Bandsaw Blade Alignment Fun

[WoodWrangler]

My experience with the bandsaw is much too limited and I'm reminded by this yesterday ... here's what went down ...

I have a Grizzly G0555 14" bandsaw & decided it needed more cutting clearance, so I ordered the riser block set. It was a piece of cake to install ... however that's were the good times turned bad. First I couldn't get the new 105" blade to fit -- until about an hour later after learning how the bandsaw really works :slap:

Next I made a trip to Woodcraft and purchased a new 105" Timberwolf blade. Got home, slapped it in the saw and listened to the churn of METAL! 8-O

ALIGNMENT PROBLEMS!

All need to tell you now is that I have about 1/3 less teeth on the blade and am not even sure if it's right now.

Any bandsaw experts in Charlotte want to come over and teach me how to tweak this bandsaw? :lol:

PS - Anyone know if any good video tutorials on bandsaws online?

 

[DaveO]

I have the same saw, but haven't put a riser block on it yet. But I did have some alignment problems that I thought I could cure by adjusting the top half of the wheel support in relation to the bottom half. You can't do much in that aspect because there are alignment pins that very limit any movement. So the only other adjustment that I was able to do was to shim the upper wheel to get it co-planer with the lower. Between that and blade tracking there isn't much else that can be adjusted to get the proper alignment. The only other problem could be a mis-machined riser block. Ask Sapwood about that he has had some issues with a few for his Jet, IIRC.
Dave

 

[McRabbet]

Jeremy,

I do have the G0555 bandsaw and have the riser block installed in it, so I've experienced the add-on and longer blade issue. Here are my suggestions -- First, unplug the saw! You need to be sure that the upper and lower wheels are essentially coplanar after you've installed the riser block. My riser block did not force any adjustment here, so it should not be a problem. Second, be certain that the roller guides are causing the problem -- adjust the back wheels to be away from the blade. And most important, go through the center tracking procedure from the manual to be sure the blade tracks manually in the center of each wheel. Once that is accomplished, then reset the roller guides. If you don't have an up-to-date manual, you can download one from Grizzly.

Hope this helps. Rob

 

[sapwood]

Jeremy, you can look forward to spending a lot of time with your bandsaw :roll:
If the wheels aren't coplanar, the blade is not 90º to table side to side, or the blade moves front to back you will need a lot of patience, luck, or skill. Trial and error with shims and/or moving position of block itself may be required. If the latter is necessary, you will need to remove pins or enlarge pin holes to allow movement.

After many hours and milling the riser square and parallel, I still don't have my Powermatic 14" setup satisfactorily. However, it is on my "To Do List" to tackle again when I'm feeling really chipper :lol:

Best of luck,
Roger

 

[William Roscoe]

I agree with Sapwood. I had to take the pins out and move the top half over about a quarter inch. That helped a lot but I still need to tweek it alittle more in my spare time( which means the next time I need to use the bandsaw);-)

 

[cpowell]

My experience with the bandsaw is much too limited and I'm reminded by this yesterday ... here's what went down ...

I have a Grizzly G0555 14" bandsaw & decided it needed more cutting clearance, so I ordered the riser block set. It was a piece of cake to install ... however that's were the good times turned bad. First I couldn't get the new 105" blade to fit -- until about an hour later after learning how the bandsaw really works :slap:

Next I made a trip to Woodcraft and purchased a new 105" Timberwolf blade. Got home, slapped it in the saw and listened to the churn of METAL! 8-O

ALIGNMENT PROBLEMS!

All need to tell you now is that I have about 1/3 less teeth on the blade and am not even sure if it's right now.

Any bandsaw experts in Charlotte want to come over and teach me how to tweak this bandsaw? :lol:

PS - Anyone know if any good video tutorials on bandsaws online?

Clearly, you need to buy a 20 inch plus BS for your resawing needs and keep the Griz for small blade work. I believe this is covered in WG Disease handbook, Rule 5.2.3.(e) :lol: :lol: The validity of this rule has been verified by our very own Woodguy, Travis Porter and likely countless others.

Seriously, I bought "The Bandsaw Book" by Lonnie Bird and it does an okay job of going through a tuneup. I believe much of what is learned with a BS is through the experience of working out the kinks.

Good luck!

Chuck

 

[Travis Porter]

I had to move the top wheel on my Delta out almost 3/16". I got a shim kit from Iturra design. If you do start shimming the wheel out or removing washers to get it in further, plan to get a table shim kit as well as the table will no longer be at a 90 degree angle to the blade.