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Bandsaw Cleaning

Dave Fritz

Dave Fritz

Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
751
Likes
215
Location
Montfort, Wisconsin
I have a Rikon 14 inch bandsaw with Carter guides added. I've been having trouble with my cuts drifting so I finally took a day and thoroughly cleaned everything. I took the wheels off, the guides off and with my wife's help cleaned as many of the nooks and cranny's as possible. As has been mentioned band saws don't suck and it was apparent by how much sawdust had found it's way into strange places. For example, the threaded rod that tightens the drive belt of the bottom wheel is partially enclosed. It was hard to adjust as the threaded rod was filled with sawdust. I had to blow it out with air pressure. When my wife came back she asked where did all that saw dust come from, I just cleaned that. Also I was surprised by how much gunk had gotten between the bearings on the Carter guides. After a through cleaning I put everything back install the blade that had been wondering and cut a thin slab of a 6 by 6 inch piece of maple. Straight as an arrow. How often do you clean your bandsaw?
 
I vacuum around the lower guides, and then vacuum out any visible sawdust in the lower cabinet before closing the shop. I often cut green wood so I try to keep the moist shavings removed. Good suggestion on blowing it out with a compressor. Someday I need to build a dust collector port around the lower guides.
 
It’s good to keep the saw generally clean, I use a brush and a hose from my dust extractor.
I think those Carter ball bearing guides are a problem of you cut green wood. The wood ‘gunk’ gets on the blade,,transfers some to the bearing surface, which pushes the bearings back and makes them un-round by virtue of the build up. Cleaning the blade and the wheels should keep the blade better supported.
The block type guides,,manually set, don't suffer the problem since the leading edge scrapes the crud, to a point anyway.
 
likewise I have a 4" line to my dust collector, turn it on before I cut and let it run a couple of minutes after the cut it pretty well cleans the whole bandsaw out, maybe once a year pull it down for a major clean/check up.
 
I also have a Rikon 14". I don't clean it as often as I should but since I cut a lot of green wood it gets cleaned more than any other machine in the shop. The small belt idler wheel will also get gunked up and is a challenge to get all the way around it, the wheel cleaning brush is worthless in my opinion. For me bearings getting full of dust quickly and green wood gunk is a constant issue. I keep a stack of them handy and check them frequently. The lower bearings will get hard to turn so I pop them off, put on clean ones and then clean and lube the ones I took off. Ready for another rotation. They're sealed but stuff still gets in. I've also found that the Klean Strip "Green" mineral spirits (milky colored) are the best at cleaning out the gunk, cleaning the blade, etc. It seems to dissolve the green wood buildup much quicker than traditional mineral spirits.

Haven't looked into block style guides. Maybe I should for at least the lower set.
 
Thank you Randy, at last a use for green mineral spirts! I find that the stronger version of Simple Green Is also very good at dissolving sap buildup.
 
I agree with Bernie on Simple Green for cleaning sap build up off the blade and tires. And I vacuum mine out after every session. The dust from cutting green blanks can build up quickly and, just like with your bed ways, can start to wreak havoc quickly if left alone.
 
hughie said:
likewise I have a 4" line to my dust collector, turn it on before I cut and let it run a couple of minutes after the cut it pretty well cleans the whole bandsaw out, maybe once a year pull it down for a major clean/check up.
Click to expand...
I'd be curious what brand of band saw you have. Is it only sold in Australia? I'm not aware of any here that actually sucks that well.
 
One video I did was Bandsaw Dust Ports do not Suck. They all seem to be designed for the cabinet shops where dry dust is common, and not for wet wood, which is most of what I cut. I did some modifications to my saws, and they really helped, but they still need work. The cabinets are very open, so it is difficult to channel the air flow. I did put a vent in the bottom of the cabinets on both of my saws. That was a huge help.

robo hippy
 
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