Band Saw Blade Tension

[atthebeach]

I have a portable Milwaukee deep cut band saw which only gets occasional use. My usual practice is to store it between uses with the blade tension relieved.

Both the manufacturer of the 17" band saw in my wood shop and the blade manufacturer, Timber Wolf, recommend this practice to maximize blade, guide bearing, and tire life. However, neither Milwaukee nor the metal cutting blade manufacturer, Morse, mention this practice in their literature.

Is there a relationship between blade life and constant blade tension with portable metal cutting band saws?

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Doubt it. The blade and the bearing both See Much Greater forces while cutting. I can't imagine that just sitting there and storage is going to hurt anything. You're surely not going to stretch out the blade

 

[derosa]

I have a portable Milwaukee deep cut band saw which only gets occasional use. My usual practice is to store it between uses with the blade tension relieved.

Both the manufacturer of the 17" band saw in my wood shop and the blade manufacturer, Timber Wolf, recommend this practice to maximize blade, guide bearing, and tire life. However, neither Milwaukee nor the metal cutting blade manufacturer, Morse, mention this practice in their literature.

Is there a relationship between blade life and constant blade tension with portable metal cutting band saws?

I've never bothered detensioning nor do I understand the practice. Everything I've read suggests it pertains to extending bearing and blade life but the bearings should have no trouble supporting a stationary load, they and the races are steel and should be plenty strong enough to not deform. I can't imagine that there's enough tension on the blade for it to stretch or really even fatigue since I would believe that it is the blade moving from a curved to straight back to curved as the machine runs that would cause the greatest fatigue barring tweaking it with a piece of wood.
With my own the blades have worn first or more frequently end up damaging the bkade long before it snaps. Might be back in the day of only having rubber tires the constant tension deformed the rubber tires but newer tires should be less prone to deforming under load.