Blade Tension on 17" Bandsaw

[Jason Whelehon]

I have a Grizzly G0513X2 17" 2HP bandsaw w/ Cast iron trunnion and I'm really struggling with blade tension. I'm nervous about over tensioning as I had a blade break on me once and I guess that put a bit of fear in me. I have a 3/4 resaw blade on now and even when I BARELY feed the wood in it drifts real bad.

I've researched and looked and most are just "pluck the blade and you'll know". Ok, thanks Bob Villa, any advice for us mortals??

Thanks in advance,
JW

[Andrew Hughes]

Too me your words it drifts really bad reminds me of a dull blade. Is the blade one of those wood slicers. I tension my bandsaw blades to the pointer on the saw then a little bit more.

[Jason Whelehon]

Brand new Timberwolf blade right out of the box. I have tension indexes that are just numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4..... no units.

[Alex Zeller]

What blade are you using? How sharp is it? The blade that came with my 19" grizzly is nothing to write home about. I switched to Leonx bimetal blades and they just work great. I have both a 1/2" and a 1" and on more than one occasion I've forgotten to turn down the tension when going from the 1" to the 1/2" without a problem. They aren't carbide blade prices so they don't hurt that badly. My advice, get a new sharp blade, tension it to where you feel comfortable, get the tracking correct, and then make a test cut. If it drifts try tightening it. Repeat until it cuts the way you want. If no amount of tension helps then most likely you have a different issue going on.

[Jim Fox]

Check out videos with Alex Snodgrass with Carter products...........here is one from a Wood Whisperer video with him working on Marc's. LINKY (https://youtu.be/bxVyKsbuwZQ?t=131)

[Jason Whelehon]

What blade are you using? How sharp is it? The blade that came with my 19" grizzly is nothing to write home about. I switched to Leonx bimetal blades and they just work great. I have both a 1/2" and a 1" and on more than one occasion I've forgotten to turn down the tension when going from the 1" to the 1/2" without a problem. They aren't carbide blade prices so they don't hurt that badly. My advice, get a new sharp blade, tension it to where you feel comfortable, get the tracking correct, and then make a test cut. If it drifts try tightening it. Repeat until it cuts the way you want. If no amount of tension helps then most likely you have a different issue going on.

Timber Wolf T25048 - 131-1/2" x 3/4" x .025" x 2/3 TPI Pos Claw Bandsaw Blade
https://www.grizzly.com/products/timber-wolf-131-1-2-x-3-4-x-025-x-2-3-tpi-pos-claw-bandsaw-blade/t25048

[Mel Fulks]

Sometimes it's just a crooked band. Bad weld. With the machine off ,I would open the cover and turn the wheel by hand
and watch .

[Alex Zeller]

Timber Wolf T25048 - 131-1/2" x 3/4" x .025" x 2/3 TPI Pos Claw Bandsaw Blade


https://www.grizzly.com/products/timber-wolf-131-1-2-x-3-4-x-025-x-2-3-tpi-pos-claw-bandsaw-blade/t25048

You posted that after I started writing my reply.

[glenn bradley]

Timber Wolf T25048 - 131-1/2" x 3/4" x .025" x 2/3 TPI Pos Claw Bandsaw Blade

I have a G0513X and follow Timberwolf's method:

With guides backed completely off, blade on and well tensioned . . . very slowly start detensioning by half turns at a time, keeping your eyes on the band saw blade. The object is to bring the tension of the blade down to a point that the blade starts to flutter. TAKE YOUR TIME. When you see the band start to flutter, you have hit ground “ZERO”. Now start ADDING quarter turns of tension, SLOWLY, until the band stops fluttering and is running stable again. At this point ADD one-eight to one-quarter turn of tension. You have now tensioned our blade correctly. Shut off the machine and put your guides back in place. You are now ready to start sawing.

I just tension the blade till it takes shape (the vertical portions are straight and taught) and adjust as described above. I do this for other blades as well including my carbide tipped blades. I know a lot of people like a lot of tension but, I saw 1/16" veneer against the fence without issue using the low tension flutter method. If your saw is well aligned, the blade really does want to cut straight ;-)

P.s. As Alex mentions in the video, if you let the blade move back between the guides anywhere near gullet depth you will foul the set and then all bets are off. I have done this. Save yourself a lot of time and frustration and just change the blade. Recovering from a fouled set is an exercise in futility that results in sub-optimal performance every time.

[John TenEyck]

Make a tension gage and measure it. That's the ONLY way you'll know. Shoot for 20 ksi. This link will show you how.

https://sites.google.com/site/jteneyckwoodworker/current-projects/bandsaw-blade-tension-meter

The fact that a blade broke once is even more reason to measure it. Timberwolf claims their blades are designed to run at low tension, but they run just fine at adequate tension, too.

John

[Curt Putnam]

I have that same blade on my Grizzly G0513X2. My blade is at the point where my next activity will be to cobble together a sharpener for the Dremel tool. I experience no drift. My tension is somewhere in the zone, I think. One thing I did differently is to follow the advice of Alec Snodgrass and put the bottom of the gullets on the tire centerline. He has a couple of good videos on utube. As far as the no drift, I cut using the fence(es) so I do not know if any of this is relevant.

[Mike Kees]

I played around with the gauge on my Delta. Then tried the by guess or by golly methods, honestly on that saw with 1/4'' blades everything worked fairly well. I then bought a 18" Steel City and started playing with different band widths and noticing that some worked great ,others not so much, tensioned by the gauge on the saw. Ended up buying a tension gauge. I still use it when figuring out a new blade thickness or width. A properly tuned bandsaw with appropriate blade for the job tensioned properly works really well. Don't take my word on it ,try it out and see for yourself.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have a Grizzly G0513X2 17" 2HP bandsaw w/ Cast iron trunnion and I'm really struggling with blade tension. I'm nervous about over tensioning as I had a blade break on me once and I guess that put a bit of fear in me. I have a 3/4 resaw blade on now and even when I BARELY feed the wood in it drifts real bad.

I've researched and looked and most are just "pluck the blade and you'll know". Ok, thanks Bob Villa, any advice for us mortals??

Thanks in advance,
JW

I doubt if that saw could over tension that blade.

Increase your tension until it does not produce a barrel shaped cut in the vertical plane.

Drift is the inability to produce a parallel work piece when using the rip fence.

Drifting can be improper saw setup or a bad blade, or a dull blade.

The fence should be adjusted to be parallel to the mitre slot and never adjusted again, unless it somehow comes out of parallel.

With the blade properly tracking on the saw the table is now moved so the fence produces a parallel work piece. The table is now never moved again.

Now the saw should rip and crosscut with the mitre gauge properly.

The blade tracking can be slightly adjusted to compensate if required.

Once the blade will no longer cut parallel pieces, it’s ready for the scrap pile....A bandsaw should easily produce items like bridle joints that ready to use straight from the saw....Rod