Bandsaw blade tension

[Ed Nygard]

Conventional wisdom has it that blade tension should be released between uses. Just wondering what experimental or experiential evidence is available that not doing so wil damage blades, bearings, springs, tires, or even frames?

[Robert Engel]

Its an urban myth.

[Sid Matheny]

I release mine when not in use.

[John K Jordan]

Conventional wisdom has it that blade tension should be released between uses. Just wondering what experimental or experiential evidence is available that not doing so wil damage blades, bearings, springs, tires, or even frames?

Lots of people say to never release the tension.

The manufacturers say to release the tension, but not necessarily between every use.

From my Rikon 18" bandsaw manual:
"18. Release blade tension when the saw will not be used for a long period of time."

Choose for yourself who to listen to. Individuals who do or don't detension provide only anecdotal "evidence" to back their position, as in "I've been doing it this way for years my pa for years before me and...".

I've never heard of someone conducting a proper experiment that that quantifies the benefit of following the maker's guideline. (A multi year experiment with a bank of identical bandsaws, some with the tension never released, some released every day, some released only during long periods of no use. What does it do to the blade, the tires, the tension spring, etc. Then test again with a different blade.)

I personally release mine only when I know I won't be using it sometime in the next few days. I always release tension on my WoodMizer sawmill at the end of the day. I always release tension on my metal cutting bandsaws and my 14" wood cutting bandsaw since it may be months before I use it again.

JKJ

[Bill Carey]

and this from the Laguna manual for the 1412 band saw:

If you are not using the bandsaw for extended periods of time (overnight),
remove the tension on the blade. This will increase the life of your blade and the
machine. If tension is left on the machine, flats or grooves can be formed in the
rubber of the wheels, which will detract from the performance of the machine and in
extreme cases cause vibration. Removing the tension will greatly enhance the life of
the machine, bearings and tires.

[JohnC Lucas]

I think part of that is if the bandsaw sits unused for lengths of time. I've never released the tension on my bandsaws and as far as I can tell have never had any bad consequences. Blades to break every now and then but it's probably due to use rather than blade tension. I do use my saws often so they don't sit for more than a day except in rare occasions.

[Chris Parks]

Lots of people say to never release the tension.The manufacturers say to release the tension, but not necessarily between every use. From my Rikon 18" bandsaw manual: "18. Release blade tension when the saw will not be used for a long period of time."Choose for yourself who to listen to. Individuals who do or don't detension provide only anecdotal "evidence" to back their position, as in "I've been doing it this way for years my pa for years before me and...". I've never heard of someone conducting a proper experiment that that quantifies the benefit of following the maker's guideline. (A multi year experiment with a bank of identical bandsaws, some with the tension never released, some released every day, some released only during long periods of no use. What does it do to the blade, the tires, the tension spring, etc. Then test again with a different blade.)I personally release mine only when I know I won't be using it sometime in the next few days. I always release tension on my WoodMizer sawmill at the end of the day. I always release tension on my metal cutting bandsaws and my 14" wood cutting bandsaw since it may be months before I use it again.JKJHave the manufacturers done controlled tests to back their recommendation?? I doubt it. Leaving tension on would damage a blade is yet to be shown AFAIK, if so how? Maybe a very small saw might suffer, I will buy that but not a bigger one. I guess the worse that could happen on bigger saws is the tyres will need replacing earlier but my saw is about six years old and the only time the tension is off it is during a blade change and the tyres are still in very good condition.

[david privett]

Not to hi-jack this thread but since we are writing about bandsaws ,has anyone here have any opinions about carbide-embedded blades as grizzly t24785 ? and as the tension thing goes my wood-cutting bandsaw has a unloader on it so why not use it.

[Curt Harms]

Not to hi-jack this thread but since we are writing about bandsaws ,has anyone here have any opinions about carbide-embedded blades as grizzly t24785 ? and as the tension thing goes my wood-cutting bandsaw has a unloader on it so why not use it.

As far as the blades go, I wonder if they're Grizzly branded SuperCut blades.
http://www.supercutbandsaw.com/gold.html

My saw came with a quick tension release. I paid for it, why not use it? I imagine the best answer is how long will the wheels and bearings sit in one place? Overnight, it probably doesn't matter. Weeks or months? It may matter.

[Jamie Buxton]

If steel springs and rubber tires are degraded by constant load, you'd be putting your car up on blocks every night.

[Dane Riley]

If you start your saw with the tension releases, it will usually ruin the blade.

[Robert Engel]

This is one of those "to each his own" things. But if you're looking for an actual factual reason, in reality there isn't one.

The supposed reason for releasing tension is to prolong the life of the spring, not "damaging the blade". That's ridiculous IMO.

I'm telling you guys I've run the two bandsaws I have for 15+ years and never released the tension once & never had a problem.

And what are you doing reading that owners manual anyway? What's wrong with you? LOL

[David Gilbert]

I have an older Jet 14" saw with a riser block. For years I never released the tension on the blade. Last summer I found that I couldn't get the blade to track or even stay on the wheel. Low and behold the lever arm that controls the tracking had cracked and then broken. After taking it apart I discovered that it was made of pot metal so the long term tensioning had probably cause the failure. I was fortunate to find a replacement assembly with the tracking arm, spring, and tensioning screw. Needless to say I now release the tension whenever I am done with the band saw. I modified the tensioning screw and now loosen it with 15 turns after use.

Cheers,
David

[John K Jordan]

.
And what are you doing reading that owners manual anyway? What's wrong with you? LOL

Yikes, I'm caught. I read every manual. I organize them by category in a file cabinet. I've been known to print on-line only manuals.

There is a even secret society of manual readers. Sometimes it seems half the people in the world don't qualify for membership.

[Curt Harms]

Yikes, I'm caught. I read every manual. I organize them by category in a file cabinet. I've been known to print on-line only manuals.

There is a even secret society of manual readers. Sometimes it seems half the people in the world don't qualify for membership.

John I suspect your estimate of unqualified/disqualified people is low. I do the same, read them and print out those that are electronic. I've already learned a lot of the stuff in them and the product liability lawyers certainly have input but once in a while there's a pertinent fact.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I bought my bandsaw in 1980, and the tension on it is or has been released probably a dozen time, that is to install a new blade.

At times it sit for weeks without use, and there was or is ever any problem with that saw, works now as well as when new and after I added a riser block to it, sawed metal with it, for that I added a small motor and jack shaft.

If you believe the steel or bearings or the springs will deform, better have a look at your car, suspension rubber and springs sit for years and years, used or not and the bearings have the weight on it al the time as well.

Here is my 4 speed saw, where I added the riser block and the low speed setup to, also an easy add-on to make me able to roll the saw around, just the tension bold is getting rusty by never being used :)

397139 397140 397141 397142 397143

[Van Huskey]

It is one of the biggest (mostly) myths regarding bandsaws, but it has sold a lot of quick releases...

The only real benefit is it prevents poor quality tires from taking a set and thumping for a while until the spring back out.

There was a youtube video that pontificated that you need to release tension or else the day/night temperature shifts would work harden the blade. I ask if he lived on Mercury, because if this happened on Earth all or steel bridges and buildings would be falling down around us. Undeterred he maintained he had "seen it".

I release tension only when I change a blade, I know one of my saws has the blade constantly under a tension of ~30k psi for over 9 years with no ill effects that I can see.

[Brian Hall]

I have a 24" with 1" blade that hasn't had tension in at least 18 years

16" Ive been using about once a year and take tension off after use.

[John K Jordan]

Someone mentioned the possible disaster of forgetting to re-tension before starting the saw.

Mine has a big quick tension release lever. After seeing this in another thread I made one. Great idea for those who release tension on occasion.

397170

I wish I could remember who posted it so I could give credit.

JKJ

[Art Mann]

I release the tension on my bandsaws every time I think about it. I believe that is twice this year.