STL291: Bandsaw tension secrets revealed!

question 1:

From Eric:
Is there a good way to consistently set the tension on a bandsaw blade? I remember reading once about how much sideways deflection the top guide should be if you set it up on a table. As a woodworking teacher, I am frequently adjusting bandsaws as my students are learning how to set the upper guard and adjust it to keep it from touching. I recently broke a 3/4 inch blade starting at the tooth and going to the rear of the blade. The crack did not penetrate the blade, it remained connected at the rear and the blade was heavily bent towards the tooth side. Is this a sign of hypertension?

Question 2:

From Valentin:
I have a question about the order of surface treatment, bonding and finishing. It seems like a silly question, but as the project draws to a close, I hesitate to chronologically review the final steps. The logical way would be to sand the parts, glue them, and then apply the finish, but I want to finish the parts before gluing, so I don’t have to squeeze out the bare wood, color it, and re-sand it. . Parts once assembled. But what if one side exaggerates a little more than the other and you need to flatten the joint after gluing? What if you scratch the surface during gluing? I should mention that my work is generally quite complex and accessing parts of it is not easy. Also, I usually use Rubio Monocoat as my default wood finish.

Question 3:

From Jason:
I often struggle with woodworking design. Specifically, getting the proportions of the pieces right. I always do a bad sketch with a dull pencil on a scrap of paper to get a mental picture of exactly how it will fit together. But every few years, before building a bigger or more difficult project, I render it in Google SketchUp. It’s very useful to adjust some proportions to get the look right. I know now that this was many years ago, but I was very surprised to find out that Google SketchUp is no longer free and made by Google. It looks like it was purchased by a company called Trimble. Either way, I’m curious if anyone uses a computer-aided design program to mock up your work. If so, do you have a particular favorite piece of software? But being able to see the work before it was made was sometimes worth the trouble. Since I rarely use it, I don’t think it’s necessary to buy the software, but if there is a good program that is easy to use for people with technical difficulties, they’ll be happy to buy it.

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