New bandsaw blade question

[Jon Grider]

I agree with Eric L. I tension just enough to get the cut I'm after in the piece of wood I need to cut. Different species, different thicknesses, different grain direction all play a part. I use Timberwolf's and don't ascribe to the high tension for everything theory. Too much stress on machine and blade are not a good thing imo. Not trying to start a flame war, just sayin' what works for me.

[John TenEyck]

I have looked at your tension gauge, like it and am going to build one this afternoon. One question, does the plunger on the dial gauge have to be any certain distance from the spine? Seems that the deflection amount would vary considerable depending on the spacing.

The spacing is not important, but if you want to have the dial gage close to the back of the blade there's no reason not to. The deflection will be constant regardless of where it is as long as the two halves of the jig are relatively square to the back of the blade and attached tightly enough to the blade so they don't move during use.

John

[Robert Hayward]

The spacing is not important, but if you want to have the dial gage close to the back of the blade there's no reason not to. The deflection will be constant regardless of where it is as long as the two halves of the jig are relatively square to the back of the blade and attached tightly enough to the blade so they don't move during use.

John

Thank you. Initially I thought the bottom arm moved in an arc with the blade tensioned. When I started making the tension checker the light came on as to why the bottom dowel had a loose fit in the spine, to allow linear movement. Mine is all made as I had everything needed on hand, but not tested yet. I actually put a coat of shellac on it and am waiting for that to dry.

Bob

[John TenEyck]

Thank you. Initially I thought the bottom arm moved in an arc with the blade tensioned. When I started making the tension checker the light came on as to why the bottom dowel had a loose fit in the spine, to allow linear movement. Mine is all made as I had everything needed on hand, but not tested yet. I actually put a coat of shellac on it and am waiting for that to dry.

Bob

Yes, that's right; the dowel fits loosely to allow for linear movement. It's just there to maintain alignment of the two halves.

Let us know your experience using it.

John

[Robert Hayward]

Let us know your experience using it.
John

Just finished testing the new gauge. I had never checked the tension prior, nor even knew what it was. I have always used the tension indicator on the upper wheel of my PM1500. Did the test using a Supercut 1/4"-6 .025 because that is what was on the saw. With my normal tension the bandsaw indicator is just at the edge of the high end of the 1/4" range. I had .005 movement with a 10" space between the gauge arms. So I am running 15ksi on the 1/4" blade. I used this blade to resaw 8" wide black walnut at that tension the other day and had no problems. Had just one 18" piece to resaw and did not want to change blades. Do not need a wider blade on the saw at this time but am now anxious to see what tension I am using for wider blades.