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I can understand why some people leave dull blades in their bandsaws. If you are uncertain on how to install and tension a new blade, it can be a bit daunting to re-set all the guides, bearings and other setting on a bandsaw, but after you have done it a few times, and you understand the process, it's really not a hard thing to do.
The reason it is so important to know how to change bandsaw blades is because they do become dull quite readily owing to the fact that most of them are made or steel because they need to flex around the bandsaw wheels. Most bandsaw blades for smaller saws, 10, 12 & 14 inch are pure steel blades. These blades heat up during use and over time become dull, and as they become dull, we push harder on the wood, making them even duller and eventually they need to be changed.
Installing and Tensioning a Bandsaw Blade
The most important step in changing bandsaw blades is to unplug the power to the bandsaw. Some saws have switches in weird and wonderful places that can easily be flipped on by accident when working on the saws. Next the blade tension needs to be released so that the blades is quite loose. At this point you can open the wheel doors to look inside ...
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Back in the day ... before mobile phones, tablets, computers and even hand calculators people invented amazing devices to aid in mathematics and calculations. In fact, many of these devices are still in use in some industries today because they are still as fast and as accurate and anything invented since then.
One of the items that fits this category is something called the Lumber Rule. They are still being manufactured today, though in much smaller quantities. The only real disadvantage of a lumber rule is that anyone who uses one is probably also carrying around a smart phone, which ... will do the same thing, kind-of, though often slower, and the smartphone still needs a tape measure to go with it.
Click here to see a Lumber Rule on Amazon ...
I have seen these Lumber Rules listed on a different auction sites, for some pretty serious money, I guess anything that is perceived to be "old" must be expensive (???) So I decided to make my own version of a lumber rule to help me quickly figure out the board feet contained in a board so that I can know how much that board is worth.
Making and Using A Lumber Rule
If you are at the lumber store and are only buying one of 2 boards, or some small quantity, who cares? ... a smartphone, or even just a tape measure will work fine. IF - however you are buying a quantity of boards, or you are wanting to compare prices of different species in the lumber store, and do it quickly - nothing will beat a Lumber Rule for accuracy and speed.
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For the purposes of this article, there are basically 2 kinds of electric motors, "brushed" and "brushless". Brushed motors have been around for about 150 years, but vast improvements in the early 1900 have left them almost unchanged since then, and for what they are, they are an excellent, efficient motors.
With the invention of the transistors in the 1960s, motor development took another step forward with the invention of the brushless motors. It is only because of higher technologies that these motors can work in a high enough efficiency to make the commercially viable because instant internal switching needs to occur.
Milwaukee of course have taken some of the early steps in this field by producing a series of brushless drills, Impact Wrenches and Hammer Drills.
Brushless Drill (Milwaukee) Overview
In Brushed motors, there are something called brushes that make contact with a specific part of the armature of the motor, the part that spins. In a brushless motor there are no brushes, the spinning is done by using permanent magnets and and switching poles internally in the motor in order to make it spin. Here is a great video from Learn Engineering that explains in detail how this works and compares it with brushed motor ....
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Before starting any project, it’s important to take a few minutes to make sure all of your equipment has been properly adjusted. Your table saw will give the best results if the miter slot and the rip fence are adjusted parallel to the blade. If either of these are not parallel, your cuts and your finished work will be lower in quality, and the risk of kickback will be increased. Here’s how to make sure your table saw blade is aligned to the miter slot.
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Disconnect the saw from the power source: A common sense step that is so easily forgotten when we’re excited to start a new project
How-To Align a Table Saw Blade to Miter Slot
Continued ....