bandsaw tension

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 6:25 pm

Two things: 1) after last BS cut, loosen the post and drop it all the way down to the table, & backoff the blade tension (ex.: 6 turns for the 5/8 blade); 2) remove Power Coupler.
Well, really three things: 3) take piece of painter's masking tape with "Backed Off 6 Turns" written in bold marker on it from where it was stuck up-side down to the BS cover over to the side, and stick it right-side-up to the aluminum blade cover at the bottom of the post- sitting all the way down- where it will be impossible to adjust the post without moving the tape.
The painter's tape is terrific. It is very visible, big, cheeeeep, and reliably sticky (I'm guessing good for about 20 stick-unsticks). And you cannot forget to retension.

I wonder-- has anyone NOT taken off the Power Coupler? What must it be like to have a band saw blade DEtensioned, then set the speed to 10,000 for routing and turn the sucker on- with the BS still attached!!
Holy Molie!!

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 7:27 am

A friend with a 500 did a similar thing. He tried to turn the speed up for table sawing with the bandsaw connected ( and I think tensioned as well). The bandsaw threw off the blade and lower wheel tire. The tire instantly wrapped around the axle and stopped everything abruptly. The shock caused his idler shaft to shift sideways jamming the poly v belt into the casing and the drive v belt to be jammed securely down into the variable pulley, Very Exciting for a moment.

He was not familiar with the inner workings, so called me. We opened up, put everything back, snugged up and fortunately, no permanent damage seems to have been done. The tire was glued back on and even the bandsaw is fine. The thrown blade did not cut the cover. Phew!

tonybal · Post by **tonybal** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:21 am

I have owned a used (previously enjoyed) SS bandsaw for several years & only use it occasionally. I have never released the tension on it. It still seems to work fine. What damage am I causing by doing this. P.S. I don't mean to hi-jack this thread. I just thought this could be a little side note.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:42 am

tonybal wrote:I have owned a used (previously enjoyed) SS bandsaw for several years & only use it occasionally. I have never released the tension on it. It still seems to work fine. What damage am I causing by doing this. P.S. I don't mean to hi-jack this thread. I just thought this could be a little side note.

The "theory" states that the upper wheel will begin to tilt inward (at the top) which causes the blade to track incorrectly.

I don't buy it.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:43 am

I release the tension all the time when I'm done with the BS. I doit so I don't get indentations in the tires, and maybe pull the upper wheel alignment out. I also think it relieves the stress on the blade too.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:26 pm

The reason is to release the tension on the upper wheel mount and tension bar(spring). Over extended time(these things do last for multiple-decades) under tension, the metal will gradually deform...