BANDSAW MANUAL - valleywoodworkers.org
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1. 22 43040029 43050021 23 24 25 26 27 28 43040044 43040044 29 48097500 48097500 30 gt 31 43040027 43050023 21 32 33 34 35 36 E 3 37 43070149 43070149 38 43040036 43052024 39 3 40 30101900 30101900 PARTS ILLUSTRATION FOR TABLE 1 47 MM16 MM20 Table 3 16 20 SEE ILLUSTRATION FOLLOWING MM 16 MM 20 REFERENCE CODE CODE 1 2 2 48132400 48022300 22 ONO 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 12010103 01080102 48132200 48138100 48132800 48130400 48132400 48130800 48130900 01210405 30020200 48130700 48131100 10011270 10160000 10044951 48097100 48132400 12010103 01080102 48132200 48138000 48132800 43040042 43040040 48132400 03190303 43040045 04114007 43040032 12010105 01020102 48011800 48149200 48012800 48095400 49011900 48021000 48021100 01210405 30030300 48020900 48140200 10140027 10160000 10044951 48097100 48022300 12010105 01020102 48011800 48149300 48012800 43060032 43060031 48022300 03190304 43040045 04115002 1 ph 04132515 3ph 43040032 23 PARTS ILLUSTRATION FOR TABLE 3 MM16 MM20 Table 5 16 20 SEE ILLUSTRATION 5 FOLLOWING nete me we 1 48130300 43052048 2 43040059 43040059 3 E E 4 2 5 E 6 43040060 43040060 7 10066763 100667632. You have now tensioned our blade correctly Shut off the machine and put your guides back in place You are now ready to start sawing ALWAYS DETENSION YOUR BAND SAW BLADES Since you do not know exactly where the proper tension is it will be easier to remember if you take off 8 9 or 10 full turns of tension until the band is completely relaxed The next time you use our bands add the same amount of turns of tension that were taken off At this point you will only have to run the flutter test one time WARNING IF YOU DO NOT RUN THE FLUTTER TEST ON OUR SPECIAL SILICON STEEL BLADES YOU WILL NOT ACHIEVE THE ENDURANCE AND LONGEVITY THAT OUR HIGH DUCTILE BANDS ARE CAPABLE OF CHOOSING THE PROPER BAND SAW BLADE LUBRICATION NEVER USE WATER as a lubricant on band saw blades Water is NOT a lubricant and is the WRONG thing to use for many reasons For the woodworker using 1 and 1 1 4 bands not only is water unacceptable as a lubricant but it also rusts the bands causing deep pitting and inappropriate chip swelling This prematurely destroys the body of the band and its gullets It also dry rots your tires or V belts For proper lubrication mix HIGH ADHESION CHAIN SAW BAR OIL with 50 kerosene or diesel fuel Apply the solution with a spray bottle to BOTH sides of the band about once every four minutes while the machine is running When this lubrication is applied the sound of cutting decreases over 50 DO NOT APPLY AGAIN until
3. 5 On lower wheel hub on outside of frame loosen center bolt loosen lock nuts on the appropriate bolts to adjust usually top and bottom at 6 and 12 o clock See Section on wheel adjustment above and See Figure25 Lower Wheel Adjustment adjust wheel into coplanar 12 by loosening one and tightening the other in order to tilt the wheel in the desired direction 6 Reheck with template tighten locknuts and center hub bolt 9 7 Stabilize blade by spinning the 3 wheels by hand This will indicate how the blade will track and thus position the blade to check for not only the same planes for both wheels but the sguareness of the blade back to the 6 table Fig 25 LOWER WHEEL ADJUSTMENT TILTING THE TABLE ADJUSTING THE MITER GAUGE FENCE AND THROAT PLATE TABLE TILTING The bandsaw table will tilt up to 45 degrees To tilt the table loosen the large bolt enough for the table to slide in both trunions in the table tilt scale and adjust tilt by hand SEE FIGURE 26 TRUNNION BOLT Tighten the bolt Note that if the lower guide assembly has been positioned close to the bottom of the table it will be necessary to move this guide assembly down in order to tilt the table more than 10 degrees On some machines if the bolt is only partially loosened the Fig 26 TRUNNION BOLT Fig 27 POSITIVE STOP BOLT left trunnion tends to bind a bit You can tilt about 8 10 degrees in the opposite direction by removing the zero degree
4. positive stop at the rear underside of the table SEE FIGURE 27 POSITIVE STOP BOLT This may be desirable for such operations as cutting Bandsawn dovetails where the ability to tilt in both directions is useful On some saws the tilt mechanism trunnions are very tight This can be eased by removing the table and using some very fine valve grinding abrasive compound to loosen the sliding action of the trunnion Valve grinding compound looks like a gray sharpening stone that was turned into paste It can be found at an auto parts store where both coarse and fine is available Both grits are useful to polish trunnions miter slots and the kinds of roughness or binding often found on machine tools MITER GAUGE AND SLOT If the miter gauge binds in the slot slide it along the slot to find out where it binds Use a fine file dragged along the edge of the slot Then polish the slot and the miter gauge bar with some fine emery cloth A piece of oak to back up the emery cloth will keep the repair flat and square Frankly a miter gauge is of very little use on a bandsaw so don t waste too much time adjusting it ADJUSTING THE FENCE Fence and Blade drift Blade drift means the blade isn t cutting parallel to the fence Every blade will cut in a slightly different manner and you may have to adjust the fence angle to compensate for this drift To check blade drift mark a straight line on a board 24 long rip the board freehand while carefully f
5. the sound of cutting starts increasing guarantee you will be amazed Longer life No pitch buildup No rusted or pitted bands A great delivery system is the 12 volt windshield washer assembly out of an old car Pam spray on vegetable shortening is a great lubrication for 3 4 WIDTH AND UNDER band saw blades on vertical saws EXAMPLE Delta Grizzly Jet etc Unplug the machine Spray Pam vegetable shortening on a rag and wipe on both sides of the blade while turning the upper wheel by hand You will hear a 50 sound reduction when cutting A band saw blade is a tool You must lubricate both sides In both cases we know for a fact that lubrication of the body of the band increases band life by over 30 Applied sparingly you can cut grade lumber with NO staining to your product ALWAYS DETENSION YOUR BANDS When you are done cutting for the day take the tension off your blade Band saw blades when warmed up from cutting always stretch and upon cooling shrink by tens of thousandths of an inch each cooling period Therefore blades when left on the saw over tension themselves and leave the memory of the two wheels in the steel of the band which will cause cracking in the gullet When you leave the band on your saw under tension not only do you distort the crown and flatten out the tires which makes them very hard but you also place undue stress on your bearings and shafts Believe it or not you can and will damage yo
6. white oak walnut ash or anything frozen throughout the blade will probably rise in the cut This is called push off The hook angle must be brought back to 8 degrees You will notice as the angle goes from 10 degrees to 8 degrees the tooth becomes more perpendicular thus INCREASING its penetration factor As the tip of the tooth goes from 10 degrees to 12 degrees the tip of the tooth starts pointing forward DECREASING penetration in hardwood If you use 8 degrees on soft wood the blade may chatter because it s over feeding itself unless it s very knotty You need to use an 8 degree hook angle for hard knots On the other hand if you use a 12 degree hook angle on very hard wood the tooth skips over the hard surface because the tip of the tooth is pointing too far forward Having a 12 degree hook angle in hardwood cutting causes push off making the band ride up The band locks itself in place cuts straight across and drops down at the end of the cut This also burns up the band and over tensions it By articulating the proper hook angle and having your gullet mathematically correct for the pitch you will achieve straight grade cuts every time YOU MUST UNDERSTAND APPROPRIATE SET AND HOOK ARTICULATION THEY WORK TOGETHER We manufacture for North America 5 appropriate sets with a 10 degree hook angle 70 of the time this hook angle will be perfect for whatever you are cutting WARNING Again just as have brought to your attentio
7. 8 43040043 43050029 9 48132000 48132000 10 48132100 48132100 11 E 2 12 E 13 14 z 15 s 3 16 B E 17 z A 18 43040062 43040062 19 20 B y 21 2 22 i 23 gt 24 3 3 25 26 E 27 2 28 5 5 29 43040053 43040053 30 2 7 31 5 32 33 z 2 34 43040028 43040028 35 10230000 10230000 36 43040061 43040061 37 43040052 43050026 38 43040057 43070129 39 43050024 40 41 3 2 42 E 43 25 PARTS ILLUSTRATION FOR TABLE 5 MM20 MM16 26 Table 8 16 20 SEE ILLUSTRATION 8 FOLLOWING MM 1 MM2 REFERENCE cane CODE 1 13427171 13427171 2 30141000 30141000 3 48152401 48152400 4 01210405 01210405 5 EA 6 48152400 48152400 7 43070132 43070132 8 9 48152200 48152200 10 11 43040030 K 43060027K 12 P 13 14 15 16 43040030 43060027 17 43070131 43070131 18 19 20 21 E 22 10140028 10140028 23 43060043 40070026 24 25 43070231 43070231 26 27 27 PARTS ILLUSTRATION FOR TABLE 8 Fe T Ta 18 21 20 28 29 16 20 Table 10 16 20 SEE ILLUSTRATION 10 FOLLOWING MM 16 MM20 Ref Nr CODE CODE 1 ES 2 48098801 48098801 9 27090000 27090000 4 30131400 30131400 5 25 6 48098802 48098802 7 27081500 27081500 8 9 10 48098804 48098804 11 27071300 27071300 12 48132701 48098806 PARTS ILLUSTRATION FOR TABLE 10 MM16 MM20 29 Table 11 MM 16 20 SEE ILLUSTRA
8. BANDSAW MANUAL FOR MINIMAX 16 and 20 CONTENTS DELIVERY UNCRATING INSPECTION seem 1 MOBILIT ad oa 2 GLEANIN akte 3 WIRING 4 DUST COLLEG TION cnica 5 BLADE SELECTION i sica a Y LORS RU Fx ae CR Ka da 6 GUIDE ADJIUSTMENTE annaalides 6 MOUNTING uuu ocu il ddr lisas 7 BLADE ADJUSTMENTS iernii aaa aR 8 TRACKING ea pionin aoea na 9 SQUARING BLADE TO TABLE 10 GORLANAR TOPICS Siurana Eo 12 HEHNG TABLE saciar TE 13 MITER GAUGE isis as 13 FENCE IM CU inci 13 THROAT PLATE a 13 HELPFUL HINTS ad AAA A AA 15 TROUBLE SHOOTING 9 15 THE SIX RULES OF SAWING SPARE PARTS LISTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 21 RESOURCE RECOMMENDATIONS Note This manual has been assembled by Art Liebeskind from information and invaluable help from Bill Sams Carl Knapp Erik Delaney and many hints from others on the MiniMax Forum Users Group Please use care and discretion and realize that all adjustments and operations are done at your own risk Neither MiniMax nor the authors accept any responsibility for problems resulting from the operations of or adjustments to your bandsaw Feb 17 2004 MiniMax Bandsaw User s Manual For MM 16 amp 20 DELIVERY UNCRATING AND INSPECTION Delivery You have made the r
9. E SHARPENING THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO SHARPEN A BAND SAW BLADE A stone must come down the face of the tooth around the bottom of the gullet and up the back side of the tooth in ONE SWEEPING ACTION You MUST maintain gullet integrity The gullet is NOT a trash can or dumpster for the saw dust In fact it is the second hardest working part of the band A well defined gullet is like the inverted wing of an aircraft It is responsible for the forced air flow cooling the steel and removal of the saw dust If you are running appropriate set the air is driven through the log by the gullet at the speed of the band This causes the saw dust to be sucked out of the cut The saw dust effectively cools the gullet by spinning around the inside and spilling over the back side of the next tooth You MUST maintain a 40 gullet fill for proper cooling and extended cutting time If you sharpen just the face and the back side of the tooth you ruin the gullet integrity and destroy the performance of the band THERE ARE 4 PARTS TO A BAND SAW BLADE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF EACH PART IS THE STEEL The steel is the hardest working part Less expensive brittle steel not only welds harder but must be highly tensioned thus decreasing overall run time no matter what you do THE GULLET The gullet is the second hardest working part of the band It is the highway for proper air flow causing the cooling of the band and chip removal THE TIP OF THE TOOTH The
10. Mobility Wheels Mounted An easy way to do this is tilt the saw up and slide a piece of wood under the frame This will give 4 you the clearance you will need to mount the wheel Fig 3 Tool Kit bracket The Johnson bar then gets placed under the footbrake and you are ready to roll the machine around See Figure 5 Below Johnson Bar Placement Note Always be careful where you place your Johnson The bar can be easily and handily stored by placing the hook in one of the empty lift holes at the top of the saw Fig 4 Mobility Wheels Mounted Fig 5 Johnson Bar Placement If you will not use the Mobility system Insert the leveling bolts into the threaded holes as shown below See Figure 6 Leveling bolts Below Turn the bolts in to raise that end of the machine Most users have found that the machine is stable without being bolted to the floor Although the regular manual suggests this you may use your own judgement Obviously if you use the mobility system it will not be bolted down Another option is to E use wooden wedges If the machine is moved Fig 6 Leveling Bolts even a few inches the floor could change the level With a wooden wedge the short leg can be found and the wedge pushed under a little further to reestablish the level If the machine is going to stay put it is helpful to put rubber pads under the bearing legs Glue a piece of wood to the pads as needed for level operation This is better than having the m
11. TION 11 FOLLOWING MM 16 MM20 REFERENCE CODE CODE 1 43050020 2 43040041 43040041 3 15 15 4 17 17 5 12 12 6 43040033 7 43040049 8 43040058 B 43050022 10 48127006 48127006 11 48127011 48127011 12 10040015 10040015 13 2 s Table 12 MM 16 20 SEE ILLUSTRATION 12 FOLLOWING MM 16 MM20 REFERENCE CODE CODE 1 43040034 43060030 2 15 16 3 17 18 4 12 11 5 30 PARTS ILLUSTRATION FOR TABLE 11 PARTS ILLUSTRATION FOR TABLE 12 MM16 MM20 NOTE THAT PARTS WITHOUT A CODE ARE NORMALLY STOCK FASTENERS OR WASHERS ETC RECOMMENDED RESOURCES BLADES Olsen Blades MiniMax 1 866 975 9663 Suffolk Machinery Swedish Steel Blades 1 800 234 7297 Iturra Design no web site Lenox Blades 888 722 7078 Highland Hardware Woodslicer Blades 1 800 241 6748 TENSION GAUGES Iturra Design Starret Lenox 8 Iturra Blade Gage 1 888 722 7078 Grainger Starret www grainger com DUST COLLECTION SYSTEMS Oneida Air systems 1 800 732 4065 BOOKS The Art of the Bandsaw by Mark Duginske Bandsaw Handbook by Mark Duginske The Bandsaw Book by Lonnie Bird Contact MiniMax user s group www yahoogroups com for user friendly advice and discussions 33
12. To tilt the wheel Forward Top closer to the door loosen the top and tighten the bottom Again rotate the wheels in reverse to check where the blade end up Once the lower blade is tracking to your satisfaction lock the hub bolt again SQUARING BLADE TO TABLE SIDE TO SIDE SQUARENESS After all tracking and tensioning of the blade is accomplished check the blade for D Nc w ANGLE ADJUST BOLT 6 Fig 20 Table Adjustment Fig 21 Positive Stop table squareness Use a simple machinists square If the table is grossly out of square with the blade check to see if the table tilt mechanism has been moved If so loosen the trunnion clamp bolt and square the table To square the table to the side of the blade first loosen the large single bolt within the table tilt scale which secures the table to the frame See Figure 20 TABLE ADJUSMENT Then adjust the angle by turning the positive stop bolt small bolt and nut on underside of table See Figure 21 POSITIVE STOP in either direction then pushing the table up or down until the table is square with the blade And the table is against the positive stop Tighten large trunnion bolt FRONT TO BACK SQUARENESS OF TABLE TO BLADE Use the four adjusting bolts in the trunnion on the under side of the table for adjusting the back of the blade to the table See Figure 20 TABLE ADJUSTMENT again These are bolts with lock nuts and they can push or pull on the table Experiment with loosenin
13. achine resting only on leveling bolts CLEANING AND ELECTRICAL NEEDS Cleaning You are now ready to start the cleaning process Be sure to clean all the cosmoline grease off the machine You can use WD40 Kerosene or one of the citrus based solvents important side note is to remove the clear plastic blade guard and clean that only with soap and water Oil based solvents like WD40 or mineral spirits will cause the guard to fog permanently Pay special attention to cleaning the 3 micro switches on the saw one connected to the foot pedal behind lower wheel one each behind upper and lower doors Take your time when cleaning the machine This will give you the opportunity to to familiarize yourself with this new addition to the shop Wiring Now that you have spent the last 60 90 minutes cleaning the machine you are ready to get the machine set up electrically NOTE DISCONNECT ALL POWER BEFORE ATTEMPTING FOLLOWING AND CIRCUIT INSTALLATION BE DONE BY A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN ACCORDING TO YOUR LOCAL CODE You will need to wire your saw to a 220 240V outlet Depending on the saw you purchased you will need a 20 amp or 30 amp breaker separate circuit Many 16 run very nicely with a 20 Amp circuit and 10 or 12 wire Similarly many use a 30 amp circuit with 10 wire for the MM20 If there is any question in your mind contact an electrician See Figure 7 Electrical Nameplate If you purchased a single phase machine all MM16 s and s
14. afety microswitches DUST COLLECTION PORT SIZE AND AIR REQUIREMENTS Dust Collection Both the MM16 and MM20 have a 100mm very close to 4 extraction port located on the mid right side of the saw See Figure 10 Dust Outlet You may connect a 4 flex hose directly or use a guick disconnect adaptor flange 4 flex hose to 100mm available from Onieda Air Systems see sources Depending on the particular hose or parts you get it may be necessary to use a rubber plumbing connector 4 with two hose clamps to adapt your hose or the quick disconnect to the outlet A replaceable plywood deflector below the lower guides helps direct Figure 10 Dust Outlet the dust to the port See Figure 11 Dust Deflector A Fig 11 Dust Deflector CFM Requirements For a 4 Flex tube a conservative estimate is about 800 cfm on your collection system to capture dust effectively The actual figure can be estimated by a Cyclone or dust collection supplier such as Oneida Air See resources lt of course depends on the distance from the collector and the pipe sizes and geometry BLADE SELECTION GUIDE ADJUSTMENT MOUNTING BLADES Blade Selection BE CAREFUL BLADES ARE SHARP WIDTHS Common blade widths are 1 1 4 1 3 4 1 2 3 8 1 4 1 8 1 16 You will find that 1 1 2 1 4 blades cover a wide range of woodworking tasks TEETH The number of teeth per inch of blade TPI will range from 3 TPI to as high as 14 TPI Rough work and very t
15. dings dents or crate damage lf you see anything do not sign the delivery receipt and call Mini Max immediately at this toll free number 866 975 9663 If you have access to a camera photo evidence is extremely helpful Pull out the packing list and check to see that all of your accessories are there Confirm that if there are accessories missing this fact shows as a back order notation on the packing list Now that you have your bandsaw delivered safely to your shop you can begin the uncrating process You can use a hammer with a pry bar or even a reciprocating saw to remove the crate from the saw Cut the plastic off the machine and remove it Inside the plastic you will find a black plastic tool kit The tool kit Fig 2 Crated Saw includes a push stick allen wrenches open end wrenches a factory manual and 4 leveling bolts See Figure 3 Tool Kit Use the appropriate metric wrench in your tool kit to remove the two lag bolts that secured your saw to the frame Once you have removed the bolts slide the bandsaw off the pallet or lift the saw with the two hoist holes on the top of the saw Please be careful and observe all normal precautions and safety procedures while working on moving and operating this machine MOBILITY KIT If you purchased the mobility kit you will only use two of the leveling bolts found in the toolkit Mount the wheels to the left side of the base of the saw using the two bolts supplied See Figure 4 Below
16. e with paraffin blade lube to ease cutting and reduce pitch build up Spray PAM works well a Check bearings for sawdust buildup to prevent damage to bearings Keep holes in table insert clear for effective dust collection o Always remove tension from blade at the end of day establish a signal such as a ribbon to hang from the door as a reminder to retension before starting the saw D TROUBLE SHOOTING CHART THE PROBLEM PROBABLE CAUSE ACTION Motor won t start No current in circuit 1 Plug saw in 2 Check circuit breaker in the dedicated circuit 3 Check if stop button is released Clean cosmoline from micro switches on doors and brake stuck open 4 Adjust door switches by loosening switch holder nuts and move switch towards door Listen for the click when switch is in Motor overheats Wrong voltage 1 Check circuit voltage 2 Check wiring diagram be sure it is 15 Blade doesn t cut Dull or badly sharpened or 1 Change blade straight set blade 2 Sharpen and set if you are an expert Blade wobbles Wheels not coplanar Low Adjust as in section ADJUSTMENTS blade tensioning Guides or TO THE PLANE OF THE WHEELS bearings not adjusted Increase blade tension as in BLADE properly MOUNTING TENSIONING Section Adjust guide settings as in GUIDE ADJUSTMENT SECTION Check for bad weld on blade Blade Ticking Crooked weld on blade Smooth weld with file 2 carefully hone with
17. erences of opinion as to whether a flat wheeled saw such as the MiniMax MM16 and MM20 really needs to be coplanar Nevertheless the following routine will indicate whether your wheels are in the same plane and will present instructions for achieving this advanced state Wheels are adjusted to the same plane at the factory using the appropriate settings for a 1 14 blade This may not necessarily mean that the wheels will be coplanar for smaller width blades The reality is that when smaller blades ie 1 2 are used the blade may not track exactly the same on both the upper and lower wheels This is normal and perfectly okay as long as the back of the blade remains square to the table If it is not square to the table the following adjustments will help whether you are aiming for a coplanar condition or not STEPS TO ADJUST THE PLANES OF THE WHEEL COPLANAR 1 Prepare a 3 4 plywood template approximately 10 wide by 67 long with one edge perfectly straight 2 Cut an arc out of the template to bypass table or remove table Cut notches as needed to bypass the wheel hubs and the saw frame 3 With your widest blade on and fully tensioned hold the template against the face of the upper and lower wheels If the wheels are coplanar the straight edge of the plywood template will be in contact with the top and bottom of each wheel 4 If there is a gap on either the top or bottom on the lower wheel then the plane of the wheel needs adjustment
18. g and tightening these adjusters till the table is sguare to the back of the blade VERTICAL GUIDE POST ADJUSTMENTS Adjustment of the vertical guide post reguires that the lock knob on the side of the saw be loosened and the adjusting knob turned to raise or lower the guide assembly See Figure 22 GUIDE POST ADJUSTMENT When re positioning the height of the upper guide assembly to be close to the height of the material to LOCK KNOB UNSCREWED POST Fig 22 Guide Post Adjustment Fig 23 Upper Guide Post Alignment be cut the guide bearing adjustments made earlier should stay in position and in line with the blade If not loosen the two center bolts See Figure 23 UPPER GUIDE POST ALIGNMENT behind the locking knob and move lightly by hand until the bearings remain in line even with vertical movement of the guide post The lower guide assembly can also be adjusted vertically to give firmer support to the blade while cutting In other words i moved closer to the underside of the table Adjust by loosening the 17mm bolt ig 24 Lower Guide Adjust Bolt See Figure 24 Lower Guide Adjust Bolt that clamps the lower assembly and slide the assembly up or downup or down Tighten the securing bolt ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PLANE OF THE WHEELS Coplanar in Bandsaw terms means that the upper and lower wheel faces are in exactly the same plane This state keeps the blade well supported for accurate sawing and blade tracking There are diff
19. hick wood uses fewer TPI while narrower widths and fine work use higher TPI TOOTH TYPE Hook Skip type are good for re sawing ripping or joinery BLADE TYPES Blades can be had in carbon steel Bi metal or carbide tipped blades General woodworking needs can be met with a variety of types Both Carbon steel and Bimetal can be very effective Carbide blades are a powerful addition to resaw capability but must be suited to the saw For example the 1 wide carbide blade offered by Mini Max is not recommended for the MM16 because the smaller wheel radius flexes and work hardens the blade leading to premature breakage before dulling A 1 Carbide is however very well suited and effective on the MM20 and larger saws Note Mini Max sells the Olson line of bandsaw blades other options are offered in our sources section GUIDE INSPECTION AND ADJUSTMENT The guides are European ball bearing type For very narrow width blades MiniMax is developing a cool block guide system for using 1 8 and smaller blades LOWER GUIDES On the 16 or MM20 remove the lower guides See Figure12 Lower Guides This is a good chance to check to see if the guides are cleaned of the Cosmoline Loosen the allen screws in the back that hold the guides to the aluminum bracket Align the guides and tighten the allen screws Back the guides off and then move them back together to double check the adjustment before re installing the guides While the guides are out s
20. ight decision and now you are anxiously awaiting delivery Right now call the trucking company and make arrangements to get the machine into your shop There are a number of options including Self pick up at the terminal e lift gate truck delivery to your location e oreven the use of a machine rigger who will pick up the saw and place it at the point of use in your shop If you want to move the pallet you may of course use a simple pallet jack a forklift if you are fortunate enough to have the use of one or the unit may be lifted and moved by a hoist connected to the lift holes at the top of the saw See Figure 1 Hoist Holes at right Lifting is done by passing a rope through the holes in the top of the machine On completing the operation close the above mentioned holes with the plastic caps provided At any rate in addition to moving and lifting Fig 1 Hoist Holes tackle have refreshments and one or more strong friends on hand since the saw weighs about 450 pounds The Saw will be crated and shrink wrapped on a pallet as seen below in Figure 2 Crated Saw Obviously this packaging must be removed in order to check the condition of the sawand continue with the commissioning process Inspection and Uncrating Your Mini Max Bandsaw is heavily built but it is not immune to shipping damage Please inspect your saw thoroughly before signing for the machine Inspect the crate pallet and the actual machine for any
21. ight them from the top to make sure the two guides are toed in slightly towards the front this is what makes them spin and captures the blade just behind the Fig 12 Lower Guides gullets If they are not or the Fig 13 Upper Guides Front guide wheels spin in opposite directions when the saw is run with a blade installed call the Austin Office to report it and get instructions for a fix UPPER GUIDES starting with the top guides See Figure 13 Upper Guides 1 Screw the two side guides in and make sure they are meeting up with each other like stacking coins If they do not match up loosen the two allen screws from the back and then adjust twist the guides so that they meet each other perfectly 2 Tighten the allen screws 3 Open the guides upa little and then bring them back together to make sure that they meet up correctly This is to make sure that the bit of play in the guides does notgive a false indication as to how they meet 4 Next screw the guides together with the adjuster knob so that they just barely touch Sight them from the top and see that they are toed or angled forward just a little and that the inner and outer look the same If they are close all is ready for installation of the blade MOUNTING BLADES NOTE BE SURE POWER IS DISCONNECTED FROM SAW Back the guides off open them and install the blade as follows 1 Remove clear plastic guard 2 Open cabinet doors 3 Raise telescoping blade guard See Fig
22. ingle phase MM20 s the machine will have 3 wires The yellow green wire is the ground and the other two are your hot wires It does not have oruse a neutral wire If your machine is 3 phase and the machine is running backwards disconnect the power and switch two of the hot legs The MM16 has a short cord on the machine You can e connect a twist lock plug to it and then run an extension cord to it e wire the existing cord to a junction box that you add e or you can replace the existing cord and hard wire the machine The MM20 has a small junction box already on the machine See Figure 8 MM20 Box ONCE AGAIN Make sure the machine is disconnected from the power source when wiring the machine or the circuit breaker is turned off put a piece of tape on the breaker switch to prevent accidentally turning the electricity on if To turn the machine on First make sure both upper and lower doors are closed Micro switches control the upper and lower doors and the foot brake The Band Saw has a larger red off button and black on button See Figure 9 On Off Switch The off button Fig 9 On Off Switch needs to be reset to restart the saw The Off button may need to be pulled out or twisted GENTLY to reset it depending on the type of switch on your machine lt is perfectly allright to test start the machine without a blade If it does not start make sure the doors are closed and also be sure that there is no Cosmoline gumming the s
23. it the thrust bearing until the wood pushes the blade back during cutting 10 On the lower guides you need to make a similar check of the alignment of the back of the blade to the thrust bearing as you raise or lower the guides in reference to the table Note there are two pivot points on the lower guides to adjust them parallel with the blade At this point the top and bottom guides are set up and ready to be set for the particular blade 11 Loosen the bolt that fastens thede the round rod forward Slide the rod and guides forward so that the front edge of the side guide is just behind the gullet Look from the front to make sure the guides are parallel with the blade as the bolt is tightened 12 Adjust upper and lower guide bearing leaving 004 inch gap between blade and bearing Thickness of a dollar bill folded once Adjust the side guides in while you are spinning them with a finger When the guide can be felt just touching the blade back it off a hair Now tighten the lock As the lock ring tightens turn the guide adjustment with it to cinch it down securely Now spin the guide You should barely feel it touch the blade 11 Close doors and reinstall plastic blade guard 12 Rotate blade by hand to check tracking 13 Plug in saw turn power on to check operation ADJUSTMENTS TENSIONING BLADE TRACKING SQUARING BLADE TO TABLE ADJUSTMENTS Tuning and tweaking a bandsaw is the key to accurate precise and simple cutting Your enjoy
24. lines for repeatability A good recommendation is to use different colored markers and color code the different blade widths TRACKING You can not track a blade until the proper tension has been set Pay careful attention to the preceding section on proper tensioning of the blade The width of the blade dictates where it should run on the tire A rule of thumb suggests that anything over a 7 blade should have the teeth slightly over hang the tire This is to prevent premature wearing of the tires Smaller bl run as close to the center of the wheel as possible This is to Fig 18 Tilt Adjuster Fig 19 LOWER WHEEL TILT prevent the blade from walking off the wheel The knob on the back of the upper cabinet is the tilt adjustment on the upper wheel See Figure 18 Tilt Adjuster This knob allows you to change the position of the blade on the tire Loosen the locking gib and then rotate the knob Always rotate the wheels backwards when adjusting the saw This will decrease the possibility of you catching a tooth on something if the blade was too far forward Once you set the blade for the upper wheel lock the gib handle back in place The lower wheel can be adjusted at the rear of lower cabinet There are four bolts DO NOT TOUCH THE BOLTS AT 3 8 9 O CLOCK Right and Left See Figure 19 Lower Wheel Adjustment To tilt the wheel Back Top further from the door loosen the center hub bolt loosen the lower bolt and tighten the upper bolt
25. ment will be in direct proportion to the energy you expend on fine adjustment and tune up MiniMax bandsaws have flat tires versus crowneo tires The flat tire offers better support for the blade while cutting and increases accuracy TENSIONING A BANDSAW BLADE The tension gauge SUIS on the machine does not show true tension but rather serves as a point of reference See Figure 16 Tension Gauge It serves that reference function best after you establish the correct tension for each blade See Figure 17 Tension Aduster Correct really means the tension that works best for the particular blade in use Set tension by gently pushing blade sideways with finger The blade should deflect approximately 3 8 inch sideways with the telescoping blade guard at full Fig 16 Tension Gauge height or about 1 4 deflection when distance between upper and lower guides is set at 6 or less Because each person s definition of moderate pressure varies you may wish to borrow or purchase a tension indicator If using some of the so called lower tension blades it is strongly suggested that the manufacturer s instructions be followed A few suppliers are Figure 17 Tension Adjuster listed in the sources section Carbide Bi Metal Stellite and Carbon steel blades require different amounts of tension ranging from 15 000 to 30 000 psi Once you find the proper tension for the blade s you use you can create your own indicator marks
26. n the short life of a dial indicator you are also trusting the templates and gauges on your band saw blade sharpeners They are hardly set at the exact angle that you think they are The machines themselves wear out The pins and the guides in the sharpener that the back of the band rides on wear out lf a band starts riding on an angle a few degrees and you are unable to see it you will know there s something wrong after running that resharpened band To give you an idea of the amount of wear your sharpener will receive think of this Your bana if 14 ft long will travel around your sharpener a minimum of twice during each sharpening You have sharpened 50 bands 50 x 14 ft twice or 28 ft 1 400 ft or over a 1 4 of a mile with the back of the bands rubbing on the alignment pins and wearing them out How do you determine if your hook angle is right and see it Simple THERE IS A TOOL FEW OF YOU HAVE There is a specific tool made especially to measure your hook angle and that s a PROTRACTOR You must have a specific TYPE OF PROTRACTOR Without it you are blind and will never be able to articulate a band saw blade Without a protractor you are assuming the hook angles are right have analyzed over 4 000 band saw blades since 1992 Over half of the problems were due to ee the hook angle was right on We have in stock precision Starrett band saw blade protractors at our cost You must one It s mandatory GULLET PROCEDUR
27. ollowing the line About halfway through the cut stop the saw and leave the board in place Mark the side of the board on the saw table with a soft pencil This line indicates the Fig 28 Fence Adjustment Bolt appropriate angle for the fence Move and adjust the fence parallel to this line and therefore parallel to the direction that the particular blade wants to cut The fence angle may be adjusted by loosening the top bolt in the fence assembly Pivot the fence about the roll pin and tighten the bolt SEE FIGURE 28 FENCE ADJUSTMENT BOLT THROAT PLATE ADJUSTMENT The height of the throat plate is adjusted by 4 screws A fine screwdriver may be used to adjust the plate absolutely flush to the table SEE FIGURE 29 THROAT PLATE ADJUSTMENT Fig 29 Throat Plate Adjustment HELPFUL HINTS BLADE SELECTION What blade for what purpose RE SAWING RIPPING 1 Blade with 3 4 pitch tpi hook skip tooth blade LIGHT RE SAWING RIPPING 2 Blade with 3 4 pitch hook skip tooth blade CURVES AND JOINERY 1 2 Blade with 8 10 pitch tpi for joinery cuts and curves larger than 2 1 4 radius TIGHTER CURVES 1 4 Blade with 8 10 pitch for joinery and curves larger than 3 8 radius GENERAL SMART THINGS TO DO a Clean table and fence frequently and wax with paste wax to eliminate friction a Round back of blade with file or honing stone to eliminate scouring of thrust bearing and help prevent binding while cutting curves a Coat the blad
28. stone while blade is running SIX STEPS FOR BANDSAWS With permission from SUFFOLK SAW TIMBERWOLP 2003 Suffolk Machinery Corporation All Rights Reserved THE SIX RULES OF SAWING FOR TURN SCREW AND SPRING TENSIONING MACHINES Remove guides you CANNOT run this test if the band saw blade is restricted in any lateral movement Make sure tire surfaces are in good condition they cannot be hard flattened out cracked or brittle On mills with loose fitting V belts replace them with the next size down so they are tight fitting This will eliminate over 80 of the vibration in your mill and the blade Mount the blade on the machine and apply the tension to the band that the manufacturer recommends for other steels Close all covers for safety purposes Start the machine engage the clutch into the high speed cutting mode NOTE You will not be cutting any wood Stand at the head of the machine with your hand on the turn screw tensioner and your eyes on the band saw blade Very slowly start detensioning by half turns at a time keeping your eyes on the band saw blade The object is to bring the tension of the blade down to a point that the blade starts to flutter TAKE YOUR TIME When you see the band start to flutter you have hit ground ZERO Now start ADDING quarter turns of tension SLOWLY until the band stops fluttering and is running 16 stable again At this point ADD one eight to one quarter turn of tension
29. tip of the tooth is the third most important and we all know what that does By the way always keep a 10 degree hook angle NO more NO less for good general sawing Very hard frozen or knotty wood uses an 8 degree hook angle These values bring the whole science of band saw blade physics and the ART of sawing together On our videotape there is a 40 minute segment dedicated on how to correctly sharpen a 20 bandsaw blade and also how to build out of a 5 or 6 bench grinder a manual gullet procedure sharpener We include a schematic When all is said and done the band saw in all its shapes and sizes is a fundamental machine But as you have just read there is alot to know in becoming the master of your machine SPARE PARTS LISTS AND DRAWING SPARE PARTS In order to ensure prompt shipment of the necessary spare parts itis absolutely essential to keep meticulously to the following procedures 1 Indicate the model and part number of the machine 2 Indicate the table code and reference number of the parts reguired 3 Indicate the guantity reguired Table 1 MM 16 20 SEE ILLUSTRATION 1 FOLLOWING Reference MEO CODE CODE 1 43040026 43050025 2 43040001 43050001 3 E 4 05061916 05061916 5 2 6 43040038 43040038 Jf 8 5 9 10140007 10140007 10 gt 11 12 13 gt 5 14 06452001 06452001 15 13101181 13101181 16 43070159 43070159 13710000 13710000 18 43040031 43040031 19 20 21
30. ur wheel geometry sooner or later and considerably shorten bearing life You are also crushing your tires or V belts WHAT IS APPROPRIATE SET Appropriate set is when you have a mixture of 65 70 saw dust and 30 35 air in the space between the body of the band and the wood you are cutting The SIGN you are looking for when you are running appropriate set IS A GOOD 80 85 SAW DUST EJECTION FROM THE CUT If you are running too much set for the mass or thickness of the wood you have too much air and not enough saw dust You will leave EXCESSIVE loose saw dust and most likely it will be accompanied by tooth marks If you are running under set you will have no air flow pulling the saw dust out The SIGN for this is excessive HOT packed down saw dust This is the most damaging thing you can do to a band You will have short cutting times and premature band breakage The saw dust should be warm to the touch not hot or cold One last thing a band that is excessively under set will cut in a wavy motion and a band that has an improper HOOK ANGLE and is UNDER SET will cut a bow across the board every time WHAT IS HOOK ARTICULATION Because of our deep gullets we are able to use lower hook angles which generate less heat on the tip of the tooth The Timber Wolf series of bands uses a 10 degree rake or hook angle which is capable of penetrating most surfaces from medium hard to medium soft woods If you are cutting very hard wood like
31. ure 14 Guard Assembly ADJUSTHE 4 Adjust upper amp lower guide assemblies out of the way of the insertion of blade 5 Insert blade on tires adjust so teeth are just barely protruding beyond outside edge of tires teeth should point downward toward table if not turn blade inside out 6 Adjust tension B 7 Adjust tracking by spinning wheel Fig 14 Guard Assembly manually to check tracking and blade location 8 Check that the plane of the top and bottom wheels are in the same plane Coplanar see Coplanar section Note that many experts insist that this is not an issue with flat tires such as those on the MiniMax bandsaws 9 Adjust upper and lower thrust bearing 1 64 016 inch gap behind blade Check to see if the back of the blade lines up with the thrust bearing in the correct place The back of the blade should make contact close to the center Fig 15 Horizontal Adjustment of the outer machined area of the trust bearing If the blade is too far out on the edge the blade will tend to slide off the edge If the blade is too far towards the center the thrust bearing may not spin correctly and may be damaged A one time adjustment for positioning the thrust bearing may be made on the top guides by loosening the bracket holding the entire guide assembly to the bottom of the guide post It slides the guide diagonally to move the bearing side to side See SIDE TO SI USTMENT Figure 15 Horizontal Adjustment The blade should never h
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