band-saw tension gizmo's

[Jack Wood]

I have a Jet 18" Band saw and it might say something about how lazy I am, but turning that small slick wheel to tension the blade is getting to be a chore. I saw once where there was an after market lever system that you just preset the tension and after that pulled the handle down and voila! your set! Where can you get these?:confused: THANKS!
PS is it worth upgrading the spring while I'm at it?

[Doug Shepard]

I dont have one, but I think this is what you're referring to
http://www.carterproducts.com/product.asp?product_id=20&cat_id=16

Doesn't look like they have one that fits your BS though. I dont recall if I've seen anybody else making these or if there's one made that will fit your saw.

[Jack Wood]

Thanks Doug, but they're all for 14" saws:( Surely someone makes these for larger BS's wouldn't you think?

[Doug Shepard]

I think these things have only been out for a couple of years. It would make sense that they'd concentrate first on the biggest market segment. But maybe they've got plans on releasing versions for other saws?? Might be worth calling them to see if they've got something coming out that would work. How similar is the factory tensioning gizmo on your's to the 14" Jet? If they're close, maybe one could be modified to work ?

[Jack Wood]

Well those look a lot smaller. I guess I'll just keep hoping and looking.

[Jim Becker]

Jack, as far as I know, the tension release levers are machine specific (sometimes aftermarket, sometimes factory) and I don't even recall seeing one for your particular saw.

[Jack Wood]

Just my luck!:p Seems like after I buy something the Borg where I bought it stops carrying that brand or doesnt carry any accessories for it. I bought a 12" Delta BS and all of the goodies like riser blocks, fences and the like were made for 9" and 14" nada for mine:( Well I guess I'll just keep turning that little wheel around and around. Didn't seem like a big deal until I learned that you should distension the sucker after every use, for a one cut thing that's a lot setup time. But this is the new Jet that came out last year so maybe the after market foks will get with it. Oh and by the way the New Jet has a 137" blade compared to the old one that had a 133" That made for some head scratching when I bought a after market blade from Timber Wolf and it said for Jet 18" BS's. They said that they hadn't even started selling blades officially for the New Saw. So if your in the market for a new one don't buy a 133" blade for it, it takes a 137":rolleyes:

[Rick Lizek]

One of the hobby mags had a simple bandsaw lever device someone cobbled out of scrap. Don't see why you couldn't do the same. I recall his was a 14" but see no reason it couldn't be done on an 18". Someone here might recall what mag and issue. I'd go with steel for the lever as the 18" should have a stiffer spring. I've made riser blocks out of wood for bandsaws. We even made riser blocks for a 24" YA planer. We wanted to run 12" timbers through it. Works fine. The only limit is your imagination. Best thing I ever did was learn how to work metal and it opens up all kinds of possibilities for woodworking.

[Bob Noles]

Jack,

I don't know if this will help or not, but here is a link that you may find interesting.

http://bt3gallery.fhauto.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album53&page=1

[Jim Davenport]

I've been on here for a little while now, and am negligent in introducing my self. I'm getting back into woodworking as a hobby, I had my own water and wastewater utility maintenance business. That got to be too much. Now I'm kinda semi-retired. I work as a wastewater plant operator at a Large Condo in Clearwater Florida. I did 20 years in the Navy, Retired from there in 1983. My current shop is very "spacially challenged", the wood working stuff, and metalworking stuff are fighting for space. I'm trying to convince "SWMBO" that I need to build a separate shop for woodworking.
I got some money for Christmas, So it was off to woodCraft. They had the Carter Quickrelease onsale.
The installation was pretty straight forward, although there was an error in the instructions, with the "enclosed blade tracking screw for Jet saws". They called it "the blade tension screw". Also they sent me two different size screws for bolting the unit in. They set a 1/4", and a 5/16", should have been two 1/4". A quick trip to Lowes solved that problem. It is a very sturdy, and well made unit, and functions very positively. I think it will be very convient, as I always leave my bandsaw "Detensioned" between uses.
I had thought about fabricating one, but this is so well made, I think I was better off buying the unit.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Although I understand that I'm not answering the question directly, but de-tensioning the blade everytime (or everyday) may be overkill. My 18" bandsaw is 20 years old and has never been de-tensioned other than during a blade change every once in a while. Perhaps I am lazy. Or taking a chance. It has standard crowned rubber tires over aluminum spoked wheels which are in great shape.

I'm not convinced that there is a benefit to de-tensioning, unless you are storing a bandsaw for a very long time, measured in months, without rotating the wheels.

My opinion only...Jeff

[Jim Davenport]

I read about detensioning blades in Mark Dunginske's "BAND SAW HANDBOOK". He says that's it's a good idea to reduce tension on the blade after using the saw.
I use my bandsaw infrequently, so I figuire that detensioning the blade is like "chicken soup It couldn't hurt";) .

[Tyler Howell]

Jack,
Give Lou down at Ittura Design a call for his catalog. He has a heavy duty spin handle with an Acme thread that works great for that up and down tensioning.;)

[Bill Lewis]

One of the hobby mags had a simple bandsaw lever device someone cobbled out of scrap. I just got a free issue of Woodsmith in the mail that had the home-made tensioner.

As for the 12" Delta, well I feel for you Jack. I bought one of those that was being clearanced from a Hechinger Store when they were going out of business. It was real hard to find any accessories for it. Fortunately I was able to sell it for pretty much what I paid for it. I replaced it with a new 14" Delta. What a differeence!

[Allen Bookout]

Jack, I am not familiar with your model of bandsaw but could you make something like this work? It is kind of hard to tell what is going on from the pictures in the link until you enlarge the last two.

http://cerealport.net/woodworking/quickrelease

Allen

[John Miliunas]

Hey guys, I hate to rain on the parade here but, we're really comparing apples to oranges here. The 14" BS's are a totally different design to the 18" Jet mentioned. On most all "typical" Tai/Chi 14" saws, the tensioning adjustments are on the exterior of the machine. The mechanism on Jack's Jet is very similar to most of the Euro saws out there and, I may be mistaken, but I don't recall seeing any type of "quick release" for BS's with that type of design.:) :cool:

[Allen Bookout]

Well John, That saves us all a lot of time. We should have looked it up in the first place. Thanks! Allen

PS Looking it up is not so easy either. Every picture, including the wmhtoolgroup site, all show the infeed side of the saw. They did have a manual to download if I was real curious but not worth the effort. Should be more careful about trying to help when I do not know the product. Makes a guy feel REALLY stupid.