Band tension

Gilman · July 22, 2005, 07:01:10 PM

I was thinking that, but wasn't sure.

Timburr · July 23, 2005, 07:31:21 AM

FDH. Remembering to take the caliper and clamps off the mill is also a plus :D

:D

Rod · July 23, 2005, 08:52:48 AM

I have car tires for band wheels so I don't think I can do the caliper thing,plus I'm like FDH,leave it alone if its working just fine.

Kirk_Allen · July 23, 2005, 09:48:16 AM

Gilman, if I recall your running a WM mill. Does it have steel wheels or belts on the wheels. I can see how this process would work for steel wheels but with belts I would think after a little wear you would have to re-mark the gauge to get the tension your looking for.

I havent had any problems so far that couldnt be identified as either guides out of whack or bad blades but this does look like a great way to troubleshoot a problem that is kicking your tail.

I know we have seen on this forum several times folks talking about wavy board problems and supposadly they tried everything. This process might be what gives them the answer!.

I know we sell pressure gauges and its not uncommon for them to have an acceptable error reading of +-3% out of the box. That being the case I could see a great use for this when problems start. I will check mine out of curiosity and see what I get. Any idea what the WM blades tension is supposed to be?

Gilman · July 23, 2005, 12:14:43 PM

Yep, a 40 super to be exact. It has v-belt tires.

Since WM uses a piston to tension the blades it doesn't really matter if the tires wear or not. The piston pressure will still be proportional to band tension.

I don't know the accuracy of WM's or other manufacture's gages, but some gages are toleranced 15-20%. But even if they are off, once you calibrate them they will stay off the same amount over time.

Kirk_Allen · July 23, 2005, 12:26:48 PM

What tension pressure number are you using for you blades? Are they WM baldes?

Lezmill · July 23, 2005, 08:39:47 PM

For all yall engeneer types. Does the flutter test get the tension right?

Fla._Deadheader · July 23, 2005, 08:45:10 PM

Not for us. Tried that with Suffolk Blades. Switched to Munks.

Welcome Lezmill. Whats yer story ?? Got a Mill ??? Got a loggin operation ?? Where ya located ??? Got PICS ?? We luvs pics. ;) ;D ;D ;D :D

Gilman · July 23, 2005, 08:53:08 PM

Love those pics, aint seen a bad one yet.

Kirk,
I'm running at the high edge of the orange. Or about 25,000 psi in the band wich is right at the endurance limit for steel once you figure in notch sensitivity of the gullet and loading the face of the tooth.

Lezmill · July 24, 2005, 12:40:40 PM

Sorry I didn't properly introduce myself. My name is Lee. I live in the Tuscaloosa, AL area. I will have to work on those nifty side-bar things. I just recently bought me a me, Hud-son Oscar 30. I just plan on sawing lumber for personnal use mostly. My first goal is to saw the lumber to build a house.

The instruction for my mill said to tighten the blade until the flutter started to get worse then to back off untill it stoppe. I was hoping that was a pretty good test or if I need to invest in a caliper.

By the way, I love this site, lots of great info.

Gilman · July 24, 2005, 12:53:51 PM

Welcome to the Forum Lezmill,
I'd probably do what the manufacturer recommends. If you're curious, you can get calipers for under $20.00. If it's cutting good, I wouldn't worry about it.

I just like to optimize things and using the calipers is cheap, easy and accurate.

Fla._Deadheader · July 24, 2005, 01:21:15 PM

PLUS, Gilman is a Injunear. :

;D ;D

gmmills · July 24, 2005, 10:09:05 PM

Gilman,
Thanks for sharing this info with us. I have used the caliper method on my super. I was also running the tension in high side of the orange range. Was using 1 1/2" blades and got great flex life. I've also used this method on my LT 70. The LT 70 has an air bag tensioning system. WM spec on the air pressure was 47 lbs not tensioned. I used the caliper method to see where the factory setting was at. At 47 lbs the blade strain was about .004". That was a little low for the 1 1/2" 0.55 blades I am using. Upping the pressure to 74 lbs gets me to .005". I've been running the blades at this tension and really happy with the results. Flex life has been great. Just took 2 blades out of use for being too narrow. They had been sharpened 20 times . 8) 8) 8) I think the WM spec may be updated soon. Looked at the LT 70 at Sawlex and they where running 80 lbs tensioned.

Brucer · July 24, 2005, 10:27:26 PM

Quote from: Fla._Deadheader on July 24, 2005, 01:21:15 PM

PLUS, Gilman is a Injunear. : ;D ;D

Harold, with speling like that, you cud be one two :D.

Fla._Deadheader · July 24, 2005, 11:40:52 PM

;D ;D :D :D :D ;) ;)

The Engineers on this site are good folks. I poke fun at 'em all the time. ;)

:D :D :D

Gilman · July 25, 2005, 03:29:22 AM

DanG, I was too slow... >:( >:( >:(
I was going to crank Deadheader for saying ,"a" verses, "an" engineer. :D :D :D

I'll get you one day Deadheader.............. >:( >:( >:( >:(

Speadking of Deadheading, are you going to Deadhead when you move south?

I'll be gone this week camping so don't be hurt if I don't respond Deadheader.

Gmmills, Oooooo being right feels soooooooo goooooood :D

I don't get to do much engineering (especially stress analysis which I specialized in) anymore since I'm into manufacturing for myself. Engineering is pretty much constrained to the FF for now so be WARE! ;)

Swede · July 25, 2005, 04:41:09 AM

I have a metric thread M20x2 with a T-handle for strengthen the blade by hand, no gauge or spring.
Forgot to turn the last 2-3 routes while the blade is spinning after I had put a new, sharp Monkey Blade on last week. Get wavy boards after I´d been sawing for 10 minutes or so and found what was wrong. :

Yes, why mess with anything that´s working? ;D
Is it normal that a blade is WERY sharp and I can saw WERY fast the first 1-2 logs, then I can saw with "normal" feeding for 2-6 hours before I need a new blade?
I always want to saw fast............. ;)

Swede.

Fla._Deadheader · July 25, 2005, 06:45:23 AM

No Deadheading down south, Gilman. Fred is scared of the Caimans, so, I won't want to give him a coronary. ;D ;D :D :D

Hurry back, Gilman. ;) ;) ;)

:D :D :D

Brucer · July 26, 2005, 12:56:32 AM

Quote from: Fla._Deadheader on July 24, 2005, 11:40:52 PM
The Engineers on this site are good folks. I poke fun at 'em all the time. ;) :D :D :D

Poke away, I are one, too ;D.

pigman · July 26, 2005, 01:13:12 PM

The complete saying is " when I started in college I couldn't spell ungeneer, now I are one" ;) ;D

joey7319 · June 14, 2014, 06:07:49 PM

I found this thread while looking for information on the proper tension of my band mill. It helped me out, so I figured I would bring it back up for anyone else just getting started.

bandmiller2 · June 19, 2014, 08:55:56 PM

Joey, glad you brought it back up. I'll have to try this on my homebuilt bandmill as I just used what heavy springs I had. For many years my mill has worked well and I have never broken a band. Probibly due to little tension. The mill cuts well and true when the bands are sharp and set properly, may just fasten my calipers and check the tension. Of course its not broke and you know what they say about that. Frank C.