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I told you guys that I am an idiot when it comes to tool knowledge.....

Here's the deal - I am installing an Olsen 111" 1/4" 6TPI blade on my Rikon 14" bandsaw.

The problem is that the integral tension gauge with window.... is not accurate for this blade. Right now with some tension on it the needle says that I have as much and slightly more tension than I had on the 5/8th" blade that came with the saw.

I checked the box and it says 111".

Is this unusual for the gauge to be useless with some blades? If I can't use the gauge how to I determine proper tension for a 1/4" blade?

TIA (not this is Africa...) (again...)

Hesh, You might need to turn the adjusting screw on top to back off the tension for your new blade. It could be thicker than the blade that came on the saw.They do make a tension gadge that clamps on the blade to get a more accurate tension reading than the saw gives, but they aren;t cheap.

Hesh, Every time you change blades, you have to readjust the tension.No two blades are alike.

Thanks Mark.

Instead of backing off the tension I had to set the tension for a 5/8" blade just for this 1/4" blade to feel snug. If I tension the 1/4" blade for a setting on the gauge that reads 1/4" there is not enough tension to keep the blade on the saw....

So what gives - do you think that my 111" is not really 111"? Or is it not uncommon to have the tension guage be way off for a specific blade?

TAIA

Your blade is probably the wrong size.

Hesh, Make sure your tension lever is towards the wall before adjusting the tension.

I gave up on my tension gauge years ago, as I agree with what others say. Every blade is different for the most part, particularly from manufacturer to manufacturer. I feel quite confident in my ability to judge the tension by twanging and putting side pressure on the blade until it feels right. At least it works for me.

Thanks guys!

I had some help from Mark and Skin and I suspect but will know for sure that this blade may be bigger than 111" as indicated on the box. It cuts fine but I have to tension it to where the gauge on the saw says 5/8th".

So tomorrow when I have time I'm taking it off the saw and overlaying it on the OEM blade that came with the Rikon and looking to see if it's really 111".

Thanks again everyone!

Hesh: Seems to me there was an article in Fine Woodworking Mag for a homemade two piece gauge that clamped to your blade and you used feeler gauges to check that you were at the correct tension. Might be worth while checking or I guess you could " see Alice".
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Hesh: Fine Wood Working Jan./Feb. 2001 if you know someone close who has back issues. I may have it myself but can't check until tomorrow. If I do have it I can get you a copy of the article.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Ignore the gauge on your saw. Pluck the blade between the wheels on the column side of the saw. Listen for a good, clear tone with a pitch somewhere around E to G on the low string of an electric bass. Mainly, a good clear, musical tone. That puts you in the ballpark for everyday sawing.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Blade length won't have anything to do with tension. At least not in the manner discussed here. It is a "tension" gauge and works off......"tension"!

Having cleared that up, ignore those tension gauges. As Howard has stated, make the blade snug and check for that musical ring. My bands on both of my small saws (25 year old 14" Jet (I love this saw!) and a 15" General) are over tensioned according to the gauge, and they always have been.

Shane

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Canada

Ditto on what has been said , The tension guage on the saw is about as usless as screen doors of a submarine . I havent paid attention to that in yrs .

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Or an ashtray on a motorbike

How do you know when you have too much tension? Or is that a dumb question...

Ed,

So just crank it until there is just a bit deflection in the band side to side. Howard gave good advice on using a note to define the tension, that works OK but each band (or at least band width) will be different. Just keep the bands taunt, too tight and they will just shape.

Shane

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Canada

Really on a 14" saw with the knob tightening system most have its pretty hard to over tighten them , You can , but its generally not an issue unless your using a 1/8" blade .

The real way to tell , is when it snaps in half . Thats a pretty good indicator !

seriously though most 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" blades you really dont have to be to concerned on over tightening on 14" saw

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

In theory, the tension adjustment should be running off of a spring.. so it should be independent of just taking slack out of the blade... but it may not be.

You might check that the tension adjustment isn't changing when you have no blade in it... and also that the spring is properly adjusted (Not sure how to do this... but I would hope there is some way to make sure it doesn't have a bunch of slack in its aparatus that manifests as Tension on the indicator..)

Anyway, I am interested in what you come up with -- I just got one of these Rikon 10-325 saws. Unfortunately, my poor saw is sad because it has no outlets!

Thanks

John

Help My Blade Tension Is Falling And I Can't Get It Up.....

Hesh, you knew someone would ask:
Have you tried any bandiagra?

I thought he was talking about two completely different problems in one post!

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Todd, Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately, I have 2 outlets in the entire basement... and none anywhere near the saw. They are on the same circuit as the 3 light bulbs -- which is a 15A circuit with a standard breaker. If I want Lights, I can't run the saw.. and vice versa.

I am planning to run a couple 20A circuits and a 220V 30A or 50A circuit in my work shop area.... As well as installing a couple lights...

It's on the list of things to do...

Thanks

John

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Checking out what is really happening in the tensioner is a good idea.
My neighbour has an older 14" Chinese Delta knockoff bandsaw that he was given because 'it didn't work properly'. He found that he couldn't get it 'set-up' even with a new blade, and asked me for help.
After a bit of head-scratching, it turned out that the threaded adjustment shaft was hitting part of the tensioner, once it was 'screwed down' far enough to 'tension' a standard blade. Some work on the saw freed things up. The alternative was to use a shorter blade by 1" or so, but in this case he wanted the convenience of buying 'off the shelf' 93½ inch blades.

Cheers
John

Thanks everyone.

Todd I really like this saw and once I understood that the tension gauge is not all that... I am ok. I tensioned the blade by feel last night and it works great but the needle on the gauge has to be on the 5/8" but no worries. Thanks for your help.

I took the blade off and laid it up next to the OEM blade and it's about an inch longer.... This explains what I am seeing on the gauge.

Chris I took your recommendation too and called Lou Itura this morning and had a nice long chat with him. Nice guy - very generous with his knowledge. I ordered a carbon steel 1/4" 6 TPI and a bimetal 1/4" 6TPI and of course his catalog too.

Howard I know how to use the blue ones but I am not familiar with the spring or where to put it...???

Thanks again everyone and Howard....