So, this week I am off and I have been working on several tools that I have purchased in the not-so-distant past and now and finally getting the time to getting them ready to use. I changed the knives on my jointer and it is now functioning correctly. Very happy about that, and then on to the bandsaw. I changed the tires the bearings adjusted the blocks and change the blade I can now we saw it about 1/16 of an inch. Without upgrading to roller guides is this good? Would roller guides in prove it? This is an open stand Delta 14 in from the mid-nineties I believe. Also I'm including a picture of the packing so you can see the blade I am using. If you can't see the picture it's a 1/4 x 6 TPI.
"Life is too short for bad tools.".-- Pedder 7/22/11
Would the roller guides make much difference? They are kinda pricey. Also, I gave no thought to the TPI . I just watched a FWW video that says never use more then 3 TPI. Oops.
The "fence" I used is a 1x3 jointed and clamped.
I still have a little work to do on the saw. I want to add a paddle switch and a bigger dust port for my DC....and a light. Not big issues just something else to do.
Pretty happy to have my tools that I have been looking at forever to now be ready to use when I walk in the garage...except for hooking up the one single hose for the DC. One day I may do some piping.
"Life is too short for bad tools.".-- Pedder 7/22/11
Admiral...I will look to change blades. Funny..it took me forever to get it running so who knows how long that will take..I don't move too fast as time is elusive here at this house.
The resaw cut was my first cut...second attempt. Who knows why I started with that. Just curious I guess. I have had bandsaws before but never took the time to try and do a real setup. I tried with this one.
"Life is too short for bad tools.".-- Pedder 7/22/11
(07-18-2018, 04:58 PM)Scott W Wrote: Would the roller guides make much difference? They are kinda pricey. Also, I gave no thought to the TPI . I just watched a FWW video that says never use more then 3 TPI. Oops.
(07-18-2018, 05:26 PM)Scott W Wrote: The resaw cut was my first cut...second attempt.
Not bad for first attempts at resawing, some of the roughness is due to hesitation marks from lacking smoothness in the feed. You can get better handfeeding but the only way to get rid of them is with a feeder but that is a different class of saw. With practice and the proper setup cutting thinner than 1/32" is no problem with variations in thickness measured in a few thou.
Despite the marketing roller guides are not an upgrade to solid black guides, in fact, in most cases, they are objectively poorer at blade support. I am a fan of the Space Age Guides ceramic block replacements for the 14" cast saws like the Delta. They can be run just kissing the blade and provide excellent support as well as preventing pitch buildup on the blade backer, though not a huge issue with dry wood. You often hear about the miracles performed by new roller guides, most of it is a mix of confirmation bias and the fact that switching guides forces the user to do a full tuneup on the saw.
The best resawing blade for the 14" cast saws is an impulse hardened spring steel blade (they were actually "borrowed" from the meat cutting industry). The same blade stock is available from Highland Woodworking (Woodslicer), Iturra Designs (Blade Runner) and Spectrum Supply (Kerf Master). I listed them in descending order of price, Highland charges by far the most but they brought the blade to woodworking and are most often associated with them. They have a thin backer (so easy to tension) have a narrow kerf/little to no set (requires less horsepower and provides a smoother finish), have variable spaced teeth to reduce harmonics and are very sharp. They can be sharper than the average carbon blade since the teeth are softer. This does mean they dull quicker than a carbon blade but unless you do a lot of resawing they will still last a decent amount of time. I do not recommend bi-metal or carbide tipped blades for these saws due to their tensioning requirements and they have thicker kerfs needing more HP per inch of cut.
For me a simple and inexpensive setup for these saws is a set of ceramic blocks and a set of phenolic blocks (cool blocks) for blades more narrow then 1/4" (you can switch between them quickly). The other option for narrow blades is a Carter Stabilizer. Then a 1/2" Kerfmaster for resawing and a 1/4" 6tpi blade for contour cutting along with a 3/16 or 1/8" blade for very tight curves. That will cover 95%+ of what you can and will do on one of these saws.
(07-18-2018, 04:19 PM)Scott W Wrote: So, this week I am off and I have been working on several tools that I have purchased in the not-so-distant past and now and finally getting the time to getting them ready to use. I changed the knives on my jointer and it is now functioning correctly. Very happy about that, and then on to the bandsaw. I changed the tires the bearings adjusted the blocks and change the blade I can now we saw it about 1/16 of an inch. Without upgrading to roller guides is this good? Would roller guides in prove it? This is an open stand Delta 14 in from the mid-nineties I believe. Also I'm including a picture of the packing so you can see the blade I am using. If you can't see the picture it's a 1/4 x 6 TPI.
Install 1-1/2 or 3 TPI blade instead of the 6 TPI blade 1/2" wide. I use cool blocks or even hardwood dowels . Hardwood dowels or blocks come in handy when sawing with narrow blades. The wood can touch the blade without any damage to the teeth. I sometimes saw with 3/16" blades for sharp turns and the hardwood dowels are used instead of cool blocks.
I have used roller bearings on other saws, they work fine. My saw came with cool blocks , so I'll stick with them.
I use a MDF high fence clamped to the original fence. The fence must be aligned to the blade so their is no lead. Others use a single point fence instead.
My saw table can be adjusted to be parallel to the blade with little difficulty. Then the fence is adjusted to the miter slot.
I used to re saw often and used a vertical power feeder for large volume sawing.
You will find the coarser blades have two advantages. First sawing goes faster and easier. Second these blades can be re- sharpened easily with very little experience.
I'll save that info til later if anyone is interested.
mike
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