Record BS350S 14" Bandsaw - Can it take smaller blades??

[Tombo46]

Ello people. I'm looking at buying a bandsaw with larger capacities. I'm after a deeper throat and have landed on the Record BS350S after reading some reviews (unless anyone would like to recommend anything else?)

The question is. I will be doing some pretty tight work which would require at least a 3/16" blade, preferably a 1/8" blade however the specification say's the minimum it will take is a 1/4" blade? Is this something I should follow or just ignore? Is there any reason why it shouldn't take a smaller blade?

All the best.

Tom

 

[blackrodd]

No doubt someone will be along in a minute who has a similar set up as you require.
A word with the Tuffsaw blade man will be benificial as he makes blades for all occasions. Regards Rodders

 

[Tombo46]

No doubt someone will be along in a minute who has a similar set up as you require.
A word with the Tuffsaw blade man will be benificial as he makes blades for all occasions. Regards Rodders

Aye I was thinking about giving Ian a shout. Don't want to bother him too much though haha. Instead I'll bother you lot

 

[heatherw]

I'm using a 1/8" blade on a 14" SIP which is supposed to take 1/4" as the smallest. The limiting factor is the adjustment on the roller guides, if the slot for the rear guide isn't long enough you can't get it far enough forward to support the blade so the teeth end up between the side bearing guides which is NOT good. It so happens that the slot in mine is just long enough and I've had no problems. I believe there are ways of getting round this, using wood blocks on the side for instance, but in the end I didn't need to fiddle around cos I didn't have a problem.

 

[CHJ]

It will be the rear and side bearing widths that are the limiting factor, for instance on my machine the standard guide bearings are just narrow enough to accommodate a 10mm/3/8" blade.

I made a narrower rear bearing by fitting a narrow tyre to the rear bearing to fit between the side bearings to support a thinner blade as a trial, it worked but not something I would bother with on a regular basis as a 10mm blade goes as small as I need.

If your machine has a flat disc rear thrust support then you are limited to the width of your side supports.

If the side supports are rubbing blocks as opposed to bearings then you can make them any width you require so that they clear the teeth.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I use a 1/16" blade on my gigantic Scheppach, despite such a blade being too small for the blade supports.
The challenge is to support the blade without damaging the teeth.
I do it by sticking a small disk of MDF to the guide bearings. They can close up on the blade to support it and indeed will touch the teeth, too. But the teeth will simply cut their way though it, leaving the body of the blade supported nicely. The teeth damage the guides, not the other way round.
I stick the disks on with DS tape and a batch of a dozen or so lasts me for ever.

If you don't have guide bearings, but have guide blocks instead, then just replace them with wooden ones, the same principle applies.

HTH
Steve

 

[heatherw]

I use a 1/16" blade on my gigantic Scheppach, despite such a blade being too small for the blade supports.

Where did you get a blade that small, Steve?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Good q. I can't remember the name, but I do remember that the head honcho was on hols and I had to wait for him to return because none of the staff would weld something that small. The blade material is made in this country, but the manufacturer's special welder was broken and they had no plans to replace it. This was all a few years ago now.

If I remember the name, I'll post it up. Somewhere in Wales, I think (but not Ian). Might even have been double-barrelled.

Sorry I can't be of more help.
S

 

[Tombo46]

Thanks for the input everyone. I cantacted Record today to ask about blade sizes and also where I could get my hands on one. They said it would be possible to run a smaller blade and the thing to watch out for was indeed the side bearings. The rear bearing will protrude far enough to touch the back of the blade too. I may attach a couple of small pieces of wood on the side bearings just as a precautionary measure.

As for the saw. Record who are based in Chesterfield (only 15 mins away from me) were very helpful. They got in touch with a stockist in Derby about 45 minutes ago who had one of the last ones in the country until the new year. They explained that it was a shop floor model (still unused) and was already assembled. I went down today, paid them and drove back with a ready assembled bandsaw that just needed setting up. Winner winner!

Set the whole thing up which is not something I'm used to as my knowledge of bandsaws is limited and much to my surprise I cut an extremely thin veneer from a 200mm block of hardwood using the fence.

I have some tuffsaws blades ordered which will probably be here tomorrow so I'll report back for anyone who decides to search for a similar answer.

Thanks again for the help people. Very much looking forward to having a play!

 

[KevM]

I look forward to hearing your progress - I've got the same bandsaw. Getting the boxes out of the car and assembling it on my own was no joke, but I was too impatient to wait for a helping hand! I've only used larger blades so far (exclusively 3/4"), so I'd be interested to hear how you get on and see if I can be tempted to explore other uses.

Kev.

 

[nicguthrie]

Same Bandsaw I have, nice to get the input!

Fantastic saw, even with the stock blade it managed a neat little 2mm veneer slice from a 4x4 length of very old hard Iroko. I've got a 5/8" RP blade came with it and since then I've got a couple of blades from Tuffsaws, one 1/4 inch sabrecut for cutting profiles and curves, and a 1/2 inch fast-cut version for making those veneer slices without leaving the surface look like a Corduroy map.

Hadn't tried the 1/4 inch one yet, so thanks for the heads-up about the side bearings, I'll be double careful when it comes time to give it a go. One thing I've found is that if you don't have an absolutely enormous airflow on your shopvac, you might find it's not very effective thru the 4" port at the back of the machine. I'f I'm cutting something with nasty dust, (or just annoying, like Polystyrene) I attach my small hose directly under the table, sooking through the plastic center under the blade, using a magnet.

Apparently it works fine with a big chip extractor type shop vac, but the flow on my numatic seems a little underpowered for it's design at times. I look forward to hearing about your use of the 1/8th blade, I've thought it may be handy in future. Watch that you drop the tension before fitting it tho, with the cam lock tension lever it'd be easy to over tension a very small blade if you were swapping down from a 3/4 or something.

Nic.

 

[Alexam]

Damn!!!
I was following this with interest and all of a sudden it ended with Nic. Did this thread move to another as I would likje to hear about the 1/8" blades and other matters connected with the Record 350S Bandsaw. It is one I would like to own because the BS400 (would really like this one) is a tad more that I can jsutify with what I use it for.

Any other bits on thgis would be interesting, as well as anyone thinking about disposing of the 350S?.

Alex

 

[nicguthrie]

What would you like to know? I've still got mine, though it's not getting the use it should, as my health has been horrible these last few months. When I do get to use it, it still surpasses all expectations with the single exception of the dust extraction as I said before, but I've fixed that to satisfaction with a little custom mount for my extractor.

I'm quite happy to try out, investigate or relate any details I have access to about the saw, so long as you're willing to wait for me to have a "well day" if it requires going out and testing something

If you're curious about more general stuff, p.m. me your number and I'll give you a call if you like.

Nic.

 

[Alexam]

Thanks Nic, Ihave PM'd you. Mainly about baldes - 1/8" and if it's OK. Also, I'm looking for a good BS350S

Alex

 

[Alexam]

I use a 1/16" blade on my gigantic Scheppach, despite such a blade being too small for the blade supports.
The challenge is to support the blade without damaging the teeth.
I do it by sticking a small disk of MDF to the guide bearings. They can close up on the blade to support it and indeed will touch the teeth, too. But the teeth will simply cut their way though it, leaving the body of the blade supported nicely. The teeth damage the guides, not the other way round.
I stick the disks on with DS tape and a batch of a dozen or so lasts me for ever.

If you don't have guide bearings, but have guide blocks instead, then just replace them with wooden ones, the same principle applies.

HTH
Steve

Hi Steve,

very interested in your comments about using wood or MDF on guides of the bandsaw. I want to upgrade to a larger bandsaw, ideally a used Record BS400 or 350S, but do like to use a 1/8th blade for making bandsaw boxes. Any chance you could show a photo of the set up and if using wood, is this ideally oak, or what.

Thanks for now

Alex

 

[Steve Maskery]

HI Alex
I don't have access to my BS right now, not for taking photos, anyway, but basically it is a pair of thin MDF disk stuck to the bearings with DS tape. I use it when I'm cutting dovetails. If you have my BS DVDs it is fully documented on Workshop Essentials Volume 5.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Alexam]

Ahhhhhhh... I've just seen it, .... when you are doing your fine dovetails. I missed this the first time I looked at the DVD. The discs stuck to the guide and actually covering the whole blade sides and the teeth, but as you say, the teeth will clear their working area, through the material. Presumable one could stick smaller discs to the end of a couple of blocks if they are in place rather than bearings. Thank you so much, this is very useful and clears up the possible diffivulty in getting the bearings, or blocks, forward enough to give support to the smaller blades. Which ake of DS tape do you usually use, as there are several brands.

On final question if I may, with your 1/16" blades (presumable by Tuffsaw?) have you had any blade breakages and how many TPI please? Obviously such a small blade will corner very well indeed, which is what I'm after.

Cheers

Alex

 

[Steve Maskery]

I don't think Ian does anything that small, but you could ask.
It's several years since I bought any, but I got mine from Hamilton Edge. Don't know how many teeth, but it's lots. 14? 16? Something like that.
S

 

[Alexam]

Thanks Steve, a most helpful conversation and much appreciated.

Hope all is going to plan with the new workshop.

M

 

[Alexam]

Thanks for the PM Steve, your DVD shows clearly the set-up and is invaluable for the smaller blades on bandsaws. Amazing that it had not been thought of by the manuacturers.

Your'e a STAR!

Alex