Comments regarding Max Mahanke's opinion.

I started my career as an "apprentice"in the machine shop of a very large
corporation in the year 1954. In those days, an apprentice was the lowest
form of animal life in any machine shop. All the "grunt" jobs were lowered
to the apprentice. You learned, or you "got out". One of my menial jobs was
using one of the many large bandsaws in the machine shop. That included
rough cutting raw stock to size, cleaning and maintaining the bandsaw. I can
not remember "releasing tension" at any time. Once the tension was set, the
machine was in a ready state for use.

Could there be some significant difference between the machines....I doubt
it. We assumed that once a tire had a "set" the alignment would stay until a
new tire was required. In other words, a groove was established that helped
regulate the bandsaws performance. Maybe things have changed......

I ended my career as an electronic physyicist and a very avid woodworker. I
am still learning and I am readily open for opinions regarding my prized
woodworking tools.

One other comment. Way back then, an apprentice learned to sharpen tools. We
learned to sharpen using a grinding wheel for rough forming, then finished
using several stages of finer "emery" cloth, which is a form of sandpaper.
We are now back to using sandpaper. What goes around, comes around.

John