Audible bandsaw tension gauge

Phil Thien

Member
Messages
8
So I took what I learned in that poll of plucked bandsaw blades (the one here and the one at SMC) and I created a web site where I allow the user to take a few measurements of their blade and saw, and determine the optimum frequency of their plucked blade based upon their desired tension.

You can use a $13 chromatic tuner (like this one) to check your bandsaw's blade and see how close you are.

It should be pretty darn accurate. Probably more accurate than any clamp-on gauge.

If you're interested in taking a look, the page is here:

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/tg.htm

Let me know what you think.
 
Cool stuff, Phil. :thumb: I've got some new bandsaw blades on order, and I'll give this a try. Your theory seems sound (no pun intended). There are a number of very experienced guys who tension their bandsaws by sound. They may not know the actual frequency, but they know when it's the right note. ;)
 
i couldn`t tell you an e-sharp from an f-flat but i tension blades by "pluckin" and it works well for me;)
good luck on your project phil, i hope it`ll make folks lifes easier.
 
i couldn`t tell you an e-sharp from an f-flat but i tension blades by "pluckin" and it works well for me;)
good luck on your project phil, i hope it`ll make folks lifes easier.

Tod, I'll bet you a steak dinner that when you "tune" your saw tension you end up within a half step of the same note each time. ;) You don't have to know the names of the notes to be able to duplicate them. :D
 
Musically speaking, an E-Sharp is an F, and an F-flat is an E. :rolleyes:

This is totally a guess, but I suspect he knew that. ;) I was gonna tell him they're exactly the same as B-sharp and C-flat, just higher. Or lower. Depends on which side of Equator you're on, I think. :D
 
i couldn`t tell you an e-sharp from an f-flat but i tension blades by "pluckin" and it works well for me;)
good luck on your project phil, i hope it`ll make folks lifes easier.

Yes but when you pluck the saw what sound do you expect? I clean one I guess but always the same disregarding the sawblade width?

Tensioning my bandsaw is something I still don't know wether I'm doing right or wrong but I'm cutting pretty well so...:dunno:
 
well toni in tods area its dixie, in vaughns well its probally rock,, but in spain it must be the sound of the bulls running threw the streets or the clacking and stompping of the feet in a monarachi dancer( spelt wrong dont have a clue how to get that one right:)
 
and stompping of the feet in a monarachi dancer( :)
Well Larry, I think you mean "flamenco" dancer, honestly if my saw starts to sound like that I would fly away from the shop thinking it is going to explode:rofl::rofl:

I think he was trying to say mariachi, not knowing that they're from Mexico instead of Spain. :p (They also don't have dancers...at least not the way flamenco has dancers.) I think it's the Spanish words that confuse Larry. Well, those, and the English ones. And probably the French ones, too. :rofl:
 
A cool project Phil. It needs a little beta testing for sure for those that want to get their band saw tension juuuust right. But it sure looks like your idea is the way. I set my tension by sound but I use both the gauge and a pluck on the old blade as the final check. In my book it should make a nice plong sound, not a high ping and definitely not a plonk. Cha, cha, cha.
 
A cool project Phil. It needs a little beta testing for sure for those that want to get their band saw tension juuuust right. But it sure looks like your idea is the way. I set my tension by sound but I use both the gauge and a pluck on the old blade as the final check. In my book it should make a nice plong sound, not a high ping and definitely not a plonk. Cha, cha, cha.

I have updated the page so I now have approx. 40 MIDI files which will give you a good indication of what I believe your properly tensioned blade should sound like.

Working through the worksheet, you will be given a freq. that a blade tensioned to the PSI you're shooting for should generate when plucked ON YOUR SAW. You can then listen to a sample file of ten plucks that you can use to compare to your actual results.

This largely negates the need for a chromatic tuner. All you need now is a good digital kitchen scale. And if you don't have one of those, you're eating too many pretzels in one sitting. :D

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/tg.htm
 
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