Installing/Changing Blades
Always wear gloves when handling blades. New blades are usually packaged in a coiled position; to prevent injury uncoil them slowly and carefully, while wearing gloves and safety glasses.
1.Disconnect machine from power source.
2.Decrease blade tension by rotating blade tension handwheel (A, Figure 14) according to the arrow direction in Figure 14, until the handwheel stops.
3.Remove the table insert (Figure 13).
4.Remove the set screw at the end of the slot (Figure 13) with 4mm (or 5/32”) hex wrench.
5.Lower the upper blade guide assembly by loosening the knob (B, Figure 14) and rotating the handwheel (C, Figure 14).
6.Open upper and lower front doors.
7.Carefully remove the blade from between upper and lower blade guides. Remove blade from upper and lower wheels.
8.Guide new blade through table slot. Place blade in upper and lower blade guides. NOTE: Make sure blade teeth point down toward table, and toward the front of the saw.
9.Position blade on the middle of the upper and lower wheels.
10.Replace table insert and set screw.
11.Before operating the band saw, the new blade must be tensioned and tracked properly. Find instructions for tensioning and tracking the blade under “Blade Tension” and “Blade Tracking.” The blade guides must also be set properly according to the instructions on pages 18 and 19.
Blade Tension
1.Disconnect machine from power source.
2.Close both upper and lower doors.
3.Rotate blade tension handwheel to set the blade tension, according to the arrow directions in Figure 14.
4.The gauge (D, Figure 14) indicates the approximate tension according to the width of the blade in inches. Initially, set the blade tension to correspond to the width of your blade. As you become familiar with the saw, you may find it necessary to change the blade tension from the initial setting.
Figure 13
Figure 14
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