Bandsaw tuning needed? Help!

[Badabing]

Hi Everyone. At this moment, I am very frustrated. Nothing seems to be going right in the shop today and I have a lot to get done :BangHead:

The worst is this piece of wood:



It is a piece of Mopani that I tried to resaw off of a 3'' thick 6''x6'' block. I thought I had the bandsaw tuned up pretty well but this result tells me otherwise. Any ideas what I should adjust first? You can see from the picture that the cut started fine (the far end) but then the blade started to dish out the wood I was cutting off the block. This Mopani is very heavy and dense.

I had much better results with a piece of cocobolo just the other day (it was the same rough size). I was able to cut four pieces from the block that were roughly 1/2'' thick each. I was hoping to do the same with this piece.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Travis Porter]

What type of bandsaw do you have? What size motor? How much tension do you have the blade under? Have you stalled the motor? Any wood burning smells?

Off the top of my head, I would say that you are pushing the saw too hard and/or you don't have enough tension on the blade. The tooth goes into the wood, drags due to friction and cutting, but the wheels are still turning causing blade tension to loosen after the lower wheel. Tighten your blade and slow down your feed rate.

You may need to get a new blade as well.

My .02. YMMV.

 

[Badabing]

Thanks Travis, that's good information. I was thinking I may have been feeding too fast for that density of wood.

I have a Grizzly G0555 14'' BS. I'm using a 1/2'' 3 TPI Timberwolf blade.

Checking again, the blade seems to have lost some of the tension now. I will try to adjust the tension and make another cut much slower...

Thanks! :gar-Bi

 

[Makinsawdust]

Joe,
I agree with what Travis said. There might be something else at play but not being there and seeing it, it's hard to tell. If you need another pair of eyes or want to use my bigger saw just say the word.
Rob

 

[Ken Massingale]

Barrel cutting such as that is normally caused by insufficient blade tension. Feed rate is also a factor.
I'd raise the tension, feed slow, and dump the Timberwolf blade for a Woodslicer, Bladerunner or Olson, Bladerunner being my first choice for resawing at a price I can afford.
HTH
ken

 

[Trent Mason]

Just bought that exact BS. This is a very interesting and informative topic. I had a similar issue when I was just playing around with it the other day trying to resaw a 2/4". At first I thought the fence was off, but it was square. Then my buddy pointed out that I might need a blade with a lower TPI than the one that came with the riser kit. Tension had also crossed my mind. I was told to make a feather board(?) to keep the wood against the fence.

Joe,

Please write back and let me know how you faired with this. What tension did you use? What blade/etc? I know that someone said Bladerunners are good. I'm not sure if anywhere sells them locally. Is there somewhere online that sells them?

Thanks,

Trent :icon_bigg

 

[PeteM]

In the meantime you could give Jeremy a call and borrow some time on his monster power feeder :eusa_danc

pete

 

[Travis Porter]

Tension meters are going to be very inconsistent. Strumming the blade and listening to it is probably going to give you the best test.

 

[ebarr]

Tension meters are going to be very inconsistent. Strumming the blade and listening to it is probably going to give you the best test.

And what key should it be???

 

[sapwood]

And what key should it be???

Check out this thread, Wayne

Roger

 

[b4man]

I find that when I forget to take the tension off my blade when I'm finished for the day I come back to a very unstable performance and therefor have to tighten it more. That probably shortens the life of the weld.

 

[cpowell]

Looks like tension. A Timberwolf 1/2 x 3 PC should eat 6 inches of that stock very easily.


Chuck

 

[alleng]

blade tension is something im courious about too. how mucs is too much,how muck is just right and hoemuch is not enough? when tensioning i allways feel like im playing a guessing game, kinda like flying a plane with no insturments.look for something famillular and land?:icon_scra:eusa_thin

 

[Travis Porter]

As for the note, G flat.

Seriously, I don't know what note it should hit, but it should be tight enough that it gives a clear tone.

If I push it with my finger I wouldn't want it to deflect more than a 1/4".

 

[Canuck]

I find that when I forget to take the tension off my blade when I'm finished for the day I come back to a very unstable performance and therefor have to tighten it more. That probably shortens the life of the weld.

Barbara,

I got a tip from BobN and while back to address this issue. Buy yourself a tiny spring clamp (2 incher) and clip it to your detentioned blade. Next time you use the BS, you'll remember to retention the blade!!

Works for me!!!:rotflm: (Of course I am retired and have a great memory........but it is short!!!:rolf

Wayne

 

[cpowell]

I find that when I forget to take the tension off my blade when I'm finished for the day I come back to a very unstable performance and therefor have to tighten it more. That probably shortens the life of the weld.

Blades are expensive so I USUALLY remember to release tension. I open the top door, de-tension while pressing on the blade. When it's loose enough, I leave the upper door slightly open as a reminder to adjust tension before starting up.


Chuck

 

[Bas]

We need an Alan solution for this. A small gizmo that sticks magnetically to your bandsaw. When you apply tension, a timer starts, let's say 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, it beeps. And beeps. AND BEEPS. Until you de-tension the band saw.

A digital egg timer would probably work just as well. Just start it manually when you tension. But a solenoid-air-activated-light-emitting-diode-sensor would be much cooler.

 

[Travis Porter]

We need an Alan solution for this. A small gizmo that sticks magnetically to your bandsaw. When you apply tension, a timer starts, let's say 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, it beeps. And beeps. AND BEEPS. Until you de-tension the band saw.

A digital egg timer would probably work just as well. Just start it manually when you tension. But a solenoid-air-activated-light-emitting-diode-sensor would be much cooler.

pneumatic sounds better than air-activated.

 

[Bas]

pneumatic sounds better than air-activated.

I'm trying to cut back on the word pneumatic. It gets me into trouble. I have to spell my last name a lot, and being a smart-keester I usually go "P as in pneumatic, L, U, I, M as in mnemonic".

Have to stop doing that. Face hurts from all the slapping. :slap:

 

[Glennbear]

As for the note, G flat.

Seriously, I don't know what note it should hit, but it should be tight enough that it gives a clear tone.

If I push it with my finger I wouldn't want it to deflect more than a 1/4".

My new band saw is still living in the box but when I tried that method in the past it did not work well :nah:. The teeth would always puncture my finger before the blade deflected :gar-La;