What a difference a decent blade and a bit of fettling makes

[damo8604]

I'm in love with my bandsaw!

It's nothing special and I guess it's so vastly inferior to a lot of the machines most have on this forum but for what I need it for it suits a purpose.

I paid probably over the odds for it, it's a Basato 1 and a few weeks ago I over tightened the grub screws in the guide housing (both top and bottom) while trying to stop the horrendous blade wander I had been experiencing. I debated chucking it and buying a new machine but I managed to source spares from NMA who were very fast delivery.

Last night I set to replacing the broken parts, I also replaced the blade with a Dakin Flathers blade. It probably took me an hour of fine tuning before I was happy with the tension etc but when I switched it on and started cutting I was blown away! I have lots of very thin pieces of wood around the workshop now :lol:

Just need to get myself the Ultimate bandsaw DVD from Steve Maskery now :ho2

 

[RogerP]

Well done, worth the effort when you get a result!

 

[woodpig]

They can be a bit of a faff to set up sometimes but well worth the effort as they're so useful. I've seen some Americans call them the "King of Saws" in the wood working shop and they may be right!

 

[delboy47]

I have a Basato 3.0 and need to replace the rear thrust thingamebobs that sit behind the blade. The ones on the machine are a bit "chewed". However so far, I have been unable to source any. If anyone has any ideas I would be grateful.
Also, never sure about blade tension. I ignore the built in pointer arrangement as I don't think it is anywhere near up to the mark. What do you guys do to set tension for various size blades? Again would be grateful for any pointers.
Thanks
Del

 

[damo8604]

Delboy, drop RichardTayloratnmauk.com an email, he came back to me very quickly

 

[mseries]

damo, did you get the Dakin Flathers blade from NMA ? I found the Daking Flathers website and I am pleased that they are West Yorkshire business but their site doesn't seem to be aimed at retail sales

 

[delboy47]

Thanks Damo. Will do.

 

[Alexam]

Here's one you can try out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zZuDosSy0

 

[damo8604]

damo, did you get the Dakin Flathers blade from NMA ? I found the Daking Flathers website and I am pleased that they are West Yorkshire business but their site doesn't seem to be aimed at retail sales

When I bought the bandsaw it came with four or five Dakin-Flathers blades, I was going to get a tuffsaws blade but out of curiosity did a little research into Dakin Flathers, turns out they're not bad and I'm pleased to say in my very very limited experience they perform well, cut through a piece of 18mm Ply like a warm knife through butter

 

[Steve Maskery]

Tension pointers on bandsaw are a guide only. The amount of tension you need depends on the amount of steel you are stretching, which is why you need more for a 1/2" blade than for a 1/4" blade. But you will need more for a trad, relatively thick, 1/2" blade than for a modern thin-kerf blade of the same width.
Once you have learned how your blades, on your machine, need to be tensioned you won't need the pointer anyway. Until then, if you use it at all, just use it as a starting point and then go with your senses.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I got Dakin Flathers blades from Rutlands and have found them very good. I've also found TuffSaws blades even better! Cheers, W2S