Trouble with the Ryobi 9" BS

[Popeye]

Anybody that has the 9" Ryobi BS having trouble tensioning the blades? A friend of mine has one and I can tension the stock blade but when I put a new Ridgid blade on it I completely compress the spring and still don't have the proper tension on it. This is with both a 1/8" and 1/4" blade. And yes, they are the length blade called out for the saw, 59 1/2"
Scratching my head in South Georgia Pat

[Knottscott]

I had a BS900 for a few years....I seem to recall the stock blade being 59-1/4", but a 59-1/2" should certainly work. I put a Vermont American 59-1/2" on it with no issues tensioning it, but never tried a Ridgid blade that I recall. Are the tires worn?

[Popeye]

Are the tires worn?

Pretty close to new. Pat

[ragswl4]

Maybe dumb question on my part, but is the Rigid 59 1/2" blade really 59 1/2"? Maybe a defect.

[bthere]

I have one of the Ryobi 9" bandsaws that I use as a portable. In addtion to the stock blade, I have used 59 !/2" blades from Delta, Morse, and some other brand I can't remember. I haven't had any trouble getting tension on them. My only guess would be that the Ridgid blade you got is oversize.

[grandy]

trouble with ryobi 9"

Pat, you are a wonderful friend. With the little ones here I couldn't get a turn on the computer. From what these folks say, it may just be the brand of blade I have. I never thought to check the measurment to see if it was correct.It's so true, the more imput the sooner the solution.
Thanks everyone that's helped.
Sandy

[grandy]

trouble with ryobi 9"

The ryobi is only 6-8 months old. My first. It was fine until I decided I wanted to put a smaller blade on. I tried the 1/8", thought it would be better for bandsaw boxes. If you imagine cars going clockwise on a track, bed being start/finish, #1 turn fine, #2 turn a little wide,trying to recover on back straight, #3 turn to close to inside and almost off the track, #4 turn barely hanging on the track.
Description probably makes no sense at all. Did you guess I'm blond.
Thanks again, Sandy in GA.

[leehljp]

I have the 9 in BS back in the States. I used it all last year there and last month when I was there. I couldn't do anything with it more than just rough cut pieces, mostly pen blanks.

Last month I got fed up with blade wandering even at full tension (which I didn't think was enough) and decided to spend some extra time adjusting the guides to the point of being overly persnickety. The work finally paid off and the little BS did some fair cutting.

I still think that it needed more tensioning but the spring was at its limits.