broke my bandsaw...

Art Mulder

Member
Messages
3,383
Location
London, Ontario
Just venting...

Tried to change the blade on my 14" bandsaw tonight. However the tension adjusting wheel would not turn very easily.
I kept working and working at it, and soon had the wheel off in my hands!! Part of the tension adjusting shaft had just sheered off inside the handle!
I was stymied... I'm left with a smooth shaft.

I resorted to the old faithful of rough tools. Yes: vice grips.

Even then the thing was just not turning. I finally was able to get the blade off, so that left the wheel and tension thing loose, but the shaft was still stuck. I sprayed in some WD-40 and left it to soak. Eventually I dismounted the upper wheel. This left me enough room that I could lift the upper wheel sliding bracket enough that the nut holding the tension adjusting rod and tension spring dropped out the bottom so I could get an actual wrench on the nut and get it off. Still was fighting me for a few turns before it finally let go and spun off.

The shaft is ruined -- some of the threads stripped out (green arrow). The problem seemed to be that the top part of the shaft was just totally gummed up which prevented it from turning freely (that is indicated with the red arrow, though it's since been wiped off).
IMG_3348.jpg

Fortunately we've got a pretty good Bandsaw vendor here in Ontario that stocks replacement parts (R+D Bandsaws, == www.tufftooth.com)

I'm not sure what I could have done to prevent this. This part of the shaft is totally contained inside the upper wheel bracket, as well as the tension spring. Tiny bits of sawdust had gotten in there to gum up the threads, but there is not really any easy way for me to get in there to clean it out. Of course, I should have been releasing the tension more often, then maybe it would have kept it clearer. (I admit, I almost never release the tension on the saw.)

IMG_3347.jpg
IMG_3349.jpg
 
Sorry that happened, Art. You are lucky to have parts available locally for a quick fix. Now you know the mean time between failure...how many years did you get out of that part??:D
 
e replacement parts, or something like that will have your parts if you cant get them from the local guy.
I replaced a gear that cracked in my mustard band saw and it ran better than the original part. all for 3.00
good luck on the fix, if you were closer, Id let you borrow mine I wont be using it for a few months.
 
Great Minds, Rob...
I ordered the replacement rod/handle AND new spring from R+D Bandsaws this morning. While I was at it I also ordered a 3/4" resaw blade for my bigger BS, since their summer sale price is nearly half off...
 
Art just a word of caution i have had blades from R&D that were not cut to the correct length. Was not impressed never mind the quality of joint so do look it over before you use it.

I am going to order a bunch from Vaughns reference vendor (Ellis) and ship to my Niagara adress you close enough to border that u could do the same thing in Sarnia there must be a similar warehouse setup in Port Huron. In the case of bandsaw blades I feel if they priced better one would change them more often and have better results.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
I wonder if you got a bum blade, Rob. R+D has been in business for ages. I've been visiting them at the local woodshows for the past fourteen years. The owner usually gives tune-up talks and demos also, doing a good job of educating people. I don't buy a lot of stuff from them, but have not had any issues myself. The blade I ordered is a "Woodslicer", which is well known in the US (I think?) but new here in Canada. And yeah, I now sound like a shill for R+D! :doh:
 
... and fixed it:

Here is the blade tension speed crank kit that I bought, along with a new high-tension spring.
DSC00629.jpg

They very nicely included three different kinds of nuts. the one on the left is the one that fit my saw best.
DSC00632.jpg

Slipped the new spring into place, dropped the crank in from the top, and spun the new nut on from below.
DSC00634.jpg

Then it was a simple matter to re-attach the top wheel
DSC00636.jpg

Annnnnd then I spent a good fifteen-thirty minutes wrestling with getting the new blade installed -- making sure the wheels were co-planer, moving the guides into position, and bending the upper cover just a bit. None of which I have on film, sorry! That last comment needs some explanation. I find that the one annoyance of my tiawanese-import fourteen-inch bandsaw clone is that the upper cover (shown in the previous cover) is positioned just a bit too close to the wheel. When I crank up the tension it can touch. And no, I'm not overdoing the tension! I just used some channel-lock pliers to bend up the top of the cover a bit. The front cover fits over it with no worries. Just kind of annoying. I've thought about buying my blades 1" shorter, but I'd rather stick with the standard-length blades.

First test cut, works great, so we're back in business here.
DSC00640.jpg

But while I was in tune-up mode I also put the new 3/4" woodslicer blade (which I'd ordered along with the repair kit, as it was on sale) on my big saw. wooo-hooo, does that make a nice cut!
DSC00643.jpg
 
From that fifth picture I'd say you have some blade drift issues, Art. :D

Rob, I'm sure R&D would replace or reweld any blades that were the wrong size. I've noticed that LV sells some 72" pre-welded blades. The spec for my saw is 71 3/4", but an extra ¼" should not be a problem, right? I think I can handle another 1/8" on each side.
 
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