Bandsaw blade tracking question - Agazzani

[Frank Martin]

I am just setting up a new to me 1999 Agazzani B18 band saw, which looks like have not been used much at all. I have never used one before so I have a pretty basic question. This bandsaw has flat tires (i.e., no crown), I am pretty sure I should not be tracking the blade in the center of the tire, as it would damage the tire. Can someone please explain the correct position of the blade. A picture would be perfect.

[Curtis Myers]

Frank,

Congradulations on your new to you Bandsaw. Agazzani bandsaw are wonderful machines. I have a 24 inch Agazzani and it is the pride of my shop. It was built in 2008 and also has flat tires. Below are some photos of mine. Hope they help. One of the photos is of the manual, explaining blade position. In the photos is a 5/8 blade which I track a little forward from center. The teeth have not cut into the rubber tires. If I'm re-sawing a lot I use a Laguna "Resaw king" blade which I track all the way forward of the tire as indicated in the manual. I tension in accordance with the built in gauge and seems to cut perfect. I also correct for drift. Sorry for all the dirt and pitch on the blade making it harder to tell what your looking at. Been cutting walnut.
One the the attributes I enjoy about the Agazzani bandsaws is the duct collection. It is extremely effective.


Eagletools out of Southern California are the sole importers of Agazzani bandsaws. You might want to give them a call. I think the owners name is Jessy. They are very nice people to talk to and work with. He might be able to email you the manual.
http://eagle-tools.com

[Frank Martin]

Curtis, yours is an impressive machine. Mine has the green paint as I am guessing that is what they used back in late 90's. Thanks for the helpful information and especially the pictures. I was under the impression that I needed to track even the regular blades off to the front. I spoke with Jesse once before and totally agree about how helpful he is. I was talking to him about purchasing a SawStop, but then came across a Minimax CU300 and went in that direction. I will call him for the manual as I don't have one.

Looks like you have the Laguna Driftmaster fence. How do you like it? I was thinking about getting that and the ceramic guides but want to use it stock to see if I am missing anything.

[jerry cousins]

i have a mm - which also has flat tires - teeth just a bit proud of the tire
jerry

[Gus Dundon]

I have 14" saw with rubber tires and deepest gullet of the blade is on the center of the tire. I set this up as what others have suggested. It runs smoothly.

[Bill Adamsen]

I believe this may be very specific to the manufacturer and designed (engineered) approach to the solution. I would think the blade and/or wheel manufacturer could provide the optimum setup including tire installation, blade on tire placement, tension (which is all important) and guide/thrust device adjustment. Your photo of the guide seems to indicate teeth should be at front of tire.

I have a large (800mm) Italian made bandsaw (Centauro) that has completely flat tires on a flat wheel (see attached photo). The machine was acquired cutting very poorly. I simply followed the manufacturer's instructions (attached) to setup. These instructions suggested the blade is set with the teeth extending beyond the tire and wheel. There is a ball-bearing upper and lower thrust wheel which don't actually touch the blade. The blade is tensioned to maintain position and the frame is strong enough to resist deflection and maintain that tension. The 1-1/4" (Lennox Trimaster) blade happens to be carbide toothed, but I don't think that would affect the setup, according to instructions. I do reduce the tension after use - sometimes. The saw cuts extremely well.

[Curtis Myers]

Looks like you have the Laguna Driftmaster fence. How do you like it? I was thinking about getting that and the ceramic guides but want to use it stock to see if I am missing anything.

I like the Driftmaster fence OK. No better fence out their that I know of. Not sure its worth the money they ask for. If I did more re-sawing perhaps I would feel different. I use it as a regular fence 90 percent of the time and seldom use the fine adjustment. The only complaint I have is after you dial in the fine adjustment to get the fence exactly where you want it. You then need to lock the fence with the locking lever which moves the fence slightly. Its a very small amount of movement but enough to irritate me. If I had to do it over again I would probably do my homework first to see what else is available.


I prefer the blade guides that came with the Agazzani over the Laguna ceramic. I had a Laguna bandsaw with ceramic guides several years back. The ceramic guides are nice but the euro style on the Agazzani are very quick and super easy to adjust. I recommend trying the ones that came with the Agazzani for a while (if their like the ones in the photos).

Overall I got way more bandsaw then I need but its exactly what I wanted. At the time I had the money and very glad I got an Agazzani.

Hope this helps
All the best
Curtis

300160300159http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=300161&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1415833596http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=300162&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1415833596

[Peter Quinn]

I guess the manufacturer is the best place for advice, but to me it depends on the blade. I set up a MM16 today at work with a very aggressive resaw blade, something like a 2/3 vari-pitch configuration, and the set also varies, not sure the manufacturer, comes from the tooling supplier. In any event every few inches there is a tooth with some pretty heavy set to the wheel side, I don't want those teeth interacting with the wheels so I set it up just like in Bill's photos above. Runs well, makes a very consistent cut. Using a smaller blade with less set I go for the center of the wheel. The wheels don't seem truly flat, just much flatter than saws with a pronounced radius to the tires. Still there seems to be some small amount of radius. My home saw is a 20" Meber, I set it up similarly, big blades a bit forward, everything else centered.

Man, I'm looking at that blade guard on the agazzini....does that just fold out of the way? How easy is that to change blades? My old Meber is a fairly straight forward affair too, I've worked on some older mini max and Laguna saws, don't recall any issues.....but this new minimax? Has some metal armadillo telescoping thing that wont move out of the way....Euro nanny state safe or something? What a major PIB. Who though that was a good idea? Its nearly impossible to change blades without grinding some teeth on metal at some point, real knuckle buster. If you are listening Minimax......fix that nasty piece of work. And the add-hoc carter guides that were slammed on there as an after thought.....second worst idea you ever had. Seriously, has anybody over there ever tried to adjust on of this lower guides? Is that supposed to be an up grade? If I owned this machine they would never hear the end of me....instead I'm just the poor guy who has to use it daily. Granted you could do much worse, but if I had been there a few weeks earlier I would have suggested an Agazzini!

[Frank Martin]

I called Eagle Tools and they will send me a paper copy manual for a nominal fee. As usual great service support from them.

[Frank Martin]

Curtis, I have the same exact guides on my saw. I agree they are super easy to adjust. I was not sure if ceramic guides have some inherently better attribute. I will definitely use it as it. Regarding the Driftmaster Fence, too bad it moves when locked down. To me that is an annoyance that should not exist at that price point. I will use the saw as is and see if there is anything I don't like about the guides or the fence to see of there is any reason to upgrade.

Thanks again for the pictures and the help.

I like the Driftmaster fence OK. No better fence out their that I know of. Not sure its worth the money they ask for. If I did more re-sawing perhaps I would feel different. I use it as a regular fence 90 percent of the time and seldom use the fine adjustment. The only complaint I have is after you dial in the fine adjustment to get the fence exactly where you want it. You then need to lock the fence with the locking lever which moves the fence slightly. Its a very small amount of movement but enough to irritate me. If I had to do it over again I would probably do my homework first to see what else is available.


I prefer the blade guides that came with the Agazzani over the Laguna ceramic. I had a Laguna bandsaw with ceramic guides several years back. The ceramic guides are nice but the euro style on the Agazzani are very quick and super easy to adjust. I recommend trying the ones that came with the Agazzani for a while (if their like the ones in the photos).

Overall I got way more bandsaw then I need but its exactly what I wanted. At the time I had the money and very glad I got an Agazzani.

Hope this helps
All the best
Curtis

300160300159http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=300161&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1415833596http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=300162&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1415833596

[Curtis Myers]

I guess the manufacturer is the best place for advice, but to me it depends on the blade. I set up a MM16 today at work with a very aggressive resaw blade, something like a 2/3 vari-pitch configuration, and the set also varies, not sure the manufacturer, comes from the tooling supplier. In any event every few inches there is a tooth with some pretty heavy set to the wheel side, I don't want those teeth interacting with the wheels so I set it up just like in Bill's photos above. Runs well, makes a very consistent cut. Using a smaller blade with less set I go for the center of the wheel. The wheels don't seem truly flat, just much flatter than saws with a pronounced radius to the tires. Still there seems to be some small amount of radius. My home saw is a 20" Meber, I set it up similarly, big blades a bit forward, everything else centered.

Man, I'm looking at that blade guard on the agazzini....does that just fold out of the way? How easy is that to change blades? My old Meber is a fairly straight forward affair too, I've worked on some older mini max and Laguna saws, don't recall any issues.....but this new minimax? Has some metal armadillo telescoping thing that wont move out of the way....Euro nanny state safe or something? What a major PIB. Who though that was a good idea? Its nearly impossible to change blades without grinding some teeth on metal at some point, real knuckle buster. If you are listening Minimax......fix that nasty piece of work. And the add-hoc carter guides that were slammed on there as an after thought.....second worst idea you ever had. Seriously, has anybody over there ever tried to adjust on of this lower guides? Is that supposed to be an up grade? If I owned this machine they would never hear the end of me....instead I'm just the poor guy who has to use it daily. Granted you could do much worse, but if I had been there a few weeks earlier I would have suggested an Agazzini!

The blade guard is hinged on the right side and (1) thumb screw on the left. Yes, it folds out of the way for blade changing. Another nice feature of the blade guard as seen in the photo, it has a sight glass (plastic) in front of the upper guides. Changing blades is simple and straight forward. The hardest part about changing the blade on the Agazzani is handing the big blade itself. I'm starting to get good at folding them.
I concur with what you said regarding position of blade on the tire in relation to tooth set. If it has sharp or aggressive tooth set, I position the blade forward so not to damage the tire. Other wise a little aft on the tire. I prefer the thinner (1/2" or 5/8") Lenox bi-metal blades for general purpose use. Does everything from resaw to detail smaller radius cutting well and keeps blade changing no to a minimum.

curtis