Carter Electronic Tension Gauge?

[Gene T]

Hello all, Has anyone been able to try one out?

[Mike in Mystic]

I haven't tried it. And I can't for the life of me see why anyone would want one of these things.

[mac davis]

like taking a gold fish to the vet...

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[B a r r y]

I'm with ya'!

I never realized that tensioning a band saw needed to be so exact.

[Doug Miller]

My son has a chromatic tuner that he uses for his piano and guitar... I bet that would work for bandsaw blades, too, just pluck it and adjust the tension til it hits the right note. And it only cost $20.

[arw01]

ah, but what is the correct note. Sure it would work though. Once you got the first note correct. Would a 1/8" blade sound the same as a

3/4" blade when tensioned properly?

Alan

[Robatoy]

If tuned to the same tension/frequency...certainly.

[Robatoy]

E

[Robatoy]

*gaSP* You'd just let it swim in circles with a broken fin? You would??

[Patrick Conroy]

B a r r y wrote in news:BbYue.5715$ [e-mail]:

Goin' from memory - which is fair warning - the Iturra catalog walks thru an example of using once. Seems to me it was a Lenox (Lennox?) blade that he wanted to tension to the mfg'rs specifications.

[Lee Michaels]

Just how hard is it on the fingers to "pluck" bandsaw blades??

My fingers hurt just to think about it.

[Doug Warner]

Here's why:

if you're a metalworker as well, a hydraulic alternative: (Near bottom of page) like this one: No squinting at a dusty fiber washer (Delta), and you know you have the right tension, instead of hoping the spring is still good. I have the convave cut problem with thick material, and have been investigating blade tension measurement systems.=20

To reply, please remove one letter from each side of "@" Spammers are VERMIN. Please kill them all.

[Bruce Barnett]

Certainly. You are 100% CERTAIN? I'm not so sure.

Here's my reason:

Take a guitar. Have 6 strings of different thicknesses. (i.e. a standard set) Have them all the same tension. The tones will be different.

It seems to me that on a bandsaw, with the same tension, with different blade widths, will have different tones.

Can anyone validate/refute this?

[Bruce Barnett]

Psst. Do it from the backside - that's the edge without the teeth. :-)

[Robatoy]

I am if it is tuned to the same frequency. However: As the frequency increases with tension, wouldn't it stand to reason that if the same frequency is reached.......waitasec..... wouldn't a

3/4" blade require more tension to get to the same pitch(frequency??)

This requires more thought.

[Mike in Mystic]

Good answer and good article, Doug. I still dont' think I'll pay the money for something like this, but I have a better idea why someone with more stringent requirements than myself might want one.

Mike

Here's why:

if you're a metalworker as well, a hydraulic alternative: (Near bottom of page) like this one: No squinting at a dusty fiber washer (Delta), and you know you have the right tension, instead of hoping the spring is still good. I have the convave cut problem with thick material, and have been investigating blade tension measurement systems.

To reply, please remove one letter from each side of "@" Spammers are VERMIN. Please kill them all.

[charlie b]

Itura has a tension measuring device similar to the Lennox shown in the Lonnie Bird article referenced elsewhere in this thread. Price is around $140 US.

Suffolk suggests using The Flutter Method. Open up the throat to max blade exposure, move the blade guides back away from the blade and put enough tension on the blade so it won't spin off the wheels. Turn on the saw. If the blade's under tensioned it will flutter. If no fluttering then back off the tension 'til fluttering begins then add tension 'til the fluttering stops. If you start with fluttering, add tension until it stop.

Repeating - you need to start with enough tension to keep the blade on the wheels!

And BTW - check the weld before using any blade. A bad weld that lets loose with the saw running will a) accordian an amazing length of band in the blade guard and b) necessitate a shorts change (DAMHIKT).

charlie b

[mac davis]

only after giving it lots of room to swim... (flushing it)

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

probably.. and my saw shows the "suggested" tension setting for a 3/4" blade quite a bit higher on the scale than a 1/8" blade..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

maybe you get a band saw blade pick?

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing