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Bandsaw use advice

M

Michael Scussel

Joined
Dec 10, 2025
Messages
4
Likes
1
Location
Phoenix, AZ
I have a Laguna HD 16, 21/2horse power bandsaw. I got this saw about 25 yrs ago. It has the wheel guides, not ceramic. The saw sat idle after smoking the tires on it using a 1" blade about a year after getting it. After repeated attempts to fix it using various FLAT tires on the flat wheels and trying adjusting the lower wheel ( didnt really know what I was doing) having the tires come off and the blade not tracking properly I gave up. The saw sat for20 +years in a corner of my shop idle and collecting dust. It was a constant y reminder of my in noability to get this thing right. I am fairly mecha ically inclined and usually can get things fixed one way or another. So fast foward about 24 years and i re orgsnized my shop and pulled out the saw to get to the bottom of the issue I was having, the tires. So armed with info i got from this sight, i tried again. Was able to cut some blanks finally. But to get to this point I had to leave the lower wheel out of plane by a 1/4 inch. Well the carter bandsaw tires finally came off and I was at square one again. So i found a place that sold crowned urethane tires from i think was bandsaw tire warehouse and ordered a set. Got them made sure my wheels were in plane and put them on. They were loose. The guy sent ⁹a printout saying they might need to be glued and he recommended weldwood contact cement. Glued them on and the bandsaw runs great. Finally.
So, I have been using 1/2 inch 3 tpi blades to cut my blanks but I believe the blade to be lacking for larger blanks or other jobs.What blades do you all use for different cutting jobs. Large bowl blanks up to 10-12 inches thick, ripping logs etc. Lots of mesquite here in Az. Also blade tensioning. Anyway to get it correct. How? Also how do I cut staight top and bottom and along the legnth for ripping. The blade wants to wander. This saw in nice but no matter how much i read on the subject of blade tensioning i just dont seem to get it right. Apologies for the long write up but I felt a little history on me and my saw would help hilite the frustration. Thank you
 
Regarding the blades, your 1/2 x 3 tpi is probably pretty good for ripping. People like the Wood Slicer blades (me too). Maybe 3/8 x 6 tpi or so for shaping blanks. I'm sure that others will have additional angles on this.
 
Holy mackeral. Thanks Jeff for that video. Answered a lot of quetions for me. In fact im gong to head out to my shop and go through the steps in setting up my saw.
Will a 16 inch saw handle a 1/8 inch blade. I would like to try some of those boxes. What a great video thank you for posting it.
 
Oh no, more Snodgrass disciples! I don’t know why so many people thick it takes a genius to use a band saw. After teaching some beginner classes at Woodcraft, they were pretty impressed what I could do by not paying any attention to performing a high precision setup. What I do differently from most people is feed the wood with my finger tips. I can feel the blade cutting and don’t force the wood through the blade. Technically you don’t need guides at all if you have a sharp blade and feed the wood slowly with no side loading or not cutting too small of radius for the blade.
 
Richard Coers said:
Oh no, more Snodgrass disciples! I don’t know why so many people thick it takes a genius to use a band saw. After teaching some beginner classes at Woodcraft, they were pretty impressed what I could do by not paying any attention to performing a high precision setup.
Click to expand...
1. Not a disciple, but his vid is popular because it helps folks get started.
2. I don't know that many people think that it takes a genius to set up a band saw.
3. I'm glad that your students are impressed with you and your approach.
 
Jeff Holmquist said:
I wouldn't emphasis getting the wheels coplanar. I think that you'll find this video useful.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU
Click to expand...
I'm firmly in coplanar camp.

I've seen the Snodgrass show in person at a symposium. He has a lot of energy. As for the techniques he touts in setting up and tensioning a bandsaw, let's just say we'll have to agree to disagree.

For setting tension I use a Sarrett gauge.

JKJ
 
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