Band Saw Modifications

[Rich Aldrich]

I have a ShopFox W1706 14" bandsaw. It has been very hard on blades when cutting bowl blanks. The blade tension did not seem high enough and the blade would excessively twist.

On Thursday, I ordered a new spring from Louis Iturra. He was very helpful. It arrived today along with one of his catalogs. I installed the spring tonight and it made a huge difference in the way the saw cuts. There is no comparison of the blade tension. There is very little drift when cutting a board straight where the blade used to have a lot of drift. Also, the blade doesnt twist nearly as much when cutting a bowl blank, my biggest issue.

Time will tell if the problem is solved, but I notice a big difference already. I am sure as I read the catalog, I will retune other parts of the saw and make improvements.

I did notice the root cause to one other problem. The tensioning yoke on the top is offset by about 1/16". This pushes the sheet metal housing into the top wheel when the wheel is adjusted so the blade tracks well. I think I will have to remove the yoke and have our local machine shop do some machining. I have two choices: 1) to machine the offset off the side of the yolk or 2) slot the mounting holes and the tensioning rod hole. Either way, the sheet metal housing will then be positioned so there is clearance between the housing and the wheel.

If the Mods think this needs to go to a different category on the forum, I understand. I use the bandsaw mostly for turning bowl blanks so it is related to the turning category.

[Steve Vaughan]

A spring might be in my future sometime. I've got the delta 14" with riser, it's about 25 years old. I upgraded it two years ago with the carter bearings and tires and put in new bearings in the wheels. I know on mine, you really have to get a feel for that tension, the little gage on the spring seems pretty useless. Mine seems a bit worn. Thanks for the reminder.

[brian watts]

does he have a website?

[Norm Zax]

Increasing blade width will also decrease drift.

[Jake Helmboldt]

I'd move this to the General Woodworking and Power Tools forum as you'll get more input on details specific to bandsaws. You may also find others who have had similar issues.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks for the info Rich. I think it is ok for the thread to stay here as most turners don't go to the other forums. I have tuned mine up and it sure has made a difference in cuts. 95% of my cutting with a bandsaw is turning blanks.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

What blade are you running? The stock blades on most saws are pretty crappy..... I'd get a new blade before getting anything machined. You also may be able to run less tension, and the offset may not be an issue.

I also agree posting on the power tool junkie board will get you a better answer....:)

[Reed Gray]

I was going to comment on the blade as well. Having a good sharp blade is necessary. I also prefer the thicker ones. They do make ones specifically for resawing. As you found out with your blade tensioner, especially on the smaller saws, they are generally poor quality, and the tension indicators are way off. There are a couple of books out on fine tuning your bandsaw. Well worth the investment.

robo hippy

[Richard Madden]

Good luck with the mods you have made, hope it works good. I have a Grizzly G0555 and I recently added a riser block and Highland Hdwr's woodturners blade. As for tensioning, I raised the top guides all the way up and tensioned the blade until the fluttering stopped. I've never been in the high tensioning group. Michael Fortune did an article in FWW a few years ago and I have tried following his suggestions.

[Rich Aldrich]

Brian,

He does not have a website. I'll send you a PM.

[Rich Aldrich]

Kyle,

I have a Timberwolf 3/8" 3 TPI brand new blade I just installed. I probably destroyed 4 blades with the old spring.

[Rich Aldrich]

Richard,

I plan to play with the tension and find the least tension for each blade and maybe that will vary with bowl blanks, size of blanks and lumber. The G0555 is nearly the same as the Shopfox. The only real difference I know of is the shop fox has cast iron wheels where the Grizzly G0555 has aluminum wheels. I was down to these two saws in the end and opted for the shopfox because of the wheels.

I think now I can actually use the flutter method to set tension because I can actually get enough tension to make the blade stop fluttering.

[Van Huskey]

One must be VERY careful when increasing the overall absolute tension ability of any 14" cast Delta or clone. The wheel hinge on those saws is THE weak point of the saw and is prone to bending or breaking, I can count how many of these I have seen. Iturra does (or used to) make a beefier one to replace the pot metal originals.

[Harvey Pascoe]

Using a 3/8" blade to cut bowl blanks? I think you are using a much too wide blade for that and the radius you are turning is twisting the blade. Try going down to 1/4" and you'll stop breaking blades.

[Van Huskey]

Using a 3/8" blade to cut bowl blanks? I think you are using a much too wide blade for that and the radius you are turning is twisting the blade. Try going down to 1/4" and you'll stop breaking blades.

Really? First I am not a turner but I do use the bandsaw a decent amount. A 3/8" blade will cut a 3" diameter curve, which seems plenty small for most bowl blanks I can envision, you also want to use a decent width blade for beam strength when making cuts through thick wood to prevent barrelling (which may be somewhat of a non-issue since you are only roughing). Further, particularly for green wood you want teeth with significant set, a raker and large gullets to handle the size/type of chip load created by the green wood much easier to find in a 3/8" blade. For the cuts I have seen turners make roughing bowls 3/8" sounds like the perfect blade size for roughing bowls.

[Joseph Tarantino]

Kyle,

I have a Timberwolf 3/8" 3 TPI brand new blade I just installed. I probably destroyed 4 blades with the old spring.

get a lennox blade from iturra and you'll get to see what a properly welded blade will do for your saw. this is a new, never been cut with timberwolf 1/2" blade on a jet 18":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrxBP8YBKYM

note the fore and aft oscillating motion of the blade and how it wobbles as it passes over the top wheel. imagine what that would do to the thrust bearing over time.

here is the same saw, with non-coplanar wheels thanks to one of jet's authorized dealers ( do any of those guys have a clue as to what they are doing?), and a 1/2" lennox blade from iturra. that's a nickel to the left of the blade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67s4qtbxHsk

with the timberwolf blade, the nickel danced all around the table and the vibration was horrendous. the folks at suffolk were as nice as could be, but 4 new blades in 3 different sizes all had the same problem.

[Rich Aldrich]

Harvey,

Louis Iturra told me the same thing. When he cuts bowl blanks he uses a 1/4" blade, so I am going to try one. Maybe I will order some blades from him next time and try a 1/4" blade.

I think that the narrower blade is better because of the thickness of wood that is being cut. Some of the blanks that I cut are over 6" deep (thick). This is why I installed the riser to make my saw cut up to 12" thick.

[Rich Aldrich]

One must be VERY careful when increasing the overall absolute tension ability of any 14" cast Delta or clone. The wheel hinge on those saws is THE weak point of the saw and is prone to bending or breaking, I can count how many of these I have seen. Iturra does (or used to) make a beefier one to replace the pot metal originals.

I understand and agree, but haven't been around enough to seen one break. I don't want to break mine, so I'll take your word for it. I plan to set the blade tension with the flutter method before I use it any more, so hopefully this will save my saw. The Iturra spring is beefier and a bit longer. The original spring was 2 3/4" long. He offers 2 9/16 and 3". I got the 3" per his recommendation. My saw does have the tension release for when it is not used.

I used to bottom out the old spring and not be able to get the blade to stop fluttering on blades 3/8" and wider. I havent tried a 1/4" blade.

[Rich Aldrich]

Joseph,

I'll try a few of his Lennox blades. Your videos are convincing.

[Reed Gray]

If I was going to use a 1/4 inch blade, I wouldn't want to cut any green wood, or any thing over about 2 inches thick, or anything where the bottom isn't perfectly flat, and it would have to be razor sharp. 1/2 inch Lennox blades have done wonders for me for over 10 years. They last longer, cut better, and will resharpen very well a number of times.

robo hippy

[Van Huskey]

If I was going to use a 1/4 inch blade, I wouldn't want to cut any green wood,

robo hippy

I have yet to see a 1/4" blade that I felt had enough set to handle green wood, especially thick green wood. There may be one out there but it isn't in the Lenox catalog. Now, I am not saying you can't do this but I think one is making it hard on themselves. I have a friend that cuts 8-10" wide veneer with a 1/4" blade, he swears by it. I have watched him do it and it is painfully slow to me and it needs more cleanup than my veneer cut 4 times as fast with a 1.25" blade.