Sometime ago, I bought an 18″ Grizzly used bandsaw. I’ve been relatively happy with it but have had inconsistent results using it.
This weekend I installed a 1/2 nch Starrett blade and used it to cut some Catalpa, white oak and cherry up tp 6 inches thick. Great results.
The Starrett blade invoice from a local supply company had this info: 3/hk (which I understand), P. B. M42 (which I don’t understand). The M42 is apparently a “model number”. I looked at the Starrett website and there are lots of choices.
Anyone a Starrett user? Familiar with all of their bandsaw blades? I think I just lucked out even though I got the blade from a very large local supply company.
Next question. When I installed the blade I went over the saw fairly carefully. The bottom wheel is off vertical by 1/8 inch over the 18 inch diameter. A 4 foot straightedge touches the top wheel at two points (as it should) but I have the gap on the top of the lower wheel. That would tend to push the blade out . Is it possible the saw was intended to be that way?
I contacted Grizzly by e-mail but I’m prety sure I’m getting “canned answers” on aligment.
Anyone know for sure?
Jet of Tn
Chattanooga
Replies
Jet,
The upper and lower wheels of a bandsaw should be "coplanar." They should line up with a straight edge across both rims in terms of no angle between the two wheels and both exactly in line vertically.
That is always the "standard advice" given about aligning a bandsaw. While I don't want to discourage you from doing that (your saw needs alignment), I think that standard advice may be a bit over-emphasized. The real test is the way the saw cuts.
It is possible for a particular saw to be a little out of alignment and cut perfectly well. The single most important factor is for the blade to be riding exactly on the crown of the upper wheel (with the upper blade adjustment) so that the front to back dimension of the blade is cutting exactly parallel with the saw's miter slot and the fence once it is adjusted to the miter slot.
That and blade tension are the vital factors. Most blades get tensioned much too high, because there is a prevailing false belief that higher is better. In fact, lower is better. The lowest tension that gives excellent results (and low tensions work very, very well for most, if not all blades, despite both general "wisdom" and recommmendation of both the machine and blade manufacturers) is the setting to use.
If the upper blade is correctly adjusted, there will be no "drift" and the blade will cut true. I think you do need to true up the alignemnt of your wheels, but don't go to great efforts if the saw is actually cutting well.
Rich
Edited 11/13/2006 1:18 pm ET by Rich14
Rich: Dead on. The saw cuts great with the much stiffer Starrett blade. I had been using thin kerf blades with (apparently) too much flex.
I still intend to try to bring the lower wheel into vertical but not with as much urgency.
Thanks.
JET of Tn
M 42 is high speed steel and I believe P.B. is "Power Band Matrix II" though the Power Band Matrix II blades I have are marked with the full name. This may not be the case because those I use are for metal cutting and I'm going by memory rather than checking things.
Well, I suspected I had a metal cutting blade. Boy, will it slice the oak. Any downside to using the metal blade on a wood bandsaw? The blade was more than I expected to pay but, so what. The results were fantastic.
Starrett make a woodpecker blade; any good?
JET
JET,I spent some time looking this up. What you have is a Powerband M-42 blade for metal. The down side of this is that the rake angle isn't as aggressive as it could be and the gullet size is smaller than a blade made for wood. The smaller gullet size and rake angle can slow the cutting action.Matrix II is a variation of the Powerband blades and I couldn't figure out what the difference is from the information I have available. Yours is just the Powerband. M-42 is 8% cobalt HSS which improves heat resistance and is more durable than regular HSS steel.I use the blades I do because they last five or six times as long as regular metal cutting band saw blades. They do cost a little more than twice as much but they're a good investment.Just because your blade is a metal blade doesn't mean you can cut through nails and such. In metal you want to have three teeth in the metal at all times so your blade is intended for metal that's an inch thick or more. I wish I could get this one bit of information through to one of the people I work with because, rather than change blades, he'll just peel a few teeth out of the blade on the saw. Those teeth are like dominos, knock out one and they all go in a hurry.
Thanks for the info on the Starrett blade. The blade is the best cutting blade I've ever had on the bandsaw. I'm going to continue to use it. The finish, I noticed last night, is causing some dust to adhere to the blade but that does not seem to be a big problem. The resawn boards are as true as can be. Thanks for the help.
JET
The upper wheel tips back and forth when you adjust the tracking, so placing a straight edge across the upper wheel and then reaching down with it to the lower wheel won't give you an accurate measurement. If you change the tracking setting, the tip of the straightedge will move quite a bit in and out from the lower wheel.
The proper way to measure is to place the straightedge across the rim of the bottom wheel and then see if you can get it to touch both sides of the upper wheel when you adjust the tracking control on the upper wheel. If you can't get contact on all four contact points on both wheels, no matter how you adjust the upper wheel's tracking, then there is some misalignment.
Unless the misalignment is extreme, out by more than 1/4" to 3/8" on your size of saw, it rarely affects cutting ability.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
John: Thanks for the reply. I'm good on three points and the fourth (on the top of the bottom wheel) is about 1/8. When I have time, I still think I'll pull it back into dead vertical with the top wheel.
JET
John, on a similar note, in your experience have you ever seen a BS where the blade move back and forth in the kerf slightly? (not laterally, but front to back)
What would cause that? I can't seem to figure that out on my saw. Using a dial indicator on the back of the blade (where it would contact the thrust bearing) the runout is .023. Lateral and radial runout of the wheels themselves are anywhere from .003 to ~.005. Are these numbers acceptable in your opinion?
Jake
Jake, The blade movement toward and away from the thrust bearing is caused by slight distortion of the upper wheel. This is common on "low-end" saws. It's annoying, but usually, small amounts does not affect the cutting quality at all. Rich
This front to back movement of the blade can be caused by a misaligned blade weld. Check for this by placing a straight edge along the back of the blade with the weld centered in the middle of the reference edge or by using a large flat surface as a reference.
Good point.
Same happened to me with one Timberwolf blade. Exchanged/Replaced it with same size and no forward-backward movement. Always used that brand on my low end saw and saw no to and fro.
RoyH
I have this problem with any blade I have mounted. The size of the blade seems to affect it w/ larger blades exacerbating it.
Jake
Possibly the wheel bearings are shot.This would allow excessive play that shows up more with larger blades .I imagine that the bearings on your saw are sealed ball or needle bearings. If by chance the bearings have a grease fitting, pump in the heaviest grease you can. This can be a temporary fix, or if the saw is used occasionally will last quite a while.
mike
Open the top wheel cover, turn the wheel til you can see the weld. Most probably the splice is not correct. It may not be in a straight line when welded.This will make the blade appear to occilate. You can spin the wheel by hand and see it easily.
Replace the blade, or break the blade at the splice ,and reweld or braze with silver solder.
mike
Shimming mis-aligned wheels..... Amen!
Checking for mis-aligned welds... Amen!
Something else that is not as obvious as a mis-aligned weld is saw-dust or pitch build-up on the tire will cause to-and-fro. Clean the tires with mineral spirits and a medium stiff brush. Then wipe it clean and dry it with a shop rag.
Might add that a weld that has not been properly ground and has excessive flashing after welding will get you a ticking sound. You can see the flash, you can feel it by running your finger over the weld (not the teeth). Not a bad idea to check for it as soon as you take the blade out of the package before you mount it on the saw!
Regards...
SARGE..
Use metal shims Ol' Buddy
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