Homemade trick for tensioning a bandsaw blade

[Christophe Mineau]

Hi,
I fear here I am borderline, but I wanted to show you another application of the smartphone in the shop.
It's a musician's trick or luthier's trick : it's about controling the tension of the blade by measuring the tone when you pluck it.



Read the related article :
La Belle Note - Bandsaw blade tension

It can be measured using any digital tuner, but again, the smartphone, as you always (don't you?) have it in the pocket, is of great help, and for the mater of tuning accuracy, it's really great.

Ken, sorry , there's nothing built here, but a little bit of creativity (I hope so ), maybe you should have a section for tools that are hacked things.

Thanks for reading.

[kbalch]

Hi Christophe,

I used to do this by ear, of course, but having a digital tuner would've been great - both in the orchestra pit and the shop!

Ken

[Christophe Mineau]

Thanks Ken, but don't bring your bandsaw to the orchestra
Thought, tools can make interesting music :

[kbalch]

Very, very cool.

Ken

[Altair]

Very neat trick Christophe. First the angle finder and now a blade tensioner? In the right hands, there's more to smartphones than it seems.

[richard johnson]

what note are you tuning too.I have an extra digital tuner and it would be great for the portaband and 2 other bandsaws I have.That is really great. (I dont really care for smart phones or cells . I have four daughters that need them surgicaly removed)

[Christophe Mineau]

Hi Richard,
It's difficult to tell an absolute note, it depends on the blade, just like a guitar string, and depends also on the distence between the wheel, just like the guitar scale.
In fact, the trick is good for repeatability.
Once you have a good setup, just write the note inside the wheel's hood with shalk.
I can give examples for the two blades I have by the time being.
@++

[DIYer]

That's really cool, Christophe. Used to have a frequency analyzer in my Palm. Now, I have an angle finder in my smartphone.