Bandsaw blade stuck, tripped breaker

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:48 pm

I was rounding a bowl blank on the bandsaw, and the 1/2" blade got stuck in the wood. A couple of seconds later, the breaker tripped. I got the blade out of the wood, and the Shopsmith (model 520, if it matters) still seems to be running OK. No obvious damage that I can see (no broken power coupler, no shredded belts, no damage to the bandsaw tires).

Anyway, the question is, what exactly happened in those couple of seconds? Did the belt just slip on the sheaves? Did the blade slip on the bandsaw tires?
Should I check for any less obvious damage?

Thanks for the advice,

Gary

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:44 pm

greitz wrote:I was rounding a bowl blank on the bandsaw, and the 1/2" blade got stuck in the wood. A couple of seconds later, the breaker tripped. I got the blade out of the wood, and the Shopsmith (model 520, if it matters) still seems to be running OK. No obvious damage that I can see (no broken power coupler, no shredded belts, no damage to the bandsaw tires).

Anyway, the question is, what exactly happened in those couple of seconds? Did the belt just slip on the sheaves? Did the blade slip on the bandsaw tires?
Should I check for any less obvious damage?

Thanks for the advice,

Gary

I would conclude that hardly anything 'slipped'. That allowed the stuck blade to stall out the motor. Stalled motors(or those not running 'normal speed') draw excessive currents... I think you have checked pretty much everything that could have been 'damaged'(except the motor, but a couple of seconds is not likely to cause that).

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:20 am

Thanks, JPG, I feel better now. I was probably just feeding the bowl blank too fast. Might not have happened if I had a PowerPro. I assume that if the PowerPro slows the blade speed to generate more torque when necessary in tablesaw mode, it would do the same with the bandsaw, correct?

Gary

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:29 am

greitz wrote:Thanks, JPG, I feel better now. I was probably just feeding the bowl blank too fast. Might not have happened if I had a PowerPro. I assume that if the PowerPro slows the blade speed to generate more torque when necessary in tablesaw mode, it would do the same with the bandsaw, correct?

Gary

Up to a point. The power pro will not like a bound blade either.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:48 pm

greitz wrote:... Might not have happened if I had a PowerPro. I assume that if the PowerPro slows the blade speed to generate more torque when necessary in tablesaw mode, it would do the same with the bandsaw, correct?

Gary

No, Not correct! The PowerPro just keeps running at the RPM that was set - until it gets jammed and stops. Yes, I jammed and stopped the bandsaw just like you did. The difference is - no circuit blown, just a message on the PP window saying "SRM Not Rotate". Just had to turn off the headstock and turn it back on. Then I changed blades and threw away the dull one.

I was re-sawing 5 1/2 inch poplar. Did I say I dislike the 5/8" skip tooth blade from Shopsmith. A 1/2", 4 hooked TPI works much better for this re-sawing.

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:19 pm

charlese wrote:No, Not correct! The PowerPro just keeps running at the RPM that was set - until it gets jammed and stops. Yes, I jammed and stopped the bandsaw just like you did. The difference is - no circuit blown, just a message on the PP window saying "SRM Not Rotate". Just had to turn off the headstock and turn it back on. Then I changed blades and threw away the dull one.

I was re-sawing 5 1/2 inch poplar. Did I say I dislike the 5/8" skip tooth blade from Shopsmith. A 1/2", 4 hooked TPI works much better for this re-sawing.

Chuck is absolutely correct. I experienced a similar experience with my power pro ripping maple. Fjimp