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4 x 6 bandsaw`

There are a lot of little things on a new 4x6 bandsaw that should be addressed, sorta in the way folks refer to small Chinese lathes as being kits that require certain finishing procedures before they're really a lathe (not ready-to-use out of the box).

I generally take most things apart anyway, to get an idea of what I'm going to have to deal with, inspecting, deburring and cleaning/oiling as I go.

I had my 4x6 torn down for maybe over a week before I actually started using it. I replaced cheesy hardware and made changes to various items before assembling it for a test run (same with the new 9x20 lathe I'd purchased earlier).

Without exception, I'm suspicious of wiring from China, and check or replace numerous pieces related to 120VAC.

One particular point worth checking is that the blade wheels are on the same plane. I shimmed and adjusted as needed, so the blade would track properly (while powered by hand, with a tap handle on the worm shaft), before I powered the saw for a test.

My confidence is fairly low for Chinese machine motors, and I had a used Datyon (flea mkt/garage sale $5) that had been cleaned and checked, so I installed that after an initial test run with the original motor.

I replaced the original wiring and some of the original parts, and added some additional hardware to help keep things aligned. In the end, the saw would make a 5" vertical cut straight down, with only about a blade width out-of-square.

I dunno what's going on with my web hosting, but a link to a 4x6 bandsaw page (without pics) is available thru the Wayback machine..

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Reply to
Wild_Bill
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Today, I put on a Irwin bimetal blade. Well I did after I filed out the casting slot that the upper band wheel tensioning system uses. Prior to that, I couldn't get center to center of the band wheels close enough to put the blade on. Btw, that Irwin blade is wickedly sharp.

Wes

Reply to
Wes

Praise be! I thought I was an idiot. Don't answer that...

Reply to
Michael Koblic

Heck, I thought tightening until it walked and backing off a bit was the tension indicating system. Seems to work for me so far ;)

Wes

Reply to
Wes

Hence my characterization of it as a superstition.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

I use a Starrett 6 tpi blade for solid aluminum stock, Enco item 990-0248. Fewer teeth means higher pressure per tooth, which helps on this small size saw.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

casting slot that

Make sure you season the new blade by cutting something soft like aluminum or even 1018 steel at a slow feed rate. The mfgrs. of the blades recommend running at lest 75 feet of blade slowly through a soft material to take the excess sharpness off the blade. This will help make the blade last longer.

John

Reply to
John

casting slot that

It seemed to want to overfeed based on the spring tension I had set. I did the old hold the saw head by hand to slowly go though the first piece of stock I cut. I'll keep you advice in mind on the first few cuts.

Wes

Reply to
Wes

It's highly unlikely that keeping the tension on the blade will deform the saw frame enough to matter in our lifetimes. All the references I could find for the creep rate of gray cast iron did not bother listing data for temps below about 700F.

Reply to
Ned Simmons

Overtightening is a much more likely cuplrit than leaving the blade tightened between uses.

I've got to assume this is an old wives tale. Consider what would happen to bolted connections if steel stressed to a significant fraction of its yield strength at normal temperatures relaxed over time.

Reply to
Ned Simmons

In article , wrote: : : I am slightly puzzled by the oft repeated recommendation to :release blade tension between work sessions. : : I cannot see the harm in keeping a strip of steel :permanently tensioned to within a large fraction of its elastic :limit - after all this is exactly what they do when they tension :the steel wires in reinforced concrete girders. : : Looking at it another way - repeatedly taking steel strip :between low stress and high stress is a fine way to induce :fatigue cracks. : : With this in mind I keep my 4x6 blade permanently tensioned.

There's one potential "Gotcha!" with that. The blade heats up during use. The frame, not so much. If you tighten a blade that's been working hard, it's going to be overtensioned when it cools unless you relax the tension first.

Reply to
Robert Nichols

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