Bandsaw Blues

[Apps]

Hi all,

To start with let me fess up that I am completely new to owning a bandsaw, having finally managed to find the time and space now I am semi retired so go gentle

I have recently purchased a new bandsaw (yes I am afaid its one of those cheaper chinese ones, if you can call £650 cheap) and I am a little concerned it may have an issue, well a couple really.

First off the front rail upon which the fence slides has a scale which is read through the fence sliding mount, however on mine when the fence is touching the blade the scale is reading off the scale i.e. beyond the zero and there is apparently no way of adjusting it, its only a couple of mm but it seems wrong. Is this normal and I am simply unaware of something that is common place? Yes I have tried loosening the various mounts and trying to nudge it along without success.

The second issue is that the rear of the cast iron table appears to catch or snag the wood as I push it through the blade using the mitre gauge at the point where the table is cut for the blade to be inserted. I have placed an engineers square across the "gap" and there is a small but noticable difference. I am able to rock the square between the front and back halfs of the table across the length of the 150mm square. It looks to be 1 mm or so difference in height but just enough to stop a piece of planed timber unless it is slightly lifted or supported by the far left side of the table. Is this normal or am I being overly fussy?

Thank you in advance for your knowledge.

 

[sunnybob]

without knowing exactly which machine you have.....
usually you loosen the bolts that hold the rail and slide the whole thing along and adjust the zero to where the fence is just touching the blade.

Is it possible to push a levelling wedge into the slot to level out the two sides?

 

[sunnybob]

The single most important thing to know about bandsaws;
When you fit a blade, move all guides away from the blade while you get it to run true.
When its running true you adjust the bearings / guides and you must make absolutely sure that the blade teeth do not get squashed by the side bearings. The back bearings sole purpose is to be positioned just behind the blade so that when the pressure of the wood pushes the blade backwards, the blade rubs the back bearing BEFORE the teeth get squashed by the side bearings.
If that happens, the blade is rubbish.

One other, get more blades. One blade does not do all things.
Good luck

 

[Apps]

without knowing exactly which machine you have.....
usually you loosen the bolts that hold the rail and slide the whole thing along and adjust the zero to where the fence is just touching the blade.

Is it possible to push a levelling wedge into the slot to level out the two sides?

The bandsaw is an Axminster AC2606B

The front rail rail is secured under the table by bolts that are in slots at 90 degrees to the table so there is no adjustment or movement in the rail in relation to the left right travel of the fence. The optic for the measure is mounted on a flat panel that runs along the measure onto which the fence is clamped but again no movement except for a tiny amount of movement of the fence (to square the fence to the blade).

To be honest I could live with the measure being wrong if thats what things are supposed to be like but I am guessing from the response here its wrong.

Of more concern is the table heights and wood catching I just cannot imagine how a cast iron table is different in one quarter.

 

[sunnybob]

I have the slightly bigger axminster 350N with a similar gauge on the fence. The fence rail on mine has slack in the bolts, enough to get a mm or two. Try it.

Cast iron is notoriously soft. When the slot is cut for the blade its not uncommon for casting stresses to warp the table. Mine has a smooth tapered bolt that is pushed into a round hole across the cut. Pushing the bolt in against the taper levels the two sides. Are you sure you dont have that?
Have you read the manual carefully?
If all else fails, contact axminster. Quality control across all makes is very hit and miss, but axminsters service is one of the best.

 

[Apps]

The single most important thing to know about bandsaws;
When you fit a blade, move all guides away from the blade while you get it to run true.
When its running true you adjust the bearings / guides and you must make absolutely sure that the blade teeth do not get squashed by the side bearings. The back bearings sole purpose is to be positioned just behind the blade so that when the pressure of the wood pushes the blade backwards, the blade rubs the back bearing BEFORE the teeth get squashed by the side bearings.
If that happens, the blade is rubbish.

One other, get more blades. One blade does not do all things.
Good luck

Thanks for the advice I have been loitering here for a while picking up advice and purchased a couple of blades from Tuff Saws in different sizes for the different tasks. Ive watched several of the recommended guides on setting up and I believe its set as you7 describe.

 

[MikeK]

I had a look at the online owner's manual for your saw:

https://cdn.axminstertools.com/medi...1.1639960016.1597427087-2027892359.1591377802
On page 8, Figure 04 shows the table stabilising bolt. This keeps the table on one plane. Check to make sure you have this bolt installed.

On page 20, Figures 43 through 46 show how to adjust the scale.

I was going to recommend tossing the blades that came with the saw and buy quality blades from TuffSaws, but read that you have already done that. I have a Record Power BS350S, which is not much different from your saw, and I just ordered a dozen blades from TuffSaws, as I am confident this will fix my bandsaw blues. I also ordered a new set of guides and will install them when they arrive.

 

[Apps]

I have the slightly bigger axminster 350N with a similar gauge on the fence. The fence rail on mine has slack in the bolts, enough to get a mm or two. Try it.

Cast iron is notoriously soft. When the slot is cut for the blade its not uncommon for casting stresses to warp the table. Mine has a smooth tapered bolt that is pushed into a round hole across the cut. Pushing the bolt in against the taper levels the two sides. Are you sure you dont have that?
Have you read the manual carefully?
If all else fails, contact axminster. Quality control across all makes is very hit and miss, but axminsters service is one of the best.

Yep it has the bolt and its inserted but doesnt seem to make a difference, I have contacted them, I just hoping I was wrong and there was a simple fix. Also knowledge is power and I guess I wanted to know what was what to prevent getting fobbed off, nice to know Axminster may not be an issue

 

[Ttrees]

Hello
Sounds like both your issues could be fixed by adjustment of the table trunnion.
You should be able to move the table if you undo the four bolts holding the trunnion and get that scale where you want it.

You might also be able to adjust the flatness of the table by these four bolts
if there are also nuts on those bolts for the table to sit on/be adjusted for square.
If there were no bolts and the table is directly on the sheet metal cabinet, I would add some and see if it possibly could be sorted.

Hope this helps
Tom

 

[Orraloon]

I dont know if this will be any help to you.
Axminster Craft AC2606B set up and calibration - YouTube
As to the blade slot problem, the pin at the end needs to be snug in the hole to work so a slight tap on the end may do it. Otherwise I would ask for it to be replaced.
Regards
John

 

[Apps]

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

Turns out that the manual appears out of date, even the tech support guy was confused by it There doesnt seem to be any way to zero the fence to the measure fixed to the front rail. They thought it would move on the fence slider but its screwed in place and without redrilling various parts it is what is. If it really starts to bother me then I can widen the rail attachment points and move it over a few mm.

As for the table level Axminster were great talked me through trying to fix it but when there fixes didnt work they arranged for a new one to be sent out so cannot complain just waiting on the part from China I guess.

Again thank you everyone.

Chris

 

[Apps]

I had a look at the online owner's manual for your saw:

https://cdn.axminstertools.com/medi...1.1639960016.1597427087-2027892359.1591377802
On page 8, Figure 04 shows the table stabilising bolt. This keeps the table on one plane. Check to make sure you have this bolt installed.

On page 20, Figures 43 through 46 show how to adjust the scale.

I was going to recommend tossing the blades that came with the saw and buy quality blades from TuffSaws, but read that you have already done that. I have a Record Power BS350S, which is not much different from your saw, and I just ordered a dozen blades from TuffSaws, as I am confident this will fix my bandsaw blues. I also ordered a new set of guides and will install them when they arrive.

You menttion new guides are they a "Record" thing or are they generic, I must admit the Axminster ones are a little fiddly with the sliding ceramic blocks and seem to be less adjustable than expected.

 

[MikeK]

You menttion new guides are they a "Record" thing or are they generic, I must admit the Axminster ones are a little fiddly with the sliding ceramic blocks and seem to be less adjustable than expected.

The guides I installed were made for the Rikon 10-324 and 10-325 bandsaws. See this thread for my description of the process. It's not for the squeamish.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...ide-upgrade-using-rikon-tool-less-kit.124508/