A few days ago I contacted SuperCut Bandsaw Co. and asked them if they could help us out to determine what was going on with Charle's bandsaw issues he has been having. Within a day Neil Morris returned my call for help and a wonderful lengthy reply full of great information. I just wanted to put this out there in its own discussion thread to demonstrate to the folks what great customer service SuperCut Bandsaw Co. has.

Thank you so much Neil Morris (no relation!)

We are grateful for the time you took to read through the post regarding Charles' issues and getting back to us in a very timely manner. Not only is SuperCut Bandsaw's customer service apparently tops, their blades are Made In America!!! Support our American worker's and buy American!!

See below the reply from Neil Morris.

 

Hi John,

Thank you for your email. I read through the thread that you referenced in your email, and I have a few comments/ideas for you.

Simply put, these tabletop bandsaws are notorious for blade issues. The issue with the blade coming off the wheels could be several things, including a bad bearing on one of the wheels or poor alignment of the wheels (with 3 wheels there is one more that has to stay in good alignment with the other 2 wheels), or simply a dull (or unevenly dull) blade will tend to work off the wheels due to the higher feed pressure that is required to make it cut, or other issues such as some that were already mentioned in the thread. You are right in that many of his issues may simply be solved by using a high quality bandsaw blade.

As for the breakage issues, the number one culprit with these small saws is the small wheel diameter. Despite bandsaw blades being designed to be flexible to bend around wheels many thousands of times, the smaller the wheel, the more stress is put on the metal of the blade, thereby work-hardening it and causing it to crack (the weld is the place where the metal is already slightly different, so it tends to break there first). If you simply let a bandsaw blade run on a saw long enough (even without doing any cutting), it will eventually break; the larger the wheel diameter, the longer the blade will run before this happens. To help counteract this problem, we have developed a line of blades, The Three Wheeler, that is made with thinner material (0.014 vs. 0.025) to allow for the more severe flexing by the small wheels. These blades cost $11.29 each and are available in 3/16", 1/4", and 3/8" widths (several tooth patterns in each).

Having said all of that, another issue that tends to develop over time with these small saws is out-of-round wheels which can develop a "whip-like" effect in the blade while running, thereby prematurely breaking the blade. Sometimes the tires get thinner in some sections (especially if the blade is left under tension for longer periods when the saw isn't being used), or some other things can lead to this (saws with plastic wheels sometimes have the wheels warp slightly over time). The way to check for this is to first UNPLUG the saw, install a blade and tension it normally, and then while turning the wheels slowly by hand, simply pluck the blade as you would a guitar string and listen to the pitch of sound produced. If the pitch changes as you turn the wheels, you have this problem.

Please feel free to call us toll free 800-356-9918 if you have any more questions or would like to try some of our blades (we manufacture a full line of various types of blades for other types of bandsaws in addition to The Three Wheeler).

I hope this information is useful,

Neil Morris

SuperCut Bandsaw Co., Inc.

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Thanks John, I will try one of these blades just as soon as I get a chance to order one, which will be in about a week.. As for the tests, I can run those tomorrow.

Thanks for jumping on this one, and thank you Neil (if you read this) for the great info...

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Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

John,

You are the man!

Charles,

I hope Neil's information is what you need to get your saw running and cutting well.

The info in his response is valuable to a great many of us with smaller saws.

I'll definitely give his blades a try. 

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

John,

Does Supercuts make blades to order in custom lengths?

My old  Delta Specialty Co. model no. 785 10" bandsaw takes a 66" blade that is not an off the shelf size.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

John,

Nevermind, I see that they will make odd size blades.

My Bad !!!

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Hey guys, we really don't have a horse in this race, but if you could, try to remember to mention you saw this on TPW, that way they know they are appreciated. Thanks!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

No problem, I had already planned on it.

The way I look at it, at one time I was going through 2 blades a month, using those other blades, so even if I had to order 1 per month of these, I'm doing as good if not better in the long run

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Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks