Band Saw Set up

[Dave Monk]

I have watched a lot of videos on tuning a band saw.  The part that is confusing to me is .......some say to track the blade in the middle of the wheel and another says to put the blade gullet in the center of the wheel. That's a big difference especially on a 3/4" blade. How are you doing yours?

[CSull]

I have a Laguna 14 and when I am using a re-saw 3/4 blade I put my blade in the middle of the wheel-if I put the gullet in the center it really shifts the blade to far to the rear of my wheel.

[Sycamore67]

I follow the Snodgrass video for setting up my bandsaw.  I also do not use 3/4" blades as they are difficult to properly tension on 14" bandsaws

[Dave Monk]

11 minutes ago, Sycamore67 said:

I follow the Snodgrass video for setting up my bandsaw.  I also do not use 3/4" blades as they are difficult to properly tension on 14" bandsaws

I have a 14" Rikon. If I set up my blade the way he is recommending it is hitting the guards.

[flarud]

I also have a 14" Rikon.  It seems like it takes forever to get a new blade to track properly.  I mainly use a 3/16" blade, so I just make sure that it stays on the tires and doesn't track itself off.  I let it ride where it wants to and move the guides accordingly.

[OCtoolguy]

I have a Delta 14 inch, don't have any blades over 1/2 inch. I mainly use a 3/8" blade with the gullets centered on the wheel tire. No tracking problems at all.

[meflick]

I asked my technician (DH ) and He said,  it does depends a little on the width of the blade, but like Ray, he said he puts the gullet centered on the wheel tire and should track with no problem.

[Gonzo]

I have a Shopfox 1706, 14” with a 6” riser. The biggest blade I’ve used is 1/2”.  I track mine on the gullet. 

[OCtoolguy]

I was also told or read somewhere that for a 14" bandsaw, a 1/2" blade was the max because of tensioning problems with the wider blades and it would "spring" the body of the saw to try to tension anything wider. True or not?

 

[Dave Monk]

8 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

I was also told or read somewhere that for a 14" bandsaw, a 1/2" blade was the max because of tensioning problems with the wider blades and it would "spring" the body of the saw to try to tension anything wider. True or not?

 

Mine is rated up to a 3/4".  I always thought that for resawing the wider the blade the better. 

[Sycamore67]

A wider blade is probably better if the saw can handle.  It takes a lot more force to tension the larger blades.  I have read quite a few posts on various forums about people breaking the upper wheel mechanism due to over tension.  

 

It takes a bit of experience to be good at resawing.

[Dan]

My blade is centered on the wheel per manufacturer's instruction. 

[barb.j.enders]

While talking bandsaws - where do you measure the width of the blade.  Is it from the back to the point of a tooth or to the gullet?

[Phil Royer]

I have done it both ways, both worked. I think I may have centered blade in the past. Then I saw a video and centered the gullets. Might have been the other way around, but no problems either way

Phil

[OCtoolguy]

4 hours ago, Dave Monk said:

Mine is rated up to a 3/4".  I always thought that for resawing the wider the blade the better. 

That's what I have always thought.

[Jim Finn]

I have 14" band saws with riser. (two of G0555)  I resaw quite a bit and use a 1/2" blade with gullet in center of top wheel.