Question about blades for an old ryobi bs360nr resaw bandsaw.

[Mike williams54]

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I bought this resaw bandsaw that was built to run on 3" wide 101-3/4" stelite tipped blades, which are somewhat hard to come by, although they can be had. The question at stake here is, what are the possibilities of being able to use the much more readily available 101" by 3/4-1" wide blades? Is it impossible to do, too dangerous? Has anyone ever put a slightly shorter blade on there bandsaw? The saw has quite a bit of adjustment to tighten the blade down. Is it as simple as just loosening it enough to see if I can wrap a 101" blade on and tensioning it? And for anyone that knows about this saw, it did come with a universal motor which was replaced by a 3hp leeson. As seen in the photos.
Thanks for any advice.

[Bradley Gray]

Most sellers will weld blades to any length you need. If you already have the shorter blade try it! If not, lower the upper wheel as far as it will go and wrap a tape measure around if you can - if not, measure center to center and add the circumference ( 2 halves)

I have a delta "Lumber Company" sawmill that originally ran a 2" stelite blade. I was able to machine the blade guides to run 1 1/2" non-tipped blades.

[Rick Potter]

I have a BS50N (the smaller model), and it looks to me like the blade guides would work. If yours is like mine with four plastic blocks for blade guides, it looks like you could simply pull out the forward blocks until they were clear of the blade, and the 3/4" blade could then be adjusted to the rear roller without damage.

This would allow you to try out the smaller blade, although I don't think you will like it, after the stiffness of the 3".

The stelite tipped blades are expensive, but last forever, with care. If you want to use it as a normal bandsaw, it may not be the right choice. It is only meant for resawing.

[Mike williams54]

Thanks for the advice, my saw does have the four adjustable guide blocks, I have recently started milling my own lumber, with my home made chainsaw mill, and this saw will help in that process, and making veneers, but I would also like to be able to use it to cut slight angles, more easily, for things like chairs, but with limited funds and space, I was hoping to be able to do both with this one saw. It sounds like I should be okay to try a smaller blade, if it doesn't work out at least I'll know. And I can probably snag an old craftsman for pretty cheap.
Thanks again.

[Joe Reardon]

Thanks for the advice, my saw does have the four adjustable guide blocks, I have recently started milling my own lumber, with my home made chainsaw mill, and this saw will help in that process, and making veneers, but I would also like to be able to use it to cut slight angles, more easily, for things like chairs, but with limited funds and space, I was hoping to be able to do both with this one saw. It sounds like I should be okay to try a smaller blade, if it doesn't work out at least I'll know. And I can probably snag an old craftsman for pretty cheap.
Thanks again.

Mike- Any luck trying out a smaller blade? The only blades I found were Skarpaz, and they cost more than I paid for the saw. Also, I would be interested in any luck/advice you have regarding aftermarket parts (guide blocks, fences, etc). I am new to wood working and bandsaws in general. It appears my bandsaw came without a fence of any kind, just the scale guide bar without the scale.

I got the bandsaw in a great combo deal with an older grizzly jointer and table saw. We were having trouble agreeing on a price for the jointer and table saw so this got thrown in to reach an agreement. It ran and only cost me $100 so I thought why not.

[Jim Becker]

Mike has not logged on since 2016, Joe. There's no guarantee he will have seen your post. You may want to start your own thread on the topic.

Jim
Forum Moderator