[Lilblee]

Can anyone give me any tips or tricks to help out my C-man bandsaw. Replacing it is not an option right now. It is the bandsaw in my thumbnail pic. Thi thing seems really underpowered and not very easy to use. Any advice wood be terrific.

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[Lilblee]

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[Tilaran]

It's obviously useless for resaw but had some horses ! Carter Stabilizer and look up custom sanding belts com. That saw will spin 3/4" wide sanding belt and the Stabilizer will let you avoid them chitty stock guides. Buy great saw blades. you'll be fine.

 

[woodnthings]

That saw is a challenge

If that's the one where the table stays flat and the whole blade and arm tilts.
I would NOT invest in any improvements other than a good blade. :no:

It's just not worth it. It's probably OK for hobby use, making toys, cutting out shapes in 3/4" thick plywood or other materials, but it's not a good saw for woodworking tasks in general. You need better guides, more rigid construction and probably a better motor. I have a 14" Craftsman bandsaw with a built in type 1 HP motor, but it's the traditional design where the table tilts, not the blade, a very nice saw.

As an aside, as far as I know, that tilting blade design was "borrowed" by a classmate of mine who worked for Sears after we both graduated from U of I Design school. See My Photos for the model I built in 1966 before the Craftsman saw came on the market.

 

[dodgeboy77]

I owned one of those and had another at work. They won't re-saw 6" oak but are good for lighter work, like woodnthings said. A good blade is critical. 1/4" (or less) would work well and I think 3/8" is about as wide as you'd want to go. Get a Timberwolf or one of the other premium brands for best results.

Be careful with the drive pulley setscrews working loose. That seems to be a weak point as I had trouble several times. Keep the belt tensioned, too. There are "Cool Block" style guides available for them though not necessarily that brand. Mine threw a tire and I found that orange urethane units were available, which was a nice upgrade. As I recall, leveling the table top is essential, too. I had to take mine off and smack it with a mallet to get rid of some low spots. It's just die-cast aluminum and is pretty thin.

After getting a 14" Shop Fox, I gave mine to a friend who uses it to cut smaller pieces of exotic woods for jewelry. He's been more than happy with it (of course, the price was right!). He even uses it for light resawing.

Bill

 

[Lilblee]

Soooo what y'all are sayin is start saving money and get a better bandsaw. I do like the large work surface on it. Only reason I bought it to begin with. For $35.00 though it has earned it's money

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[Lilblee]

Any tips on how to minimize the drift on this thing?

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[woodnthings]

If it drifts to the right ...

Any tips on how to minimize the drift on this thing?

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Sell it NASCAR...:blink:
A new sharp blade will "minimize" the drift. Some new blades do, some don't. Drift is a result of amount of the "offset" of the teeth and their sharpness. Dull teeth on one side will cause it to favor the other side. Continuously cutting circles in the same manner will dull the teeth on the inside radius.
The blades I purchase are Timberwolf from Grizzly.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/category/165020

The blades I weld myself are from Starrett bulk stock off the 100 ft roll.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=starrett+band+saw+blades

 

[gus1962]

Check tires, blades tension, blade guides and set up , tooth set, sharp blade and kind of wood being cut and possibly
depth of cut. Check the tracking on the wheels and tires too.

 

[Lilblee]

I an watching this video by Alex Snodgrass. I have been setting up bandsaws for like 10 years the wrong way lol. I guess all the high end bandsaws I have set up in the past has been much much more forgiving than this cheapy lol.

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[pidaster]

I've got a Craftsman band saw that I'd like to tune up as well. It has a 3/4 hp motor. Would it vastly improve with a larger motor? Also, it has a stepped pulley on it and I've never tried changing it's speed.

 

[Lilblee]

I gotta tell you. I watched the clinic with Alex Snodgrass on You tube and learned a lot. I spent an hour or so last night, cleaning, tuning, and waxing my band saw, and man what a difference. I strongly suggest watching this video. Spend a little time learning the tool. Learn all it's adjustments and exactly how they work and what they do. It made a world of difference with me. As far as the step pulley goes, hey man experiment with it and see how it goes.

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