Bandsaw set up.

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MikeJhn

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The "Wood Whisperer" has been very crafty and invited Alex Snodgrass to his shop to make a video of his method of setting up a bandsaw, its a much clearer video than his previous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxVyKsbuwZQ

[youtube]bxVyKsbuwZQ[/youtube]

Code:
[youtube]bxVyKsbuwZQ[/youtube]

Mike

Mod edit
 
you can embed youtube videos in the same way you embed images, just use a "youtube" tag instead of "IMG" and include the youtube video id between the tags (bxVyKsbuwZQ in this case)


[youtube]bxVyKsbuwZQ[/youtube]
 
The whole point of having crowned wheels is to keep the centre of the blade in the centre of the wheel therefore setting the blade with the bottom the teeth in the centre of the wheel is clearly wrong.
 
Sorry, powertools, but that statement is incorrect.
The blade does not have to run in the centre of the wheel (though it is nice if it does). The blade can run anywhere it pleases, just as long as it cuts parallel to the fence and mitre slot.
 
So can you please explain to me the point of having crowned wheels if it is not to keep the centre of the blade in the centre of the wheel.
 
The crowned wheel works to keep whatever part you want at the centre of the wheel. Tilting a flat wheel back and fore results in much more extreme movement of the blade.

If the middle of the blade is centred to the wheel, then a wide blades teeth will be angled in, and a narrow blades teeth will be angled out.
Setting the teeth to be just forward of the crown (gullet centred) allows the blade to track easily without forcing the teeth into the rubber.
 
You could argue this subject forever and a day and not come up with the same answer, the point is if it works for you stick with it, I myself am a big user of bandsaws and have found over many years that having coplanar wheels does not come into it, I have had bandsaws from scheppach, felder, record, and others but at the end of the day there is no hard and fast rule to set up a bandsaw but the snograss method has proved to be the best on the smaller bandsaws in my opinion regardless of crowned wheels or not
 
I only have a small 190 bandsaw but have set it up like above video this morning and it feels better then how I set it up previous so I'm happy.
 
I find it interesting that Snodgrass doesn't seem to follow his own advice. When he is talking about guide(s) setup, the blade is apparently not sitting with the back of the gullets on the crown of the wheel. This is understandable because it doesn't work very well.

Better to have the set (tips) of the teeth just touching the tyre, so there is a bit of support for them (it helps prevent sideways oscillation), and that probably means that a bigger blade runs centred on the crown, and a smaller blade nearer the front. If you take Snodgrass literally, not only will it not work well, but a larger blade will shred the tyres over time (especially on the lower wheel).

In any case, you can't get small blades to sit well, as the set, the relatively low tension, and their overall smallness makes them too "triangular". That is not as much of a problem though as you usually cut curves with them, so drift isn't an issue. I suspect the Snodgrass answer is "buy our stabiliser", which is quite reasonable, because that works where big guide bearings are simply too clumsy, but it is an example of why his apparent "one-size-fits-all" approach in the video doesn't really work.

And of course it matters where the blade runs on the bottom wheel! That is the driven one, and thus is responsible for transferring power to the blade. Again, if it's not good, the tyre will be shredded quickly, and/or you'll simply not get it to track well. There's typically 500+ Watts going through that tyre (on a small saw), when it's resawing. I've changed that tyre on mine twice, but only needed to do the top wheel once.

Snodgrass also doesn't mention the quality of the blade weld. In my limited experience it makes a huge difference to the performance and the cut quality. A bad weld not only gives a rough finish, it can also damage the guide bearings if the misalignment is extreme.

Steve Maskery has a simple and elegant way of getting the guides set up- simply wrap some 80g paper round the back of the blade to act as a spacer forboth the side- and thrust-bearings. It is very quick and simple. I recommend his "Compleat Bandsaw" video, for a thorough explanation of everything that matters.

It is also worth pointing out that the Powermatic branded machine used in the demo is roughly 15x the price I paid for my machine. I'd love one, but it is way outside my budget! It was almost certainly set up well ex-factory (straight frame, wheels coplanar, etc.). And the blade shown is relatively small for the frame.

All those are good things. Setup shouldn't be hard for those machines. My little SIP is old, worn, at least third hand, and, when it first came to me, it was thoroughly stripped, cleaned and lubricated, before being reassembled and set up. Snodgrass's stuff would be of no help in that situation, yet I have had it running sweetly (aided by Tuff Saws's blades, too). I am refurbing it again now - new main bearings, etc. - and I expect it to be just as good as before, and even though its frame is slightly bent, too!

The trouble with the "Snodgrass technique" is that some of the advice is good, some (like blade position on the top wheel) is nonsense, and he omits things that matter, things that will have a newbie (like I was) struggling when faced with an old worn, machine. I can only say that Steve's video helped greatly. Snodgrass would have caused confusion.

E.

PS: in the interest of transparency, Steve has since become a friend, but I emphasize that was _after_ I bought his video - I'm recommending it because it is comprehensive and good, not because I know him.

PPS: Axminster have a similar fence alignment tool. It's probably cheaper than importing from the USA, and it's actually made in Axminster, too!
 
For anyone trying to support very narrow blades without a special stabiliser, I can recommend a quick, easy and cheap trick.
The issue is trying to support the body of the blade without damaging the teeth. This gets more difficult as the blade gets narrower, as there is less body to support.
So I cut discs of thin MDF and used double-sided sticky-tape to stick them to the guide bearings. My bearings use the flat face against the blade. If yours use the round edge, you can probably just turn and drill a wooden equivalent.
I set the guides to touch the blade, with no gap. Obviously not so hard as to clamp the blade, but touching. The teeth then cut their own clearance, leaving the body, small though it is, properly supported. They are cheap enough to be thought of as disposable and I use a fresh set for each job.
I use this method on blades down to 1/16", which I use for dovetails.
 
From Maskery's free advert

Workshop Essentials DVD 4 - Bandsaw Essentials...……….
............In this 88-minute Bandsaw DVD I take you step-

88 minutes :eek:

I could re-locate to Kirkby in that time !!
 
I bet it was scripted by ETV always has very long drawn out posts. =D> :lol:

No matter, the Snodgrass method works for most of us and works very well with all the blades I use.

Mike
 
Erik....
I am not a doctor, especially a bandsaw doctor, but I have to point out a problem with your above post that says the snodgrass method does not work.

Almost at the end of your post you mention you are refurbing yours (again) even though
"it's frame is slightly bent"

Snodgrass assumes (and fairly so I think), that most people do not have a bent bandsaw. So its a given that on your bandsaw, his system wont work.

His video helped me enormously when I started, long before I heard of Steve from this forum. It does work, for MOST people, on MOST machines.
 
I did NOT say "it doesn't work": you are twisting things somewhat. I said it doesn't work well.

And in the case of my saw, it took me a long time to determine the frame wasn't completely true (it is only slightly out), and when big blades are tensioned on small bandsaws, the frames bend significantly, anyway. That's just one aspect of setting the saw up that Snodgrass doesn't address.

A first-order approximation is always just that - approximate.
 
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