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Woodworking Masterclasses

Band Saw Clinic with Alex Snodgrass (bandsaw)

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Previous Back to: Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration15 Replies

Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Band Saw Clinic with Alex Snodgrass (bandsaw)

Tagged: adjust, band, bandsaw, clinic, how to, saw, tweak

  • This topic has 15 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 10 months ago by Jason.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 16 total)
1 2 →
  • Author
    Posts
  • Mexiquite
    18 January 2014 at 4:09 pm #26135

    Paul recommended this guy in a blog HERE about Alex Snodgrass’ presentation. Here is a 30 minute really good clinic on adjusting your bandsaw for optimal performance.

    Youtube video

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    Steve Follis
    18 January 2014 at 5:38 pm #26140

    Mexiquite, do you or anyone have any experience with Carter Bandsaw Guides? I was thinking about purchasing a set for my Grizzley Bandsaw to see if they helped improve performance.

    Memphis, Tennessee

    Settings
    Mexiquite
    18 January 2014 at 9:23 pm #26163

    @crance I don’t have any experience. I just yesterday got my grizzly bandsaw in. I did see Alex in person and it’s pretty amazing.

    Settings
    Sandy
    18 January 2014 at 10:19 pm #26165

    I watched the video and it had some really good pointers. I disagree with a couple of things he said. One, I may have misunderstood but I think he said not to adjust the tilt on the saw. How would you adjust where the blade rides on the wheel if you don’t adjust the tilt on the top wheel? Second, he said not to use the tension indicator on the back of the saw because it will vary with different lengths of blades. That is a spring loaded tensioner and it’s not going to make any difference if the blade is and inch longer or shorter. It doesn’t measure length, it measures tension. So you can depend on that indicator to tension your blade to the manufacturers suggested tension for your saw. that’s good information from a guy that has cut a hundred miles on a band saw. As for the carter guides, I have no experience with them.

    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

    Albert Einstein

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    Brett aka Pheasantww
    19 January 2014 at 1:25 pm #26189

    I bought the Carter guides for my 14″ Rikon at the Cincinnati Wood Show last year. Worth the investment. If you can get them at one of the shows, you will save some money.

    Located in Honeoye Falls NY USA. The Finger Lakes region of Western NY.

    "If you give me 6 hours to fell a tree, I will take the first 4 to sharpen my axe" Abe Lincoln

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    Steve Follis
    19 January 2014 at 2:22 pm #26191

    Thanks Brett, my Grizzley does a good job, but I do get a bit of drift when I try to resaw if my set-up is not perfect. I would like to allow for a bit more of a window to work in. I will put the carter guides back on my wish list and keep my eyes open for a sale.

    Memphis, Tennessee

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    Mexiquite
    19 January 2014 at 9:08 pm #26240

    @crance I just found that Grizzly offers a bearing replacement. $109.95 vs $250+ for Carter. Anybody have any experience with Grizzly bearing blade guides? http://www.grizzly.com/products/Bandsaw-Ball-Bearing-Guides/H9565?gcsct=0ChMI6PmitY6LvAIVSFLnCh3NIwAAEAQ

    On the Carter website it says that their bearings are “SEALED” and on the Grizzly website it doesn’t say if there’s are sealed or not. I’ve emailed Grizzly to find out. Will post response.

    Settings
    Steve Follis
    19 January 2014 at 11:19 pm #26243

    Thanks Mexiquite, I am going to have to do some research or get on the phone with Grizzly. My bandsaw in an older model 14″, I need to make sure those Grizzly or Carter parts are going to fit. Mine has no bearing guides, except where the back of the blade rides. It has what looks like graphite blocks that “pinch” the blade to hold it steady. I would love to have something a bit more “forgiving”.

    Memphis, Tennessee

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    Brett aka Pheasantww
    20 January 2014 at 12:31 pm #26260

    Steve said: “my Grizzley does a good job, but I do get a bit of drift when I try to resaw if my set-up is not perfect. I would like to allow for a bit more of a window to work in.”

    The Snodgrass method to eliminate drift in resawing is to center the teeth of the saw blade on the tires not the entire blade. Try it, it works good.

    Located in Honeoye Falls NY USA. The Finger Lakes region of Western NY.

    "If you give me 6 hours to fell a tree, I will take the first 4 to sharpen my axe" Abe Lincoln

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    Steve Follis
    20 January 2014 at 2:58 pm #26263

    Thanks Brett, I am off work the next few days and will have a chance to watch the video that Mexiquite posted. I will definitely be trying these tips out. For the most part my bandsaw does everything I need it to do and it does it well, but when it comes to re-sawing, if I don’t go through the set-up steps every time, I will experience some drift. I can get the Carter bearing guides for $179 (full price, hopefully I can catch a sale), and I don’t mind paying that if I get an increase in performance. Hopefully I can get it to hold its critical setting for longer than a day.

    Memphis, Tennessee

    Settings
    Scott
    7 February 2014 at 11:26 pm #27431

    Sorry I am coming to this conversation late.


    @crance
    :
    The Carter guides, by specification and reputation, should be much higher quality bearings, and will last forever, but I am doubtful that they will perform much better – unless your bearings are not spinning freely or if the thrust bearing is scored on the surface. I think money would be better spent on a quality bi-metal carbide blade like a Lennox.

    For my second hand $250 Rockwell 1/2HP saw, $175 bearings make no financial sense…

    —
    My reactions to the video:

    1) I will have to give Snodgrasses’ blade position tip a try to see if I can get smoother cuts. My saw is working pretty well right now, but there is always room for improvement.

    2) No doubt he has done this thousands of times, but Snodgrasses’ speed at the bandsaw looks dangerous, as well as how he leaves it running when checking for square. I hope no one tries to emulate that practice. Made me wince a few times.

    3) That stabilizer guide looks like it is worth the money if I made bandsawn boxes or snakes. I did not even know snakes were a thing…

    -Scott Los Angeles

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    Steve Follis
    9 February 2014 at 6:12 pm #27527

    @mexiquite thanks again for posting this. I went to The Woodworking Show in St Louis yesterday and sat in on this demo. I was able to talk with him and ask a few questions, it was very helpful. I am going to follow his steps on the setup, and then decide if I want to add the guides to my saw.

    Memphis, Tennessee

    Settings
    Mexiquite
    7 July 2014 at 12:14 am #59154

    @crance have you done anything to your bandsaw? Any new guides?

    I just bought a new Timber Wolf 1/2 3TPI http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DXOWBS4/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_M3T1_ST1_dp_1 and am about to install it.

    Settings
    Steve Follis
    9 July 2014 at 4:58 pm #59257

    I did not buy the guides yet @Mexiquite, but I have followed some of the steps for the setup. It did help.

    Memphis, Tennessee

    Settings
    sherbin18
    14 July 2014 at 10:41 pm #59424

    Hi all –

    I am late to the discussion but I saw Alex at a Woodworking show. I spoke to him and his father and decided to buy the guides (didn’t buy their blades though). The guide installation on my Grizzly was not smooth. The Carter instructions are really lousy. Several calls remedied my problems (I actually had them installed backwards at first). Once I installed the guides I tried to resaw some poplar (not a really hard task) and it didn’t work out well.

    I installed a new Timberwolf blade and it was magic!

    The old blade was probably just a bit dulled, but following Alex’s instructions was a big help.

    — Steve.

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