Bandsaw Blade Length

[ScottGolden]

Hi guys,

I got a question for you about the length of the blade for my band saw.

Here is the background on my problem.

1) I have a 12" Sears band saw. In it's original setup it takes a 80" blade.
2) I added in a 6" riser kit from PTS
3) The kit is not exactly right for this saw. The blade guards are a bit long and the blade to too big.

I have used a string around the wheels to measure the loops at the lowest point and the highest point and I have gotten 90.5 - 92.25.

I am guessing that the blade length should be 91.

Any thoughts would be helpful.

Scott

[SARGE..g-47]

Sounds as if you don't have much choice if you proceed. That leaves you with give or take an inch of spring travel to tension the blade. Have you beefed the spring? I don't want to sound negative, so I won't. Just give that statement some thought and form your own opinion of what problems you will probably encounter..

Regards...

[ScottGolden]

Sarge,

I was looking at the blades from Suffolk Machinery Corp (I think they are timber wolf blades).

The following link talks about needing less tension than 'other' blades.

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/did_you_know.asp

Have you any experiance with these blades?

Scott

[LCHIEN]

It's easy to determine the bandsaw blade length.
Measure the distacen from wheel center to wheel center. THis is D.
Then measure the wheel diameter, d.
The length of the blade should be (2 x D) + (3.14 x d)

Make sure when you measure that the blade tensioning mechanism is close to but not at the minimum tension point - like about 1/4 of the travel of the tension screw.

If you add an exactly 6" riser to a saw that properly takes a 80" blade, then it ought to take a 92" blade, since you added exactly 6 inches on each side (12 inches total) and the circumference around the wheels is the same.

The stretch in the blade is pretty much negligible, I think. A small fraction of an inch.

[SARGE..g-47]

Sorry to be so late to reply Scott. I work mid-afternoon adn don't get home from part time work till around 9 PM. I read post then if time premits and sometimes it doesn't as I usually have some project going.

Yes.. on the Timber-wolf. It is a low tension blade and very well made and sought after by most that don't have a BS that is capable to delivering extremely high tension that is say required on wide carbide blades.

IMO, it's about your only hope as the numbers (90.5"-92") are not on your side. I don't like to be a possible bearer of bad news, but reality is you have too small of a machine with the given known numbers to have much chance of sucess.

Mull this over... The Timber-wolf is an excellent low tension blade. But if you attempt 10" or so re-saw ( I assume that by you adding the riser), it probably is not the blade for that unless you can field at least a 1/2 blade on it. That's probably the maximum for your saw and from my experience I would never run the maximum allowed on any BS. I have a Jet 12" that I would only run 3/8" even though the saw can take a 1/2". I have a Steel City for ripping and re-saw that I run a 3/4" even though it will take up to 1 1/4.

The 12" bandsaw is well.. a 12" BS and will cut curves great! Even re-saw up to a limit with proper 3 tpi blade pushed by that 1/2 HP. Every machine has limits as to what you can do with it even with an experienced operator. You can't take a S-10 Chevy pick-up and expect it to hual a 32 foot travel trailer! Ohhh.. you might get it from end of town to the other but I wouldn't bank on it being a long hauler as it's not built with enough power or stamina to shoulder the heavy loads day after day after day.

Just my opinion... I wish you well and that's a fact!

Regards...

[ScottGolden]

Sarge,

Thanks for the info. Here are the specs on the 12" saw.

Max Blade width - 3/4"
HP: 1HP

The guys at Suffolk Machinery suggested a VPC 91 3/4" blade. The blade is a 2/3 varialbe pitch blade. What that means exactly I am not sure. The blade is supposed to be their latest and greatest.

Most of the work I plan to use it for is 6" planks. Without the riser kit the best I could do was 5" - 5-1/2".

They will be shipping the blade today (Tuesday) and I expect it on Friday. I think there is mail on friday. If not then Monday at the latest.

Knowing myself, I will see how much I can put thru it safely. I will let you know how it turns out.

Scott

[SARGE..g-47]

The 2-3 is TPI (teeth per inch) Scott. The variable pitch is what Highland Woodworking has been using on their thin-kerf Woodslicer for years. It' a hybrid in that a particular designer can use 0* degree rake or positive + rake degree on the teeth. What's unique is the tooth size and spacing can vary on the same blade. The teeth and gullets on a particular blade can vary in size.. but not in shape.

That relates to less vibration which relates to smoother cut. If your going to re-saw on a smaller BS and have under 1 1/2 HP, a thin kerf variable pitch is the way to ride the pony to help alleviate getting bucked off. :>)

Good luck...

[ScottGolden]

Well, I just got my TimberWolf 91 3/4 " 2/3 TPI blade.

Wow does this thing cut!!.

Tentioning the blade was well within the ability of the spring. In fact, the spring did not need to go to the mark that says it should for a normal 3/4" blad.

My quick test was 4" high piece of cherry. This thing cut thru it faster and smoother than the old blades did with 2" high pine.

I am going to play around some more byt plan to place an order for more blades (3x 1/8, 1/4", 1/2") from Suffolk next week. They have a 20% discount when ordering 5 and the guy I spoke to was very knowledgeable.

Thanks for all the advise.

[SARGE..g-47]

Happily Scott, my pre-monition was wrong. Glad this worked out and the saw is humming away keeping a smile on your face! :>)

Regards...