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[email protected] hubops@ccanoemail.ca is offline
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Default Why no 3-wheel bandsaws?

On Mon, 13 Jul 2020 10:42:47 -0700, pyotr filipivich
wrote:

on Mon, 13 Jul 2020 08:33:36 -0400 typed in
rec.woodworking the following:
On Mon, 13 Jul 2020 01:18:51 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Wednesday, January 14, 2004 at 3:36:15 PM UTC+11, Hylourgos wrote:
A simple question: why aren't bandsaws more commonly made with three
wheels instead of two? Sure, I've seen custom jobs made that way, and
the fact that 2 is more simple than 3 is obvious, but the tradeoff for
cutoff and height capacity seems worth it, but I don't know of any
popular manufacturers making them.
There must be a good reason...anyone know?
Curiously,
H

They usually have smaller wheels and therefore are prone to metal fatigue
and the blades break more often.


I had the 3-wheel 16 inch Delta - unfortunately - :-(
it required thinner blades -
- the thin blades were a PITA for tension and wandering.
- normal blades didn't last, because of the smaller radius..
The affordable extra throat dimension seemed-like-a-good-idea
when I bought it ... not so.


So, in short, for occasional use a three wheel is fine. But for a
lot of use(e.g. ripping long boards) they are less than optimal.
Fnord. Well, you gets what you pays for.



I would not say a troublesome tool is good for occasional use.
The 16 inch 3-wheel was not cheaper than a 12 inch 2-wheel -
just cheaper than the big 16 inch 2-wheel.
I forget what the price comparison to a 14 inch 2-wheel ...
it was about 40 years ago :-)
John T.