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Posts: 4266
| I bought a 10" Jet when I bought my last saw so I could do some resawing with it. I was using a 3/8-6tpi blade and it was bogging down when cutting Redwood, I hate to see what will happen when I cut Mahogany. What do you guys reccomend for resawing?
Also, watch this thread because I have quite a few brand new Morse blades that I'm pretty sure are 49 1/2", I have to check, I'm going to be getting rid of them.
Beav |
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Posts: 1529
| mahogany cuts cleaner and better then rewoods or cedars.
beaver ..is everything on the saw aligned?.
my delta 20 yrs old cuts fine with a little patience |
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Posts: 4266
| Yes, I learned from the last one that tuning is a premium for good cutting. This one changes blades easier than my other one, and it has upper and lower bearings in sets of three. Two alignment bearings and one thrust bearing. It sure is nice not having the blade push back. But the blade is centered and aligned, checked it with a level, but it erases for #*#*. I can cut blanks much easier, but reassign is a both. I'm thinking of getting a bigger blade, but I bought the blade that I bought was made for reassign. I'll have o investigate some more. I ordered Clean Mahogany from a guy that's 2x2x12 and he says it'30 years old stuff his father sold to instrument makers. if it's nice I'll get more, but I want to cut it into usable widths without using that freaking table saw. i barely hear my band saw when its running. What size blades do yours take? I have about ten 49 1/2" still in the boxes. You are welcome to them.
Thanks,
Beav
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Posts: 4266
| I just talked to a friend who is a cabinet maker, and he told me to go to 3or4 tpi for better results. He said even at 6tpi in 2" lumber is 12 teeth trying to cut at the same time, and that's too many for resawing. For cutting 3/4 " blanks, 14tpi is ok, but for making 2" cuts for 12-20", the fewer teeth the better. I'll give it a shot, it can't hurt.
I don't know what the heck 'erases' was supposed to be in the previous post. I hate that auto spell crap....reassign is resaw, God only knows what else it wrote for me.
Edited by Beaver 4/6/2013 10:50 AM
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Posts: 1529
| my blades are 741/2.. getting blades made from god material helps other then generic amercian vermont. |
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Posts: 4266
| That was my next question.....is it worth the extra cost to have blades made instead of buying "off the shelf blades"? I'm a firm believer in top of the line cutlery lasting longer and performing better, why not the same for bandsaw blades? Though I think cutting 3/4" soft wood lure bodies isn't as critical as resawing hard or medium hard species. Since I won't be doing a ton of cutting, I believe that I should opt for the best blades that I can buy without going overboard.
Thanks again Woodie.
Beav |
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Posts: 235
| Hey Beaver, in my opinion I think you need to go to a skip tooth blade if you can get one. I'm sure you can go online and find somewhere that will make BSaw blades to your length. I do all my ripping on my tablesaw other than to cut out a certain pattern. I have an 80: Craftsman that si about 40+ years old and going strong. I used to resharpen my own Bsaw blades as I did saw and tool sharpening before I retired. Where do you live?? Why don't you email me and I'll see what I can do to help you out. Maybe a wider blade or maybe just setting the teeth abit more might work. Anyways let me know if I can be of any help. Ken |
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Posts: 4266
| Here we go......I bought 3/8 and1/2" blades made for resawing. 3 tpi. I went out to the garage and tried to make 1" Mahogany into 3/4" Mahogany using the 1/2" blade. It ground to a halt within ten seconds. So I tried to cut 2x2 Red Cedar into a 3/4" slab, no luck, it ground to a halt again. I tried cutting tight grained Redwood2" thick with the grain and it labored the entire time.
So I started going cerebral on it. I gave the saw it's own extension cord, a dedicated line so to say. Then I loosened the motor bolt and pulled it as tight as I could, and I gained a good 3/4 to 1" of movement........which should have been in the directions......"the drive belt is not tight." I thought that I had the cure. I put in the 3/8" blade and could rip Redwood, and even cut it into 3/4" slabs, same for Red Cedar. I picked up a piece of 1"x 1" Mahogany and tried to cut it down to 3/4". No go! I even took a piece of 3/4 Mahogany and tried to cut out a pattern that I had traced on with a 1/8x14tpi blade, and it labored to a stop. I'm really pist. I have the blades set and aligned correctly and paid for the best blades that I could find, and right now I miss my $99 saw. I have a box of 2x2x24. clean Mahogany coming tomorrow. I'll have to use the table saw to cut it to usable size, but if I can't even cut out patterns with this top of the line band saw, it'll be on Craigslist. You get what you pay for my Dupa! |
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Posts: 235
| Hey Beaver, not sure but it sounds to me like a lack of power. What size motor do you have on that Band Saw?? |
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| Sounds like your tension is not adjusted properly. |
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Posts: 4266
| I think it's one hp but might be more, I'll check tomorrow. That's why I tightened the belt, and I got more RPMs right away. That's why I gave it its own cord, I thought it couldn't get full power. I' going to tighten the hell out of that belt tomorrow.
Too loose or too tight? I can barely wiggle it, and have a bearing guide on each side and one right behind the blade and it's centered. I have it tightened as far as it can be, there's even a gauge on the inside, and it's right where it should be according to their gauge.
I'm going to give customer service a shot tomorrow.
Thanks,
Beav |
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Posts: 4266
| I was wrong, it's only 1/2 HP. That doesn't seem like enough to me, but even my $99 pos could cut Mahogany 1" thick with no problem. I'll give it another try and then put it on Craigslist and then go shopping for something that can cut hardwoods. Hell, I can't even cut 1" Maple with this thing. But it was the highest rated band saw in Consumer Reports and in Woodworker magazine. "More than enough saw for any woodshop." I'm starting to have my doubts. |
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Posts: 235
| Hey Beav, you really got my curiousity going. As far as tension goes you don't need that much tension if you have the correct belt. Maybe your belt is too narrow. There is no way you should bog down and loose momentum. I am assuming that your belt is slipping because its too narrow. If thats what it is it won't be costly to fix your problem. Where do you live or don't you care to let that out??" If you do you can always email me and I'd be glad to help in any way I can if I can. Good Luck. Ken |
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Posts: 4266
| I had a little better luck today, but I was cutting out bodies from 3/4" redwood so I didn't expect too many problems. The bent is wide, but I checked it out today and there was still quite a bit of play in it so I moved the motor as much as I could by myself, then remembered a little trick I saw a guy do at work once so I put a piece of wood on the table below the motor and used the biggest screwdriver I had for a lever and tightened it as tight as I'm going to get it. That seemed to give me some more RPMs.
Then I started checking every bolt and screw on the thing and tightened every one. I found that the lower set of bearings were unstable, so I took them out and tightened the frame that they sit in and then realigned them. It cut better, so I hope that I solved the problem. I'll find out when I start cutting Mahogany tomorrow.
I did find a few things that bugged me, the worst is the table is uneven where they cut the groove for the blade, now every time that I try to cut blanks they hit that ridge and stick. I'm going to clamp down a thin piece of wood over the table when I cut blanks. OR I'll beat the lower end with a mallet and try to even it out so it's flat.
If I need he, I'll get in touch with you. |
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| Beaver, I have the same problem with the table by the blade. Thanks for the idea. I'm going to put a thin piece of material over the table too. Blanks should cut easier with a smooth surface. |
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Posts: 4266
| It wouldn't take much to cut a piece of 1/8" anything the same as the table top and clamp it on. I have a cutting board made out of something white and slippery that I don't use any more, I think that I'll use that. |
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