Why release the tension?

[george wilson]

A P.S.. Being in a major museum for 39 years,I have met a lot of well known people,among them authors. I think that craftsmen who build things build things. Some people like to write books. I had a well known woodworking author tell me that he had had the same blades on his planer for 20 years. When he did grind them,he had rigged up a jig to grind them on his table saw!!! Right!,I want grinding dust in my table saw's trunnions,worm gears,etc..He had really worn out his welcome around the museum by then.Heard about his antics from other craftsmen. Well,he probably hadn't done TOO much damage if the blades were 20 years old. Another famous guitar making writer came in,and asked an incredibly basic question. I really couldn't believe it.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

On a commercial saw the tension is released only during blade changes.

[Bill Keehn]

I wonder if the tension release arm is just something else to make us thinbk we need it? And,does the blade stay in contact with the wheel when it is detensioned? Does the blade fly off the wheel when you retension and start the saw? Either way,I KNOW my wife would never remember to retension the blade. She uses the bandsaw once every several months.My has other talents,don't get me wrong. She runs our home business(mostly her's) very well.She has incredible ability to find some obscure article in a 1940's magazine that I looked at 5 years ago (and showed her),now lost in hundreds of old magazines. We are a team. Each helps the other's weak points.

Well even though I don't detension, I don't think it's hype. The tool manufacturers are giving you a recommendation to protect what they think is most important - the machine they sold you. I think it is similar to car manufacturers recommendations to rotate your tires. It's probably a good idea -- but I never do it. Why not? Because they eventually wear out anyway, but probably not before I get a new car. In the meantime I have to look at what following manufacturers recommendations cost me in terms of time and money and risk. I mention risk because everytime you let someone work on your car you take a risk they won't do it right.

In terms of the bandsaw the costs of not detensioning seem to be at most occasionally buying a new blade or a new set of wheels. Weigh that against the time it takes you to de-tension, re-tension and re-tune your bandsaw setup. Weigh it against the risk of accidentally running the saw with the blade de-tensioned. Weigh it against the risk of wasting some of that expensive wood because your setup was messed up. It can take almost hour to fine tune your saw for the specific tension you are using. Who wants to bother with that?

I also overtension my blades because I think it gives me a better cut. I am sacrificing some HP to overcome the increased load on the motor. If I had smaller saw I might not do this, but it works for me.

[Chris Padilla]

I do detention my BS blades and yes, sometimes I forget to detention and sometimes I forget to retention the blades upon fire up.

I think the key is use. If a car sits for 6 months, it is likey to have issues than if it were running a bit more often...maybe even as little as once a month. I think the same could be said of a BS blade under high tension just sitting there...for 6 months. I think there could be issues as pointed out by many here.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

For over 20 years, I've never de-tensioned a blade when not in use. And, my bandsaw is only used intermittently in my hobby. I've grouped this practice in the same category as PVC duct blowing up my home, polyurethane glue being stronger than yellow glue, and using blade stabilizers on my tablesaw to reduce vibration.

However, I do wear a garlic clove around my neck when doing final assembly.

-Jeff

LOL! Thanks for the chuckle Jeff!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

A P.S.. Being in a major museum for 39 years,I have met a lot of well known people,among them authors. I think that craftsmen who build things build things. Some people like to write books. I had a well known woodworking author tell me that he had had the same blades on his planer for 20 years. When he did grind them,he had rigged up a jig to grind them on his table saw!!! Right!,I want grinding dust in my table saw's trunnions,worm gears,etc..He had really worn out his welcome around the museum by then.Heard about his antics from other craftsmen. Well,he probably hadn't done TOO much damage if the blades were 20 years old. Another famous guitar making writer came in,and asked an incredibly basic question. I really couldn't believe it.

That's interesting George, I know you didn't mention names for a reason, but it's fun to guess!

[george wilson]

He wrote a coffee table book about planes.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Really?!?! Thats funny! Not the one I would have guessed.

[Loren Hedahl]

I also bought and installed a Carter de-tension unit for my Delta 14 some years ago.

The nice thing about this unit is that when the blade is de-tensioned, the handle on the Carter sets down on the table. You wouldn't be able to saw anything with that in the way, so you automatically remember to re-tension the blade.

In my case, I tend to forget to de-tension after use, but I've never had a blade break either. So I can't say whether it is effective or not.

My gut feeling is that I would have been better advised to have spent my hard earned money on more wood and less on stuff to make big wood into small wood.

[Carlos Alden]

I have a tension release on my Jet DX bandsaw. I clipped a small spring clamp on the power cord, where it sits between the UL label and the plug. When I detension the blade, it's my habit to clip this clamp to the detension lever. This unplugs the saw and is a clear visual cue that the blade is detensioned. Redundant safety.

Carlos

[Frank Drew]

On a commercial saw the tension is released only during blade changes.

Could you explain a little further, Cliff? By "commercial saw" do you mean a commercial grade saw in a professional (non-hobbyist) shop?

[glenn bradley]

I kept forgetting to release the tension on my saw and I didn't want to start it up with the tension released, so I hung a little cardboard sign over the on and off buttons that asks, "Tension?"

This allows me to concentrate on other aspects of the project to mess up.

I have a small plastic clip that I put on the power switch paddle when tension is off on my little saw. My larger saw has a quick release that you would have to be half asleep to miss being in the "off" position so I'm OK there.

This is starting to sound a lot like the "ground your PVC" and "left tilt / right tilt" threads that get going . . . De-tension if you want to and don't if you don't want to; I don't think anyone will start shooting at you either way

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Well guys, for what it's worth, I'm going to continue my no detension "experiment", until something breaks. I will detension the big saw, but not the little one. Not expecting anything interesting to happen, but I'll let you know if it does.

I was using this saw today and got to thinking about this old thread. Wondered how long its been since I started the never detention experiment, officially 12 years with no issues. The only time it's been de-tensioned is blade changes. I'm honestly impressed the cheap little Delta has actually made it that long trouble free. I'll check back in 2029 (hopefully).

[Zachary Hoyt]

I wasn't on this site back then. I've never had a bandsaw with a quick de-tensioning lever, and I've never released the tension except to change blades. I don't think this has caused me any problems, but maybe I'm just not aware of them.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I wasn't on this site back then. I've never had a bandsaw with a quick de-tensioning lever, and I've never released the tension except to change blades. I don't think this has caused me any problems, but maybe I'm just not aware of them.

If I remember correctly, there was a frenzy of bandsaw accessorization going on during that time period, one of the popular items being quick detensioning devices. Seems that the fad may have run its course, I haven't seen a thread about it in a while. Seemed silly back then so I decided to test it a little.