Band Saw blade guides?

[chrisinnh]

Have you considered asking Doall what the guides are made of? Since you already suspect them to be made of gold or platinum, why not ask them which? You might get lucky and get a good answer!

I tried that route. First go didn't get me any further than "it's in stock". After being escalated to a support engineer, the question immediately devolved into "it's just $66, why not just buy them?", but I got no info on the material.

I think the DoAll support line is accustomed to talking to production shops, not joe homeowner who will make less than 50 cuts a year, and would rather fuss around with making his own guides.

/chris

 

[chrisinnh]

if I would just hook up the air pump on it, I wouldn't have nearly as much problems with the stray chips. It would probably also make my tires last longer, as the chips tend to cut into the tires when caught between the blade and the tire.

Later models of my saw had a pair of wire brushes which cleaned chips off the blade before it got to the bandwheel.

It's hard to tell from the parts book, but it looks like it was a couple of tiny carwash style brushes driven by a flex shaft which was powered by the bandwheel.

/chris

 

[sandman2234]

One place that you might get a good answer is on the Chaski board. The moderator spend a lot of time rebuilding a vertical Doall and somebody on there probably already knows the answer.
Here is his saw, which is the same machine I purchased in Sarasota, Fl with a welder for $100.

doall

Chaski website
The Home Machinist! :: Index

David from jax

 

[laurencen]

I had wear plates on mine and replaced with a couple of roller bearings, you will require a brush of some kind to stop filings building up, you can use the saw without these guides as long as the cutting pressure is low, the blade will twist as it increases, anything will work such as brass or steel, materials such as aluminium will gumm up without coolant, try a piece of steel plate, allow about 0.01" clearance and should be good

 

[Egon]

My bandsaw knowledge is limited but:

I'm wondering why the roller #10 is not adjustable. If different blade widths are used this should be movable to keep the blade centered on the tires.

I'm guessing the blocks are missing because they may have been hitting the blade teeth.

My inexpensive three speed wood/ metal bandsaw has the roller guides. It has never been used for metal.

 

[sandman2234]

I would think 10 would be adjustable, if nothing else but a spacer/washer under it. My Roll-in is adjustable via the screw that goes thru it (11) without using washers,etc. If my DoAll was here, I would snap a picture of it, as it might help. It is about 30 miles north of here in a friends shop.
David from jax

 

[chrisinnh]

Bearing #10 is not adjustable.

This is a horizontal saw, so the blade has to twist 90 degrees between the idle bandwheel and the first guide, then back again after passing through the second guide.

The implication of that twist are:

1. The saw can't run without the missing #12, because it and #14 provide the twist. With either of those missing, the blade would twist back, cutting up the guide arms.
2. The #10 bearing doesn't control blade tracking on the bandwheels. #12 and #14 do that.

 

[Egon]

So much for my limited knowledge!

 

[Danno1]

.

Nylon is OK but UHMWPE would be best. You can buy it fr McMsater-Carr.

.

 

[JSharp]

I second the UHMW polyethylene if you're going to use plastic. It's the right stuff for that sort of thing and better than brass or other soft metals in most applications.

Any way to modify the guide or fabricate some new parts to take 2 more roller bearings? The life and precision will be much better than any sliding setup.