Winston Chang
10-07-2019, 11:06 PM
I recently purchased a 10" bandsaw (Rikon 10-306), and along with it, a Starrett blade, a 'Duratec SFB 70-1/2" x 1/4" x 4tpi Skip'. I first set up the band saw with the stock blade (I think it's a 3/8" blade), following the instructions from Alex Snodgrass's "Band saw clinic" video and managed to get a reasonably good quality cut. Bear in mind, though, that I have little experience with band saws, so I don't have a good point of reference.
I swapped out the stock blade and installed the new Starrett blade, then tuned it up again, but the cut quality ended up being much worse. When I turn the wheel by hand, I can see that there's a region of the blade that wobbles off to the left, when viewing the blade straight-on toward the teeth. The wobble is consistent with a particular region of the blade, (the deflection occurs once per revolution of the blade, and not once per revolution of the wheel).
I took off the blade and set it flat on a table, and the same region that wobbled to the left didn't sit flat -- it was raised off the table, as you can see in this picture:
417395
It makes sense to me that if that part is lifting off the table, then when viewed head-on, it would also be slightly deflected to the left. But I don't know enoug
Here's what the cut looks like, in a piece of wood that's about 1/4" thick:
417394
For comparison, here's what the cut looks like using the stock blade:
417396
Is the blade defective? Should I take it back? I'm pretty disappointed with the result, especially since I was told it was a high quality blade, and I'd expect as much from a Starrett product.
I'm also wondering, how clean of a cut can I possibly get if the band saw is really tuned up well and I have a good blade in it? I can see a little runout in the upper wheel when I turn it by hand. I managed to get a dial gauge to ride on the saw blade on the wheel (though at an awkward angle) and the range is .006". I think that if the dial gauge was perpendicular to the blade, it would measure significantly more runout. Here's a picture -- note this is with the stock blade):
417397
I swapped out the stock blade and installed the new Starrett blade, then tuned it up again, but the cut quality ended up being much worse. When I turn the wheel by hand, I can see that there's a region of the blade that wobbles off to the left, when viewing the blade straight-on toward the teeth. The wobble is consistent with a particular region of the blade, (the deflection occurs once per revolution of the blade, and not once per revolution of the wheel).
I took off the blade and set it flat on a table, and the same region that wobbled to the left didn't sit flat -- it was raised off the table, as you can see in this picture:
417395
It makes sense to me that if that part is lifting off the table, then when viewed head-on, it would also be slightly deflected to the left. But I don't know enoug
Here's what the cut looks like, in a piece of wood that's about 1/4" thick:
417394
For comparison, here's what the cut looks like using the stock blade:
417396
Is the blade defective? Should I take it back? I'm pretty disappointed with the result, especially since I was told it was a high quality blade, and I'd expect as much from a Starrett product.
I'm also wondering, how clean of a cut can I possibly get if the band saw is really tuned up well and I have a good blade in it? I can see a little runout in the upper wheel when I turn it by hand. I managed to get a dial gauge to ride on the saw blade on the wheel (though at an awkward angle) and the range is .006". I think that if the dial gauge was perpendicular to the blade, it would measure significantly more runout. Here's a picture -- note this is with the stock blade):
417397