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Welcome to episode 13 of the Wood whisperer video podcast. I am your host Marc Spagnuolo. Today, we are going to take a look at one of my favorite stationary power tools, the bandsaw.
Now, I use it for re-sawing large boards, reaping long stalk, making my own veneer and cutting complex curves. On today’s show, I am going to show you how to set up a new bandsaw like we have got here or tune up your old bandsaw. The exception of the initial cleaning, their process is pretty much the same for both.
Let us assume you wrangled your new saw into position and you are ready to get started. Just plug it in and start cutting, right? Definitely not. You got a little bit of cleaning to do first.
Most manufacturers ship their tools with a plastic sheet over the cast tire and surfaces. Under that sheet is a rust preventative goop. The best way to remove that material is use some sort of a solvent. Kerosene and mineral spirits are most commonly recommended. Here I am using mineral spirits. To pour on a liberal amount of mineral spirit on to a rug and start wiping. It takes a while but eventually you will be rewarded with a nice shinny cast iron top but it would not stay that way for long if you do not add protection. If you do some googling, you will find tons of information about rust prevention on cast iron surfaces.
Here is my favorite method. After the mineral spirit flashes off, spray a good amount of product called T-9 boeshield. This staff is created by the Boeing Company. It has a great reputation amongst spud workers for this exact purpose. I use a clean rag to spread the T-9 and massage it into the surface. I then let the surface dry overnight. It acts stay; the surface will be a bit tacky so I buff aggressively using a clean rag until the tackiness is gone. At that time, it is a good idea to add a little bit of wax. This will further protect the surface as well as make it nice and slick. My favorite wax for this job is renaissance wax. A little bit goes a long way.
The next thing we should do is make sure that the wheels of the bandsaw are coplanar. Without coplanar wheels, the blade can drift off course and actually prevent us from getting consistent cuts. The idea is to run a straight edge across the top and bond wheels to see if they are in alignment with one another.
On some saws this is easier said than done. On my saw for instance, I had to remove the cast iron table top. I had a hernia when I was five and I am not looking to get another one at 30 so I do not think I am going to remove the top. One alternative will be to secure equally sized wood blocks to each wheel. The blocks would have to be long enough to extend pass the table and then you could place your straight edge across those blocks to check for coplanarity. To that sounds like it is a little bit too much work so since I have got a quite a bit of faith in powermatics quality, I am going to do all of my other adjustments first and if the saw still does not went through, then we are going through the table removal procedure and check the wheels. If you can check your wills and you do find that they are not actually coplanar you can easily shim the wheels out using small washers.
Now, let us turn our attention to the blade. It is a good idea to wear gloves whenever you handle a bandsaw blade. The sharp in there are very awkward. This may sound crazy but you want to make sure that there is no animals around while you do this or children for that matter. A while back, I accidentally left one of my blades on the ground and my dog run by, got spooked and took the blade with her. Unfortunately, it just got caught on the back of her pawn and it fell off but it could have been followed worst. I cannot even imagine what would have happen if went around her neck. Be careful.
Now that I have got the blade out of the bandsaw, it is a good time for me to show you a quick tip for how to fold this bandsaw blade up. It is a lot harder than it sounds and if you ever, try to get into a nice little coil like this. You know what I mean, it is not that easy. I have a full proof way of doing it. Make sure you got your gloves on, your eye protection on. Check it out. I grab the blade at about the eight and four o’clock position to the majority of the blade is above my fingers. Keep your thumbs at the back of the blade, the flat part of the blade. Just use anything really, the wall, the end of your bench, what ever you have handy so you can push up against it and essentially fold the blade in half. Do not blink because you might miss it and I will go slow motion for you, ready? Like that.
That pretty much does it so just get a garbage tie, a rubber band piece of tape, anything that will hold this together for you. Now that we folded our blade, let us unfold it and get it ready for installation.
I like to clean the manufacturer’s grease, offer the blade using a rag soaked in mineral spirits. Be sure to pull the rag in the same direction as the teeth. Once the mineral spirit flashes off, I spray a dry film lubricant on to the entire blade and wipe off the excess using a clean rag.
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