Bandsaw tension release???

[Dave Sabo]

I have bought in to the notion of releasing the blade tension from my bandsaw blade during down time. Question is how much to release. Anyone have an opinion or definitive answer on how much tension released will do the job??? All of it, most of it, just enough to keep the blade from falling off the wheels?

FWIW, I have an 18" Laguna and mainly leave a 3/8" blade on it. A quick release lever is not an option on this saw as far as I am aware.

Follow up question is about drift/fence align after retensioning. Do I really need to re-check??? I'm under the impression that the drift is set to the blade - period. Is that right, or does a different tension, tracking ect... alter the drift on the same blade??

[Bruce Page]

Dave, I have the MM16. I just back off the wheel two or three turns. Just enough to get the heavy load off of the bearings.
I haven't had any issues with readjusting for drift.

[Don Stanley]

I have a 16" Jet. I generally use a 1/2" blade, and release tension by 3-4 full turns on the wheel. I will be interested to hear what others are doing.

-Don

[glenn bradley]

I back off several turns to where the tension is reduced enough to be obvious. I can't comment on adjustments staying put as my current C-man is sooo loosey-goosey that keeping adjustments while cutting is challenging enough, let alone expecting them to be anywhere close between sessions. As I am 'small time' my next BS will probably be a 14". A tension release will have to be part of the package or its off the short list.

[Michael McCoy]

I have a quick release on my new saw but on my older, I used a white marker to make a quick reference for the complete turns and backed off 5 full turns. That way there was no thinking involved for these old brain cells since it was always 5 turns.

[Hank Knight]

Dave,

I have a Lagune 18LT. Like Glen, I just back off a couple of turns. I found that if I back of until the blade is loose, the blade slips off the wheels and I have to open up the saw and refit the blade before I can get going again. If I leave a slight tension on the blade, it stays in place. Not very scientific, but that's what I do.

Hank

[James Manning]

I never back off my minimax 18". I know at work for 20+ years I never recall the guys backing off the tension on the shop's saw's and they never had a problem that I knew anything about.

[Brian Penning]

I have a quick release on my new saw but on my older, I used a white marker to make a quick reference for the complete turns and backed off 5 full turns. That way there was no thinking involved for these old brain cells since it was always 5 turns.

Duh! Why didn't I think of that! Thanks for the tip.

[Pete Bradley]

I almost never back mine off. If I do, I back it off a couple of turns and open the top door so I don't forget to tighten it back up before I fire up again.

Pete

[Eddie Darby]

3 reasons to release the tension-1 blade -2 tires -3 bearings.

If you run a lot of wood through your band saw, and get things hot then the blade will benefit most from the removal of the tension, and I would make sure that the blade is relaxed quite a bit. I also don't allow my blade to sit in one position for too long with tension on it. I'll give the upper wheel a rotation or two to change things if it is a while in between cuts.

The alignment of the fence is due to the bias in the blade from sharpening, and it is also due to the place on the tire that the blade runs on. If the blade is shifted forward on the top tire then the cut will move towards the right, and if the same blade is moved towards the back of the tire it will cut to the left.

If nothing has changed from tensioning to de-tensioning and back to tension, then the fence drift compensation should still be the same.

[Loren Hedahl]

A couple of years ago I bought a Carter unit for my Delta 14. It backs the tension off enough that you could remove the blade.

For sure it isn't something mandatory, but it can't hurt.

It was a "discretionary purchase" at the time, not something I needed, but I just wanted one. Just like the propane fireplace in my Scamp trailer.

Loren

[Earl Reid]

I have a 12" Sears BS , about 40 yr old. I have never released the tension. Same tires, replaced bearings about 12 yrs ago. I keep the tension very tight. I put a 3/4 HP motor on about 14 yrs ago. I do a lot of resawing also.
Sometimes I wish I had a larger saw.
Earl