Cheap bandsaw-setting up

[Monkey Mark]

I got hold of a cheap black & decker bandsaw, not ideal but it's a start.

I've looked at YouTube to find how best to set it up but can't find anything suitable.

I was surprised to see the blade runs on the crowd of the wheels as opposed to in a track on them. Also the top guide has one bearing with two angled pieces to align it.

Anyone know of a suitable video to help as I don't think it's running quite as it should.

 

[blackrodd]

Link here to a few weeks ago on the same question, looking-for-info-on-an-old-black-decker-bandsaw-t78689.html
Regards Rodders

 

[marcros]

without watching the whole clip, this seems quite good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBbFBf5t0Kk

get a tuffsaws blade, and start with that. a poor blade sometimes doesnt perform as it should in terms of tracking, so you do everything right and cant work out why it doesnt work as it should. Get it tracked properly- running on the wheels is correct, and a small adjustment to the tracking sometimes makes a huge difference, so be aware. then look at the bearing and angled pieces. These are probably cool blocks, or a similar concept- worth getting a lignum vitae pen blank and replacing them using that. If you need to replace the bearing, it is likely a common one that will cost a few pence- for my inca i got 10 for about 2 quid I think. may have been 4 quid, but not a lot either way.

 

[Ghengis]

I set mine up using this guys method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'm not quite sure what you were expecting but it is normal for the blade to run on the crown of the wheels.
The bearing is called a thrust bearing, which stops the blade being pushed back, the two angled pieces are called guide bearings and are made of steel, wood, brass, or composite materials.
There is an art to setting up a bandsaw.

Some people on here will recommend the Snodgrass video, which is fine as far as it goes, but is very American in style and substance ( I couldn't set my machine up in that way, and in fact he has to do a shimmy because he doesn't get it Right First Time).

There are also two UK offerings, one by Alan Holtham at Record Power and another by a fat geezer called Steve from Workshop Essentials. Both are aimed at European-style bandsaws.

I'll leave you to work out who I think offers the best.

The B&D should be able to give you excellent results. I'd like one as a secondary machine in my workshop.
S

 

[Monkey Mark]

Very swift and helpful replies.

I'll watch the videos tomorrow and report back.

I had a little go at a compound cut but think the blade is too wide with too low a tpi. I'll be ordering replacement blades anyway, just wanted to know what I was doing first.