Machinery, Tools, Research, Reviews and Safety

Thought some might find this interesting.

I was looking at bandsaw blades on line from Suffolk machinery. It has been over a year since I've purchased new blades but is seems there has been somewhat of a spike in prices since my last purchase. I am also looking for advice concerning which blade to use. The max width to fit my Craftsman 14" is a 1/2" blade. Which blade will produce a good clean cut on materials up to 8" thick. I was considering 6 TPI but thought I'd check here before making my purchase. My 10 TPI blade tends to clog while cutting birch.

Issues with my Craftsman 113. 27350 bandsaw......way to much shaking going on....drive wheel wobbles.....tore the thing down today.... Removed both the belt pulley and the lower wheel.. 2 wheels, only found one key stock....one for the belt pulley was MIA. Large snap ring holding the shaft in place on the belt side.. Metal cap swings down out of the way, once the shaft is out... (nice and cleaned up..) to get the shaft out, I had to remove these two bolts..which went right back in as soon as I could....hate losing parts. Shaft "looked" good when it came out, and the rust removed.. Bearings themselves are fine, it see…

I think Gene Howe will remember a Texas Bandsaw...that Gary gave me a long time ago....well. the current motor has started having "Issues".. and will need replaced.. IF you can get the breaker in the motor to not only reset, but STAY that way..it might run for a while....but.the next time you try to start it up...run, CLICK..DOA for the day So...the hard part will be getting this motor out...last time, I needed a floor jack... I do have a "spare".. That will need cleaned up and oiled up...test drive? If you didn't have your foot on top of the motor, you'd never know it was running....nice and very quiet... …

The time had come to do some pretty serious maintenance on the big bandsaw and I upgraded a few things. The Carter guide bearings and Kreg fence completely changed the old Jet for the better. That is a 1/8” test cut after the upgrade. Within .008”, I will take that as a win.

Having a problem with my bandsaw cutting thru 6 inch pecan. Almost from the first entry was cutting slow and when 2-3 inch got a pinch and stopped the blade in wood.....stuck. Motor slowed before stop and slow feed did not help. Put on a new Woodslicer blade and started to cut then did the same again after 10 to 14inches. Posted in AAW forum and got quick responses so did not get a chance to get here. This is a Grizzly 14 inch GO55 saw and someone else had the same problem. The answer is in the stock bearings. The thrust bearing is mounted horizontal to the blade and the blade rolls on the side of the bearing. Apparently the last time I adjusted the guide bearings…

I used my CNC to cut out a small table top out if some recycled teak from an old deck chair. I've gotten in the habit of profiling the perimeter and leaving 1/8" or slightly less to cut through. I do this to avoid the chance of cutting into my spoil board. Then I take the board to my little Craftsman bandsaw to free the top from the perimeter waste. Yesterday the bandsaw would not run. The motor would hum but not spin the shaft. I've deduced the starting capacitor likely needs replacing. At least I hope the problem is as simple as that. My only suspicion is that I can't spin the motor shaft at all. Anyone else had experience with failed motors on shop e…

Have had a problem with bandsaw table slipping out of level every time I use it to saw lathe blanks. Have now thought for a while could put a stiffener in to stop this. Finally got to it. Two piece brace as prop and bracket to stop sideways movement. The brace has a slot cut at end to fit the web under table.

The old Craftsman let me down tonight.. Motor stalled out....even under NO LOAD!..... Motor is a double-ended one, has a plastic cover over the un-used shaft.....always filled up with dirt...got rid of that. Thrust bearings were worked over....since I was tearing the saw down, anyway Yep, nasty looking. There IS a trash bag back there...will be full tomorrow...Drive wheel lost the tire a while back... Might as well install these, as well. IF I hand spin the drive wheel to start the saw up......it will run at normal speed....if I don't, it barely turns, and hums.....air compressor Sunday to blow out the motor...hoping i…

I have been wanting a bandsaw for a while. I don't need one a lot but I think it will come in handy from time to time. I am looking at a Wen bandsaw. It is a 10 inch saw with 6 inch resaw capacity. It is a two speed saw and comes with the fence and miter gage. It cost around $220 and every site I go to it has really good reviews. Does anybody here own one or know of another good saw around the same price. Thanks

Got my Wood magazine today and they did a review of 9"-10" and 14" band saws under $500.00. In the 14" catagory the Craftsman BAS350 at $470.00 received highest marks above the Porter Cable PCB 330BS at $400.00 High points for the Craftsman : Most power, the best and easiest to use blade bearing guides, easiest blade adjustment. The saw performed well in every test resaw up to 8" and use up to a 3/4" blade Big paddle on/off switch. Large 15 3/4 X 20 3/8 table with 3/8 X 3/4" miter slot …

I recently acquired a slightly used Craftsman BAS350 14" band saw. It is the same saw as the Rikon 10-321 band saw. It is equipped with a one horse power motor and a very nicely machined cast iron table with a rip capacity opening of 8.5". I got a 5/8" 3TPI blade and ran some firewood pieces through it to make turning blanks and was very pleased with the performance. It has a 2" dust port below the blade and a 4" port at the bottom of the lower wheel. I connected a dust collector to the 4" port with great results and see no need to hook up the two inch port. With the 4" port hooked up air was being sucked into the 2" po…

I got two drills from an estate plus a saw , Dewalt 14.4, with six batteries and two chargers. One drill sparks so it is not worth any effort. One battery seems fine and one I would say a step below that. No others want to give a good spin to the drills. Looked at replacement costs and thinking NiMH but what I read said that using NiCad charger for those will cause battery failure. Question is has anyone tried this? By the way ain't no cheap batteries out there , but cheaper to buy new on Amazon than rebuilt.

Maybe not for us hard-core tool junkies: https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/home-depot-vs-lowes-which-chain-is-better

I was doing some rabbit hole YouTube surfing this morning and happened upon this band-saw review for Harbor Freights Bauer lineup. I've been looking for a good bench top belt grinder and in the past I have seen great reviews for the red Bauer brand by Harbor Freight, so this red bandsaw caught my attention this morning. I'm not in the market for a band-saw, but it was fun watching. I watched the entire video and I am impressed. At 600 bucks, looks like you'd be getting your money's worth as long as the longevity of the saw holds up, but I was very impressed with the well thought out features the saw has. One of the cool features I really liked was the thumb kn…

Looks like HF is trying to compete with the red Kool-Aid "pack out" system. https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=bauer storage organizer https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-PACKOUT-22-in-Rolling-Tool-Box-22-in-Large-Tool-Box-18-6-in-Tool-Storage-Crate-Bin-48-22-8426-48-22-8425-48-22-8440/314846561?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=Shopping-BF-F_Brand-G-Multi-NA-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-Catchall_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-BF-F_Brand-G-Multi-NA-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-Catchall_PLA-71700000014585962-58700001236285396-92700067144412338&gclid=CjwKCAiAsNKQBhAPEiwAB-I5zUat4Hc2iGbYzPKAqhKbHIAJ20GZyaMuzy9Tr95SupIiREsA8zcRHhoCb7QQAvD_Bw…

So I have two bench vises that I am mounting to my tablesaw / bench. Got everything laid out so far and they work well. When I go to make my wood fillers on the back side do I go the entire length flat or leave the middle open between the two? Picture is with a 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 test board nothing in the middle. Does it matter? Any positive benefit having it?

I do not own a Bessey clamp. They look like a quality made tool. However, I'd like to ask what these clamps offer that would make my old pipe clamps (and assortment of hand me downs) Do they clamp more evenly? What purpose are the small black inner rings for. Thanks in advance Ron

Hi, I just viewed a video from a woodworking E-mail, on the new Bessey I-beam clamps. I cannot find these clamps on their website. Anyway, I wanted to ask a question about this. The video showed the man made a mortise and tenon joint and the tenon was just a bit too big for the mortise. So, he was able to clamp down on the wood planks to make it fit. These clamps are supposed to have 7K pound pressure. I was told to consider moisture when making projects and really don't know too much about it. Never sure how much leeway for the swelling/expansion and when I really need it. So, my real question is this: If this mortise and tenon are th…

Rockler has the Bessy K body Revo Jr's on sale this month. $179.99 for two each of the 18", 24", and 36" clamps. Are these clamps good clamps to purchase or are they to small and flexible? Is this a great price? Danl