How long to change bandsaw blades?

[Marc Burt]

Van's recent thread got me thinking about this. I really hate changing out my blades. It seems like it takes me forever to get the old one off the machine and then readjusting the guides. As a result I oftentimes wind up using the wrong blade for the job or even breaking out the jigsaw because I don't want the hassle of changing blades. Since I use my bandsaw mostly for ripping I generally keep a 3/4 or 1" blade on it...which needless to say doesn't make the tightest turns! I'm thinking of picking up a little 14" saw to keep a 1/4" blade on for curve cutting. But frankly I don't really have the space for what amounts to just appeasing my laziness.

I have a 19" Grizzly and while I've never actually timed it I'd guess, without exaggeration, it probably takes me at least 10 minutes start to finish to change blade. (And probably closer to 15!)

Am I just really slow? Which is what I suspect. How long does it take some of y'all?

[John TenEyck]

I think it seems to take longer to change a blade than it actually does. No one likes to slow down their work flow to do it, so it naturally seems to take a long time. Your frustration is shared by many, and many have adopted your proposed solution, myself included. I kept my 14" Delta when I bought a new BS specifically for resawing. I keep a 1/4" blade on the Delta most of the time to take care of all the little tasks one asks of a BS so I don't have to change the 1" carbide resaw blade I keep on the bigger machine. Space always is an issue, but I haven't regretted having both saws.

Jon

[Ben Rivel]

Yea changing blades on any machine is a slow down IMO, but its a necessary evil. Right tool for the job kinda stuff. I dont enjoy it but I bought the other blades for a reason, gotta put em to use.

[john lawson]

All bandsaws are a bit tiring to change blades, some more than others. A lot of that has to do with the guides you have on your machine.

I have a 16" Minimax with Carter guides and it is a chore to change blades. It's much worse when I change from my 1" blade to a 1/2" or smaller. I have to reset most everything on the guides, and mine require a small allen key.

I really like the Laguna ceramic guides for both performance and ease of adjustment, they really are very good. And for all the criticism Laguna has gotten over the years I believe their guides and the Driftmaster fence are the best and worthy upgrades to any bandsaw. I put both of them on my 24" Centauro (which my son now has) and loved them. When my budget allows I will probably upgrade this latest saw. That said, blades changes were a chore on that machine as well.

[Michael Koons]

It takes me about 10 mins on my MM24, maybe a little less. I usually keep my 1/2" blade on there 90% of the time as it is good for my general cuts and any bigger curves I need. I get lazy from time to time as well but when it's time to resaw or do tighter cuts, I change the blade.

[glenn bradley]

I am also in the 10 minutes or less camp. I unplug the saw, back off the guides, loosen tension, remove the doors, remove the throat plate, remove the blade and coil it for storage (a magnetic peg on the back of the saw). Uncoil the blade going on, put it on, tension it, position the guides, drop in the throat plate, put on the doors and plug in the saw.

Certainly longer and more involved than the 60 seconds it takes to swap a tablesaw blade but, about the same amount of time it takes to change a bit and set the depth for a hand held router. We're not climbing mountains here. It took my mom longer to walk to the well to get water for supper . . . jeez!

[Darcy Warner]

That's why I have several bandsaws.

Wright guides are quick to set up, but it also depends on your saws guide mounts.

Most blades in my shop are around 19 feet long.

[Bill White]

I'm not gonna "cheap out" on blade selection and set up. Time does have a value, but poor results cause me to spend more on the end.
Bill

[Ben Rivel]

I really like the Laguna ceramic guides for both performance and ease of adjustment, they really are very good. And for all the criticism Laguna has gotten over the years I believe their guides and the Driftmaster fence are the best and worthy upgrades to any bandsaw. I put both of them on my 24" Centauro (which my son now has) and loved them. When my budget allows I will probably upgrade this latest saw. That said, blades changes were a chore on that machine as well.

I have ceramic guides on my Hammer N4400 and they certainly do make adjustments and setup quicker than the euro guides I also have for the N4400.

[Guy Belleman]

Scroll saw?

[Van Huskey]

I was curious. I changed from a 1" Trimaster to a carbon 1 1/2" blade on my 20" saw with Euro guides, the blade is 14' 4" IIRC. From start to finish it was 7:47, I tried NOT to go fast but knowing I was on the clock probably made me press on quicker than usually. I did not use the tension meter since I know the tension for that particular blade. I imagine the time for me would vary from say 6 minutes on smaller saws to 15+ minutes with a blade I haven't got tension info on especially wide blades since they take longer to navigate off and onto the saw.

While I am certainly an advocate of multiple bandsaws the reality is they don't save THAT much time and we can force ourselves to change blades when we actually need to. The other thing is "we" often use small saws for curves, and they certainly work, but it is also nice to have a bigger throat and a bigger table for curves too.

[Mike Cutler]

Sounds about right. I change the blades on my 14" Jet more often than my 18" Rikon.
It doesn't take long unless I change blade width. It's a little quicker now that the tires have been changed. Aligning for the crown of the OEM tires could be a little tedious. I have Carter Guides on the Jet.

[Bob Michaels]

Another option might be to add a "baby" band saw to your arsenal, like the 10" Rikon table top with a 1/4" blade. Doesn't take up much room and they're usually less than $200. That's what I did. My regular bandsaw is a 15" Powermatic which I bought as a size constrained upgrade in features, power and fit & finish from a 12" PM. Probably should have done a MM even though I'm satisfied with the PM15.

[Dave Cav]

I got to where I could change blades on a PM141 or 14" Delta clone in about 3 minutes, but that was when I was teaching shop and it wasn't so much as "changing" as replacing due to a broken or kinked blade, and we usually used 3/8 or 1/2" blades for just about everything, so little or no adjustment was necessary.

At home I have a Griz 17" and a 14"; I usually keep a 1/4 or 3/8" on the smaller saw and a 1" resaw blade on the 17" so again, I'm not fooling around with guides much and it's probably around five minutes on the small saw, and maybe 10 on the big saw.

Another vote for two bandsaws.

[Matt Day]

I've been on the lookout for a little vintage 10" delta, or even one of the new little 10" on the cheap. Because I hate changing blades on my 20", which must take 10+ minutes. I get very limited shop time and changing blades takes a chunk of it. I also have limited shop space which is crammed as it is, so fitting in a 14" saw is probabaly out of the question, a 10" saw will be small enough to toss in a corner or between bigger machines on the floor. I have recently got a Dewalt scroll saw which will help a little but it isn't a bandsaw.