STL340: Do You De-Tension Your Bandsaw?
Ben and Amanda are joined by TV's Phil Huber for an episode discussing bandsaw tension, edge sanders, and downdraft tables.From Ken:
I always enjoy the conversations about jointers and planers, order of operations, etc., but I never heard Mike mention an edge sander. Have any of you used them? I find the edge sander and drum sander to be far superior to the jointer and planer for figured woods. I have all four, but if I could pick two I would much rather have the expense of belts and rolls of abrasives in lieu of a jointer and planer any day. I’m curious as to why I never hear about edge sanders and why they never come up in these debates. Is this just a missing tool in the shop and no experience, or is there a reason why they don’t ever get mentioned?
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Shop-Built Edge SanderThis shop-built edge sander makes quick work of tough sanding jobs. Plus, it can be built at a fraction of the cost of a commercial unit. |
From Joey:
What are your thoughts on downdraft tables? I’m considering making one to help manage the dust that’s generated during long sanding sessions. They seem like an excellent fixture to have in the shop, but I haven’t found a ton of information about them online. I’d love to hear some insight.
From Stephen:
I have urethane tires on my saw. I use the Snodgrass flutter test to adjust blade tension. Do I need to release tension between uses? (I don’t now.)
From Jeff:
As a beginning woodworker I have a thirst for knowledge on all things woodworking: books/articles/videos on joinery, styles of furniture, finishing, hand tools, etc., yet I barely have made a cut on a piece of wood.
Why am I researching a debate on the acceptable dimensions of a Queen Anne highboy at 1am instead of practicing squaring up a piece of material?!
What do you think would be a good way to “shut up and get to work”? Small projects? Practice joinery? Sharpen chisels? My overthinking brain is overpowering my hands and heart.
Every two weeks, a team of Fine Woodworking staffers answers questions from readers on Shop Talk Live, Fine Woodworking’s biweekly podcast. Send your woodworking questions to [email protected] for consideration in the regular broadcast! Our continued existence relies upon listener support. So if you enjoy the show, be sure to leave us a five-star rating and maybe even a nice comment on our iTunes page. Join us on our Discord server here.
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Ridgid EB4424 Oscillating Spindle/Belt Sander
Comments
If you've ever seen a bandsaw blade snap (on a big saw, not some 14" toy) when being installed and tensioned, you will want to take a little tension off it at the end of the day. Ease the tension back into it the next day and with the door closed.
I never detensioned my bandsaw but then had trouble with a 3/4" blade, which is the max I can sustain. It wouldn't track right and the local store I bought it from questioned that. In the end, it was the band that was at fault, but I did see that if you are using a band less than 1/2", you maybe might could put a track into the tire. The problem with detensioning is that I always forget to retension. Turning the saw on that way is WAY worse than keeping the tension on. Anyway, I took a very colorful sock and put it in front of the blade when I detension it and leave it on the lever when it is detensioned.
I needed a downdraft station because my palm sander does not have built in
dust collection, and although my random orbit sander does, it doesn’t work
very well in practice. I considered building a table similar to Peter Brown’s
(FWW #153). But I have a small shop (i.e. 12’x17’), and do not have the
floor space for another dedicated operation. Even finding the wall space for
David DiRanna’s excellent fold-down sanding table (FWW #174) would be
a stretch in my case.
But necessity is the mother of invention. While putting away the Holiday
decorations this year, I noticed that the under-bed plastic storage containers
have re-enforcing lips part way down their sides that could support a sanding
surface. Further, there was enough vertical height in the box to
accommodate a 4” dust collection fitting. With this in mind, I designed an
inexpensive, mobile, downdraft sanding station which I use on top of my
bench when I am sanding projects. And it is easily stored under the bench
when not in use.
I used a 70 qt. plastic storage box, a 4” dust collection fitting, a 2x3
(ripped down to size and dadoed), and a portion of an egg crate lighting
panel to construct the bench top, downdraft sanding station shown. A 70 qt
box leads to a station with 19”x42” sanding surface. This works well for all but my largest furniture projects. Of course, a variety of under-bed plastic storage container sizes are available; and larger or smaller sanding stations can be constructed.
My dust collector is only a 1 hp single stage unit equipped with a 0.5 micron filter. I find that it works so well that I don't need my N95 mask when sanding. If you decide to construct one, I found that it is important for the 2x3 wood supports to be located near the corners of the box where the plastic sides deform less. Screwing them to the plastic box also helps. Finally, I use cardboard pieces to "baffle" the top to the size of the work piece. This improves air flow over the sanding part.
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