded and joined, it's a little thicker and when it passes through the guides it tend to skip or ride downwards on the guide.

When I weld my blades I dress the weld back with the angle grinder. Solves that problem.

Michael

I finished the table. Its around 230mm x 230mm. I spot welded some angle to the bottom. The mount point on the bandsaw was not machined. Still bare cast surface and not flat. I milled it flat and milled a flat section inside the angle pieces to suit. Welded the 2 angle pieces together behind the slot. It is now very rigid and much better than the original.

Dean

On the subject of guides check these out.you are looking at the slide component s which allow for the longitudinal and vertical adjustment.

Call me old fashioned or traditional but shouldn't these keys be parallel close fitting with the female parts of the guides. They are not centralised or nor are they as deep as the femele

The taper is 3mm difference from one end to the other. The female part (not shown) is 3mm wider and parallel to the casting edges.

Are these dimensions (?) standard on the 6 x 4 horizontal bandsaws that you own or am I missing something?

Merry Xmas to you and yours guys
Grahame

Mine are the same Grahame, machined by a blind man with an angle grinder......or maybe an angry mouse......

Cheers,
Ew

As I have just had both parts from the motor end, off the saw and carefully examined I can happily say that mine do not look like that. There is clearance between male and female parts but machining looks quite good. Definitely looks square and matching. I did think for a short time about making a mod to enable precision adjustment of the vertical blade angle but decided that I had already done enough jobs to do jobs to........ The machined surface of the bearing holding part (female) which I milled for the table mount did rock on the mill table but a quick rub on emery fixed that. All I want to do is cut out a couple of bits of perspex. I am now ready to cut the perspex.

Dean

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

On the subject of guides check these out.you are looking at the slide component s which allow for the longitudinal and vertical adjustment.

Call me old fashioned or traditional but shouldn't these keys be parallel close fitting with the female parts of the guides. They are not centralised or nor are they as deep as the femele

The taper is 3mm difference from one end to the other. The female part (not shown) is 3mm wider and parallel to the casting edges.

Are these dimensions (?) standard on the 6 x 4 horizontal bandsaws that you own or am I missing something?

Merry Xmas to you and yours guys
Grahame

Hi all and a Merry Christmas to each and everyone.
I asked where I get my blades from about this, and was told that the loose fit was designed that way to allow for the correction of twist on the blade to cut square.(As each component is made in someones backyard, there is no quality control)!!!!!
On one saw I had, a file had to be taken to it and a taper filed as there wasn't enough twist for it to cut straight, 5mm out over 100 deep cut.
Be very careful when adjusting the bearings, that they are not tight on the top of the blade as this will after a while thin the top of the blade and cause a problem with the blade to go a funny shape bit like a banana. DAMHIKT.
Kryn

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Hi all and a Merry Christmas to each and everyone.
I asked where I get my blades from about this, and was told that the loose fit was designed that way to allow for the correction of twist on the blade to cut square.(As each component is made in someones backyard, there is no quality control)!!!!!
On one saw I had, a file had to be taken to it and a taper filed as there wasn't enough twist for it to cut straight, 5mm out over 100 deep cut.
Be very careful when adjusting the bearings, that they are not tight on the top of the blade as this will after a while thin the top of the blade and cause a problem with the blade to go a funny shape bit like a banana. DAMHIKT.
Kryn

I can attest to that. A banana is right. My first replacement blade got the flick!

Dean