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Thread: band saw blade install question

  1. #16
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    I am with Edwin. You’re thrust bearing should keep the blade from being pushed back more than a tiny fraction of an inch. Hopefully you weren’t able to push the teeth back between the side guides and ruin the set. If this happened it will be very obvious as you cut.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  2. #17
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    Others have said this but I'd reinforce it.

    First, check your tension. I always crank mine up a bit. None of the bandsaws gauges for tension are accurate and I believe it's extremely difficult to break a blade by adding a little more tension. On the other hand not enough tension can result in what you reported happening.

    Second, the thrust bearing behind the blade may not be set close enough to the blade, thus allowing the blade to move backward more than it should when you start pushing wood against it.

    Third, there is likely an adjustment which another poster called "camber". This should keep the blade on the wheels. However, I would say that, if this is out of adjustment, the blade will likely come off the wheel just turning it by hand. At the very least, you will see the blade move one direction or the other when turning by hand if it's not set right.

    There is a great video/reference booklet which Carter Products (bandsaw accessories) puts out which goes through the steps for installing a bandsaw blade. It's primarily to help setup for resawing. However, the same process works for all width blades.You don't really have to buy the Carter booklet or video anymore as there are at least 2 videos on YouTube of Carter's Alex Snodgrass going through all the steps. I swear by the steps in the Carter method of blade installation (by Alex Snodgrass). Since I've followed these steps, my resawing has improved significantly and curve cutting is much better also.

    Carter also puts out the Stabilizer which is meant to replace the guides and thrust bearing for 1/4" or narrower blades. When installed as directed this product keeps the blade in a groove in the Stabilizer which helps hold the blade in place when cutting curves. They sell a version for most bandsaw brands. Generally, I'd say you probably shouldn't need this if the tension, camber, and thrust bearing are set right but it does do a great job.

  3. #18
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    Guys if you read his original post he has solved the blade coming off issue, his current issue is the blade struggled to cut 3/4" cedar, my guess is poor quality blade (he said it was a new blade so shouldn't be dull) or blade on backwards. My 2 cents.

  4. #19
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    Silly follow up question.... how is it possible to install a blade backwards?

    On my bandsaw, if I'm standing so that the wheels are to my left and the table surface is in front of me/slightly to the right of me.. the wheels spin clockwise/to the right... so that's the side you feed material into, so the teeth of the blade would be facing me. Installed in this direction, it's only possible to have the teeth facing (properly) downward. If I was to try to get the teeth to face upwards, I would have to face them away from me, and try to cut from the other side of the saw....

    In any case, I'm just curious on that one. Teeth are facing downward and the rotation of the blade runs the teeth downward into the work piece (just like on a table saw or miter saw).

    ----

    I checked upper and lower roller bearings. Left and right are a piece of notebook paper away from blade. Rear is less than a hair away from back of blade.

    Grizzly tech support gave the same advice around more tension... So I added more, and that helped A LOT initially. I was happy!

    But as I continued to test cut, I was suddenly unable to slide the cedar board through the blade anymore... the blade was still moving, but would not cut.

    Powered the saw down, and found that the blade was now in front of the roller bearings... as if it had popped forward.

    Sigh..........

    My first thoughts now are:
    - Maybe I overshot on increasing the tension
    - Perhaps the upper wheel is tilted slightly forward (despite that the blade tracks centrally on the wheel)

    I'll test some more later, but if other thoughts come to mind for the crew here, I'm all ears :-)
    - Bob R.
    Collegeville PA (30 minutes west of Philly)

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Riefer View Post
    Silly follow up question.... how is it possible to install a blade backwards?

    On my bandsaw, if I'm standing so that the wheels are to my left and the table surface is in front of me/slightly to the right of me.. the wheels spin clockwise/to the right... so that's the side you feed material into, so the teeth of the blade would be facing me. Installed in this direction, it's only possible to have the teeth facing (properly) downward. If I was to try to get the teeth to face upwards, I would have to face them away from me, and try to cut from the other side of the saw....
    Bob,

    The blade could go on "backwards" if it was turned "inside-out." Think about a belt around your waist - you can twist it so that the inside surface of the belt is facing out. If you do that with your bandsaw blade, it will be cutting with the teeth facing up.

  6. #21
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    Are you sure you have the correct length blade for your saw? They are welded to length from long lengths of blade stock and it is not unheard of for them to be made incorrectly. Can you compare to one of your older blades? Have you tried putting an older blade back on and trying that?

  7. #22
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    Ahhh, inside out... never even occurred to me that this was possible. Not the issue in this case, but I'll keep it in mind for future.

    Paul F. >> good idea, I'm going to go try my old blade and see how it goes. More soon!
    - Bob R.
    Collegeville PA (30 minutes west of Philly)

  8. #23
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    Sounds like the blade tracking issue is still a concern. What condition are the tires on the wheels? Badly worn tires can contribute to tracking issues. I know the tires on my 14" Rockwell are in good shape and my saw is not sensitive to blade tension, at least for 1/4" blades, my experience is blade tension becomes more important with wider blades especially when resawing wide boards. Have you tried more than one blade? A 1/4" blade that struggles to cut 3/4" cedar sounds odd. If the blade is bad and you need excess force to make it cut maybe that is the root of the problem.

  9. #24
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    Well, I think (hope!) I figured it out.

    Feel free to tease me after you read this.

    Above I mentioned that after adding tension, and with all other settings seemingly in good shape, I achieved nice cuts initially... and then a long, gentle-curve cut in a piece of cedar 2x4 failed halfway through.

    I assumed it was my setup. I watched videos, read the manual back to front, set everything on the saw back to factory and then adjusted again, read tips here, read tips from Grizzly again... and re-tested my cuts. Still no dice. WHAT THE HECK.

    So, I swapped back to the only other blade I have on-hand... a super old, 3/4" blade of unknown sharpness, that hasn't been on the saw in years. Worth a shot.

    After doing all the setup steps painstakingly, I buzz pretty effortlessly through a variety of test cuts. I'm happy with that, but bummed about not being able to figure out the thinner blade. To sooth my frustration, I decide to cut that long gentle curve in the cedar 2x4... I'll show that lump of lumber who is boss!

    Damn if the cut doesn't fail in the exact same spot in that board... WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I'll admit that the test lumber went sailing across the shop and hit the floor hard... and cracked off the partially cut gentle curve...

    to...

    reveal....

    a drywall screw embedded and completely hidden inside the piece of lumber.



    I suddenly remember my kids using some scrap lumber to test out their ability to drive screws, and the head of one broke off... I explained how some fasteners are brittle (like drywall screws) and the piece of lumber got chucked in the burn pile. I must have later decided it was good enough to keep and put it in my "clean scrap" pile.

    I think I had achieved good installation of the blade... and then dulled the hell out of it on that screw, thus making my other test cuts fail.


    Down two blades, a bunch of hours, and plenty of ego points.... But I guess I now know every in and out of my tool, and shouldn't have too many future issues figuring out how to fine tune.
    - Bob R.
    Collegeville PA (30 minutes west of Philly)

  10. #25
    Tension in the board?

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Riefer View Post

    a drywall screw embedded and completely hidden inside the piece of lumber..
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #27
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    Exactly...
    - Bob R.
    Collegeville PA (30 minutes west of Philly)

  13. #28
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    That'll do it, you now have two blades that are good for rough cutting only. Time to buy some new blades.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Riefer View Post
    ...a drywall screw embedded and completely hidden inside the piece of lumber.
    Those of us with bandsaw mills are well familiar with embedded screws, nails, barbed wire, screw drivers, railroad spikes, and ceramic insulators, some grown deeply into the middle of the tree. You can always tell by the sound when you hit something with these blades, which are less than 1 tooth per inch. Whoops, there goes another $30 blade...

    JKJ

  15. #30
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    Ha, good one Bob.

    A few years ago my friend Tom and I were using our band mill to saw a large oak log.

    We put a new blade on the mill and Tom started the first cut, about halfway through he hit a bolt. Here's the resulting conversation

    Tom......$%#@ I think I hit a nail!

    Rod.......Why didn't the metal detector find it?

    Tom........Because it's at home in the garage.

    We all have those moments..................Glad you found your problem.

    P.S. Did the exact same thing during a Felder band saw seminar, it was a teachable moment

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