Bill Lantry
Member
- Messages
- 2,663
- Location
- Inside the Beltway
Hey, folks,
There are those who don't believe me when I say I'm the world's biggest doofus. For those few remaining doubters, I offer the following incident as definitive proof!
So there I am, on a fine saturday morning. I've got big plans for the day of woodworking, but first I need to straighten up the shop. One of the big impediments is numerous large chunks of wood on the floor. Ok, have to process them sometime for the lathe, might as well do them all and get it over with.
So I get a few done, but it's a little slow. So I tell myself ok, try the 3/4" blade. That way I can slice the corners off, turn them all into octagons, and then go back to the smaller blade for final rounding. How long can it take to change the blade? Five, ten minutes?
I change the blade to a 3/4" timberwolf, just to see. Well, what I found is that 14" bandsaws just aren't designed to properly tension a 3/4" blade of that type, even if they *are* named 'Ultimate'. It wasn't cutting straight, so I made it a little tighter. It got better, better... just another turn... and then snap!
At first I thought I'd broken the blade. When the dust settled, I discovered two things had happened at once: first, I'd twisted the knob off the tensioning bolt. Broke off right in my hand. Well, both hands... I was turning it pretty hard. Second, there are two steel bars that hold the tensioning mechanism in place... those both bent completely, and need replacement.
Best of all, I actually rethreaded the nut that holds the long tensioning bolt to the mechanism. Had to put it in the vise to even get it part way off... far enough to get a hacksaw onto the bolt. Of course, to get it that far apart I had to take the upper wheel off, and the upper wheel guard, which also meant both front and rear blade guards, which also meant...
Long story short, I've got a bandsaw that looks like it's been guillotined, with a bunch of parts to order, and a bunch of other parts lying about, and a shop still littered with potential blanks, and some cabinets still unmade, and Doorlink saying "I can't believe you're that strong!" and talking about getting at least one more, and maybe two more, husbands...
So, Now do you believe me? Sheesh!
Thanks,
Bill
There are those who don't believe me when I say I'm the world's biggest doofus. For those few remaining doubters, I offer the following incident as definitive proof!
So there I am, on a fine saturday morning. I've got big plans for the day of woodworking, but first I need to straighten up the shop. One of the big impediments is numerous large chunks of wood on the floor. Ok, have to process them sometime for the lathe, might as well do them all and get it over with.
So I get a few done, but it's a little slow. So I tell myself ok, try the 3/4" blade. That way I can slice the corners off, turn them all into octagons, and then go back to the smaller blade for final rounding. How long can it take to change the blade? Five, ten minutes?
I change the blade to a 3/4" timberwolf, just to see. Well, what I found is that 14" bandsaws just aren't designed to properly tension a 3/4" blade of that type, even if they *are* named 'Ultimate'. It wasn't cutting straight, so I made it a little tighter. It got better, better... just another turn... and then snap!
At first I thought I'd broken the blade. When the dust settled, I discovered two things had happened at once: first, I'd twisted the knob off the tensioning bolt. Broke off right in my hand. Well, both hands... I was turning it pretty hard. Second, there are two steel bars that hold the tensioning mechanism in place... those both bent completely, and need replacement.
Best of all, I actually rethreaded the nut that holds the long tensioning bolt to the mechanism. Had to put it in the vise to even get it part way off... far enough to get a hacksaw onto the bolt. Of course, to get it that far apart I had to take the upper wheel off, and the upper wheel guard, which also meant both front and rear blade guards, which also meant...
Long story short, I've got a bandsaw that looks like it's been guillotined, with a bunch of parts to order, and a bunch of other parts lying about, and a shop still littered with potential blanks, and some cabinets still unmade, and Doorlink saying "I can't believe you're that strong!" and talking about getting at least one more, and maybe two more, husbands...
So, Now do you believe me? Sheesh!
Thanks,
Bill
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