1/8” blade on Grizzly G0555

NOTW

Notw
Senior User
I have a Grizzly G0555 with 6” riser that I am trying to install a 1/8” blade on. I can not get the blade to track right and stay on the wheels. I’ve checked that both wheels are coplaner but still the blade comes off the crown of the wheels.

Has anyone put an 1/8” blade on a G0555 with 6” riser and if so what am I doing wrong? Thank you
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
From Alex Snodgrass's demo. Loosen both upper and lower guides, mount blade and track so gullet of the teeth are centered on upper wheel. Then adjust guides to match blade position. Alex's demo can be seen on line for free
 

NOTW

Notw
Senior User
I found the Snodgrass setup video but it is 35 minutes long so I will have to wait until this evening to watch it.

My process yesterday for setting it up was to move the top and bottom guide bearings all the way back so they were clear of the blade, next I put the blade on the middle of the top and bottom wheels, applied tension via the tension lever and adjusted the tension for a 1/8" blade via the tensioning knob. Next I used a straight edge to adjust the top and bottom wheels to be coplaner. Once all this was done I spun the top wheel to check tracking and made small adjustments to the tracking knob and still every time the blade would either come off the top or bottom wheel.

I never even got to the guide bushing adjustment part as I couldn't even get the blade to track correctly on its own.
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
I found the Snodgrass setup video but it is 35 minutes long so I will have to wait until this evening to watch it.
Next I used a straight edge to adjust the top and bottom wheels to be coplaner. Once all this was done I spun the top wheel to check tracking and made small adjustments to the tracking knob and still every time the blade would either come off the top or bottom wheel.
There is your problem. If you are making wheels co planer, this is done before installing a blade. Snodgrass says it isn't necessary. After installing blade, you only adjust top wheel to get blade to track in center of the upper wheel, then adjust the guides. Wheel is turned by hand for this adjustment. You don't want to power up with upper door open as blade could come off, biting you. Also, check your tension, as often it's way off.
 

NOTW

Notw
Senior User
So make the wheels coplaner without the blade on, install the blade and then adjust the tracking? It's the tracking step that i can't get past
 

NOTW

Notw
Senior User
Okay it's official I have given up on trying to get a 1/8" blade to track on my bandsaw. Took the 1/8" blade off and had the 3/8" blade back on and tracking within 5 minutes
 

Henry W

Henry
Corporate Member
Okay it's official I have given up on trying to get a 1/8" blade to track on my bandsaw. Took the 1/8" blade off and had the 3/8" blade back on and tracking within 5 minutes
So I can't comment on the specifics - because I have never used a 1/8" blade, or a Grizzly BS, and certainly not the combination.

I can agree with the recommendation to follow Alex Snodgrass' methods - as demo'd on YouTube. I had attempted to set up my BS - and had issues with tracking blades, drift, not being able to back out of a cut, etc etc. I could try to back out of a cut a kink and ruin a blade in 1 second. Did that multiple times before I essentially stopped doing anything challenging with my BS. All the things that made me hate my BS.
Now, after following the seeing the Snodgrass video multiple times, I tried setup his way (and ignoring wheel co-planarity). Now with the same blades and same BS, I am not perfect, but certainly much more confident that I can accomplish with my BS what I think it should be able to do. Last night, for example, I was able to back out of a cut of a slab - anywhere from a 9-12" cut high cut - and I pulled it back at least through 16" length of cut. When I finally used his setup routines, tada my BS is a now a usable and useful machine..

Moral to the story - Forget wheel co-planarity. Forget whatever else you thought you knew about BS setup. I would expect that your BS will behave, even with an 1/8" blade, if you set up according to the video. Try it.
 

sawman101

Bruce Swanson
Corporate Member
No reason to ever mess with bottom wheel unless you just rebuilt the machine. If the blade you were using tracked, so will a smaller or larger size band. Don't mess with bottom wheel.
 

patlaw

Mike
Corporate Member
I have a bandsaw (currently on loan) that I have never used, but I'm glad to see this video. It seems that it should be required viewing for anyone who uses one. Alex clearly knows what he's doing.

 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
I have a bandsaw (currently on loan) that I have never used, but I'm glad to see this video. It seems that it should be required viewing for anyone who uses one. Alex clearly knows what he's doing.

Snodgrass is usually at Carter booth at Woodworking shows. Even though I've seen him several times, I always try to catch at least a part of his routine.
 

NOTW

Notw
Senior User
So I hate when people get things figured out and never respond back to the class. ***Disclaimer, I have not tried this yet*** I emailed Grizzly about the blade tracking and here is their response back and my follow up questions along with their responses.

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your email dated December 10, 2019.

We are sorry to hear that you are having difficulties with your G0555LA35 14” Bandsaw with 1/8” blades. An 1/8” blade is the hardest blade to track. Often times, you need to sand a slight flat on the top of the crown of both your upper and lower wheel tires. The crown is often the problem due to the narrow body width of the blade and fine peak of the crown that cannot be flattened by the tension and width of the blade.

Your machine appears to be fine and perfectly coplanar prior to tracking the blades. If you can swap out to the ¼” blade and track it without issue, the issue is simply the narrow blade.

Vince,
Thank you for the response I do have two follow up questions. Do I sand the flat in the actual metal wheel or in the rubber tire that is on top of it? Also, if I do this will it affect the tracking of other size blades in the future?

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your prompt reply.
You would sand that into the crown of the tire itself, rather than the wheel. This will not affect other blades. Those larger blades compress the crown flat, but the 1/8” blade cannot do that. I recommend mounting sand paper to a block of wood, and then, placing the wood flat against the back of the saw and rotating the wheel by hand.
 

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