Bandsaw Maintenance

I have one of those 3 wheel bandsaws that Sears used to sell 10 years ago. Any tips on making it last longer? I'm wondering, for instance, if I should periodically grease the wheel axles.

Nice thing is that I can still get parts through www.sears.com. I'm thinking of ways to add a vacuum attachment to it at some point - this will entail cutting a hole in the front cover, so it's not something I'd do without some planning. The blade supports (behind the guides) seem to be plain old ball bearings (I can get those locally if I need to).

By all means you need to grease the axles on your bandsaw. I use wheel bearing cup grease on mine. If you can find them, a set of "cool blocks" are the best investment you can make for your bandsaw. These are zero clearance guides that also lube the blade as it passes through them. Other than that, just adjustments to make sure the blade is running true and that the blade tension is correct, and be sure to clean the rubber tires on the wheels, I use an old tooth brush.

Hi Bill,
Any sources on the "cool blocks"?
I would like to get them for my band saw.
Thanks,
Bill <><

I got the Band Saw Handbook by Mark Duginske, as recommended by Tools. It has a bunch of information on tweezing up your band saw.

Hi Howard,
I have not seen that book, do you know of an online source for it?
Thanks
Bill <><

I got mine at a local Barnes and Nobles. Should be available on-line at B&N or Amazon. List $17.95
ISBN 0-8069-6398-0
Kelvin

>Hi Howard,
>I have not seen that book, do you know of an online source
>for it?
>Thanks
>Bill <><
>
>Just an Old Advanced flyer.

Thanks!
There's a Barnes and Noble 40 miles from here that we visit often.
I will check out Amazon, just slipped my mind.
Thanks again,
Bill <><

Welcome, Bill. More there than you knew there was to know about bandsaws.
Kelvin

One bandsaw tip that I am very thankful for is to slightly round the back of the blade so you won't pull the blade off when you withdraw the stock after making a "stop" cut.

Bill Little, don't know what bandsaw you have but you can check and see if yours is listed at http://woodworker.com just type "cool block" in the search window. I think WoodCrafters also carries them if you have one of their stores in your area or just mail order....

Thanks for the link, Bill!
Bill <><

I just ordered the book (used) from Amazon. Total will be about $17.00 including shipping. Coincidentally, I received a catelog from Rockler today. They offer lots of bandsaw stuff including cool blocks and a blade tuning stone that "rounds out the back of your bandsaw blades, improving their performance." Their online address is www.rockler.com or 1(800)279-4441.

I've been using a sears bansaw (10") for 15 years now and have tried the grease trick and found it to gum up with the sawdust. Then I cleaned real good with MEK and went to graphite powder on the axels and that took care of everything. The graphite I use is the same thing they use in locks for the car and door locks.

I find gaphite to be better as well for a lubricant and another source to buy from is Lee Valley. They have some of the neatest tools one could ever find. I love their catalogues. They also sell via the internet. http://www.leevalley.com

I used to use dry silicone spray in the old cabinet shop, or sometimes you can buy it cheap through industrial suppliers billed as "mold release". Used to really cheese me off when someone would put that over touted semi worthless can-o-crap WD40 on a machined tool top, come in the next morning to a coat of rust! The only decent use I ever found for it was in a pinch, you could get the water/condensation out of your cracked distributor cap long enough to start the dang car...
Eric V.

Mike Lauerman
I'm still waiting for Bacon Grease in an aerosol can. I use it on all ferrous-and-non-ferrous metal work, drilling/tapping, etc.
Lovely young wife Joey just bought me one of the new Sears 9" Bandsaws. The port on the side fits my Shop Vac hose perfectly, no surplus dust at all, and there is a flexible blow-nozzle that keeps the cutting visible. She cut out the bulkheads/ formers for 3 Coondogs, (1/8" ply) and went lookin' fer more! She is seeking a plan for a Q.E.D., 45"-60" W.S. to further 'sharpen her skills'...
Kudos to you, Larry, for the re-intro to MEK. I had forgotten how versatile this old staple was! Will also go to the Graphite Method, and will hurry before Joey cuts every kit still on paper!!!

I believe the 9" two wheel and the 10" three wheel use the same size blades.
I normally use my three wheel Delta 10" but last year I picked up a 12" off-brand three wheel variable speed at a yard sale. Haven't used it much. I only intend to use the variable speed for cutting materials other than wood.
Good luck with your new bandsaw.

Here's a new source I recently ran across. Woodcraftbands.com, apparantly great place. Will be placing an order later this week. Great prices, highly recommended by folks I trust on this sort of stuff.

For a small hobby saw, get the thinnest and narrowest blade that has the teeth configuration you want, your saw will tension it better and a thinner kerf requires tons less power to work efficiently and ultimately your saw will last longer. With say, a 3/16 skip tooth blade you'll be able to cut usable 1/16 sheet out of a balsa plank as wide as your saw will accept, if that's your gig. More useful might be its ability to carve cowls to rough shape, wing tip blocks, that sort of stuff. For thick stuff, you want less teeth per inch, not more.

Not only is the bandsaw book good for bandsaws, but you'll understand how to make scroll saws work better as well.

Tools

The old 3 wheel 10 inch (it can actually cut 12 inches if the stock is thinner than 1/4" or so) uses 56 7/8" blades (easy to remember - 5,6,7,8). Don't know what size the new 2 wheeler uses. I love the 1/8" blades you can get for the 3 wheeler.

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I came across the Cool Blocks (and Ceramic Blocks) on the Rockler site, and also a tool to round the back of the blade (just a sharpening stone, if I recall..) but they didn't have the round Cool Blocks for my saw. I see that Lee Valley does, though (I think the round Delta ones will work - gotta go home and measure the diameter).

Interesting: here's the rounding tool - they say it makes the blade last longer, and allows you to cut tighter curves.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=30073&category=1,41036,41048&ccurrency=2&SID=

And here's a kit for splicing broken blades!

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=41049&category=1,41036,41048&ccurrency=2&SID=

I wonder if the tires on mine are worn - there is some rubber left, but not much. I can order new ones from Sears. Rockler sells polyurethane tires, but not for my saw.

I'll lube the wheel axles ASAP (haven't done it since I bought the tool years and years ago).

I'll have to look into getting the book. Sounds neat.

Nope.. new 9" Sears uses a 59 1/2" blade (old 3 wheel uses 56 7/8"). Good thing they're still available:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00929660000

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00926583000

LAST EDITED ON Feb-24-04 AT 04:42 AM (CDT)
 
>Here's a new source I recently ran across.
>Woodcraftbands.com, apparantly great place. Will be placing
>an order later this week. Great prices, highly recommended
>by folks I trust on this sort of stuff.

@_@

Wow. I like. Nice prices. They'll custom weld to any length you need. Check out the scroll saw blades, too.

What exactly are bimetal blades? What are they used for?

LAST EDITED ON Feb-24-04 AT 07:22 AM (CDT)
 
Bimetal blades are really hard and stay sharp VERY long. Can cut metal, no problem. However, they are very thick (requiring much horsepower) and therefore difficult to tension correctly. Not much use in model airplane building. Need a pretty rigid saw with a big motor (relatively speaking) to work well. For example, I would want at least a true 1HP motor on a 14" saw.

Tools

(edit) By the way, most industrial supply places will weld bandsaw blades to any length you want. They are also usually 30 to 50% less than the blades you'll buy in Sears or a home improvement store. They may also have things like a 3/16 skip tooth blade, with which you can cut a 3/4" dia dowel out of a 6" cube of wood. They could also re-weld a broke blade if you needed them to, probably for pennies if you're buying blades from them. If they welded a blade, they'll warrant that weld for the life of the blade.

Heh heh heh...

At the place where I bought my drill press (in Kuala Lumpur), I enquired about bandsaws. I wanted a "big 'un" in case my "little 'un" wore out. Well, they had them, but I was concerned about getting narrow scrolling blades. "Don't worry.. we got narrow blades one. All local one, we can make any length one." (the shopkeeper was Chinese.) "9mm, 10mm, we got one, no problem..."

"How about 3mm?"

(Long pause. He never thought anyone might need anything less than a 3/8" wide blade, I guess..) "Let me make phone call. Wait, aa?"

(Makes phone call. In Chinese, with his supplier.)

"Okay, we can.. but if you want smaller than 9mm we have to cut on back side until narrow. Can one?"

Yeah.. I can just imagine.. start with a .032 10mm blade and grind the back off until it's 3mm, and then you've got these gigantic teeth on the front, not to mention a blade that's almost as thick as it's wide...

Well, you gotta like their "can do" attitude! I can't seem to get a hamburger out of MacDonalds... Maybe they'll grind the teeth you want on the back, then grind off the front.

Tools

A small tip from bitter experiance. Most bandsaws have a spring tensioner for the blade. This tend's to look OK but bind and quit sliding freely, making it tough to center or keep the blade tracking. Since it is typically covered with sawdust, make a thorough cleaning and dry lubricating a routine maintenance item. I've found you pretty much need to pull the tensioner apart to do it right. After cleaningI find my old, tired (and cheap) saw adjusts and tracks like new.
Good luck.

Here's a really unique looking bandsaw!

http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=923-691

LAST EDITED ON Mar-04-04 AT 06:09 AM (CDT)
 
I had a look at amazon.com and I found that there were two highly recommended books on bandsaws - one by Duginske (mentioned above) and the other by Bird. A couple of reviewers on amazon.com like Bird's book better, but I notice most places selling bandsaw stuff carry Duginske's.

Has anyone here read both, and which one, in your opinion, is better?