MM16 Blade tension

[SteveColes]

Yeah, I know the answer but I want to make sure. I have a new Lennox Tri-master Carbide tipped blade:eusa_danc This is the first blade put on this new saw. After doing all the adjustments, Ihave been testing cuts. Wow, like butter. No drift:swoon:. But, there is always a "but":gar-La; the quality of the cut is not what I expected. It is very rough, even for my unskilled hands. There seems to be a lot of extra "movement" when cutting.Since the guides have been adjusted very carefully both to the minimax setup video and the dollar bill method, I doubt that the guides are the main problem. I think the tension is not enough. Well, of course, the obvious solution is to increase tension. Using the built in gauge, I took it up to the 1 1/4" marking, no real change.

So before, I start cranking up the tension until I get a cleaner cut, anybody with this combination of saw and blade have any words wisdom. In fact, I'll take any words of wisdom from anybody about BS tensioning

 

[Travis Porter]

What size blade did you get?

I tension my blade to about the 1.5" mark most of the time. If you don't have enough tension I tend to believe you get "wavy" cuts.

Are you resawing and not getting smooth cuts? What is your feed rate? Feed rate on resawing I do pretty fast. If you go too slow you are going to get rough cuts and more washboard effect.

 

[SteveColes]

What size blade did you get?

I tension my blade to about the 1.5" mark most of the time. If you don't have enough tension I tend to believe you get "wavy" cuts.

Are you resawing and not getting smooth cuts? What is your feed rate? Feed rate on resawing I do pretty fast. If you go too slow you are going to get rough cuts and more washboard effect.

1" blade.

 

[cpowell]

What size blade did you get?

Are you resawing and not getting smooth cuts? What is your feed rate? Feed rate on resawing I do pretty fast. If you go too slow you are going to get rough cuts and more washboard effect.

I don't have that nice carbide blade but have noticed the same "wandering" on a slow feed rate. I push the stock along when resawing. Just play with feed rate on a few narrower pieces, maybe 6-8 inches wide, to get a feel for it.

Do you use a featherboard at the infeed to keep the board bottom registered against the fence? Not mandatory of course but I noticed it helps me get very consistent resaw results since I just focus on maintaining contact with the upper part of the fence.

I tension by hand with my Silicon steel blades. You will get a feel for a good tension setting over time. I like the repeatability on the MM tracking. I just loosen until the blades relax then snug it back up each time I use the bandsaw. The guides never get much out of position unless I move the column up or down a lotta inches.

My hand method involves testing tension with index and middle finger of my right hand inside the upper door where the band comes up on the left hand side. I try for 1/4 inch play with those 2 fingers. Again, I'm using the si-steel blades.

It's easy to get carried away with tension worries. Just remember the MM is made to work. If you provide a faster feed rate and still get waves then turn the tension wheel a little more and push the stock again. If it makes you more comfortable then you can set the fence for 3/32 thick slices and keep feeding until you get the hang of it then go thinner if you want.

BTW pics would be cool. I leave a 1/2 inch blade (1/2 x 3 or 4, can't remember) on the saw most of the time and it leaves a rough finish but no waves. Wish I had one of them Lennox carbides. "Cuts like butter" sounds pretty cool. :mrgreen:


Chuck

 

[SteveColes]

I guess, i didn't clarify. I wasn't doing resawing. I was just making long test cuts to see how much drift I had. Also, was doing some cuts that I would have done in another way, if I could have gotten to my table saw.

Anyway end result is much better cuts with more tension.:thumbs_up Am Igetting as smooth as I should? Don't know. Perhaps when one of you who has the MM16 and 1" Carbide comes over, you can do a few test cuts and tell me, if it is smooth enough. (hint, hint)

 

[mlzettl]

Steve,

I have a MM16 and use a 1" Trimaster to cut wide veneers. If you look on the Lenox website, you will find that this blade can withstand over 30,000 PSI tension. The MM16 cannot exceed that amount, so I crank it as tight as I can get it. I have used a tension gauge, and find that I am well within the limits that the blade can take. The cuts that I get are very smooth, requiring little sanding.

I will say that the cut quality is better with my Woodslicer blades from Highland Hardware, but those blades do not seem to do as well if I'm cutting material that is greater than about 8". As you have already noted, drift is not a problem with the Trimaster, and I also find that on the wide stock, there is virtually no bellying of the cut.

Hope this helps.

Matt

 

[boxxmaker]

Matt,can you tell me where I can get a tension gage.I have heard of em,but never used one.Also is that the proper name for it?

 

[mlzettl]

Ken,

The "tension gauge" that I use you can make yourself for practically nothing. It is the one described by John White in a FWW article a while back. It is certainly a penny tech design which appeals to my thrifty ways. The commercially available ones are basically dial indicators that have been placed in a housing or modified in some way to allow for attachment to the blade. I have read varying reports on their accuracy. John White's gauge is so simple in principle, and has so few moving parts, one to be exact, that it seems more or less foolproof. The only real variable is one's ability to use a feeler gauge properly.

Matt

 

[cpowell]

Matt,can you tell me where I can get a tension gage.I have heard of em,but never used one.Also is that the proper name for it?

A Google search should yield several hits for a home made digital caliper tension gauge.

Here's a link I found http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=312052

I remember playing around with this concept a few times when I first got my BS but I just tighten by feel now. I used a cheap HF digital caliper and some small c-clamps to clamp the caliper arms to the blade about 5 inches apart. If nothing else this could give you a reference for the spring tension indicator on the saw for a few different tensions I guess.


Chuck

 

[adowden]

I experienced similar results with a 1/2" Lennox Trimaster blade before I ruined it when a piece stuck in the ZCI and threw off the blade, cut my two top guides, and even left teeth in the rip fence. I was disappointed in the cut quality too. There was no drift, but it was as if one tooth was a little off which left a groove in the board. I can't remember if my blade was a 2/3 tooth (I'm trying to block the experience out :rotflm. It is my understanding that each tooth is made by welding a carbide ball to the blade and grinding it down to shape. I will say that even though the cut looked varied it cleaned up relatively quickly on the drum sander (0.04" ish). Currently I am trying a steel blade from Maury Saw & Tool 2 TPI, and this is my favorite for resawing.

Amy