Danger!

[wannabewoodworker]

WOW........What a thread! The Engineer's response was a bit over the top IMHO but he did have some good advice in the proper use of the new PowerPro. My personal experience with the bandsaw in both the power station and one of my Mark V's is that I have never experienced or noticed for that matter any looseness in the mounting of said SPT. I am really anal about getting the SPT's mounted securely and tightened down as excessively as possible as I don't want any extraneous movement during a milling/cutting operation. I do find tightening the end rests/headrests against the mounting tubes to be somewhat annoyingly difficult as there isn't much room to get your hand in there and really torque down on those round handles. I suppose using a set of the collars to permanently set the height of the SPT so that tightening of the end casting handles is not as important would be the best solution. I actually setup my jointer this afternoon to mill some Oak and had some difficulty getting the jointer set at the proper height to be mated level with the headstock. I then remembered lifting the jointer up while lining up the coupler and then tightening the end rest handles. I was attempting to use the collars but that was ending up being a royal PIA so I remived the collars and just went with the end casting handles instead. I just now figured out what I was doing wrong in utilizing the collars. I should have left them on and done what I did to get everything level then tightened the collars in the position that kept the SPT at the proper height...............DUH!

In any event the bandsaw being loose concerns me and I would really be interested in finding out what the root cause of that issue was. There are a multitude of reasons why this could happen so speculating just isn't going to get it done. I do wonder however if somehow the bores in the end casting have somehow work to a point that they do not grasp/hold the mounting tubes firmly any longer?

[keakap]

Are ya sure the mounting tubes are secured to the BS? Are the bolts in the sleeve (#11,22) adjusted to equal lengths?

Yes.

And I should have pointed out- and not treated as a 'given- that when I installed the PP headstock I didn't take that as an opportunity to change all the installation and adjustment parameters I'd been using since day 1.

It's too easy to get off track in a situation such as this one. The basic point is that No Thing changed except the PP.

But thanks for the reminders. Everybody. I copy 'em down and keep 'em around, for when I ever have another problem.

[keakap]

OKAY, now you have done it. I'm going to have to mount the bandsaw on my Mark V and see how much it moves in a stiff breeze. Quite a bit, if I remember correctly. I have the bandsaw mounted on a Power Station and it moves quite as bit there too.

And it occurs to me that since that breezy flexibility is apparently built in and harmless that the not- quite- bottomed mounting of the SPT connector that JPG mentioned in conjunction with the somewhat hefty spring within it are part and parcel of the 'programmed-in' movement. The spring, I submit, which has no function if the connector is bottomed, is there to absorb the breezes. So to speak.

[keakap]

No doubt, the eccentric tubes for the bandsaw provide about as much spring action as a diving board. Good idea in concept and if one can tolerate it, it works, but I find it annoying and remove my bandsaw anytime I want to go vertical. If the PP is sensitive to this, it's possibly a problem.

All of these things are growing pains just as they are for any new product going to market. Any new automobile can be tested at the factory and in the field until the fat lady sings but when the car gets into the hands of consumers, things have a way of happening. It is for this reason, I, like Dusty will delay purchase until the bugs are worked out.

And with a little red in my complexion I'll admit that since I was apparently not ready to make the new PP a full time issue until it is perfect (as perfect as the old one anaway) I too should have waited, if for no other reason than that this thread wouldn't have happened.

On the other hand...

[keakap]

[quote="dusty"]I am a little confused about the difference between Bandsaw Eccentrics (555626) and Bandsaw Mounting Tubes (5137779).

I thought I understood that they were one and the same]

If I remember correctly the newer tubes are "more eccentric". I'm not with them at the moment and can't see 'em, but aren't the originals "one piece"? The newer ones are two cylinders mounted together with a plate and screws, reminiscent of the Lift Assist biness. The plate, with the enormous mechanical advantage of the heavy Bandsaw working on it, becomes quite flexible. So there's flex there in addition to any found in the mount or the BS frame itself.
Note: there is flex in the mount!

[keakap]

Since I have NO experience with the PowerPro, my comments were based only on what I have read here on the forum. I concluded that if a loose set screw could cause the growling then too could any unwanted movement of anything in the drive line. Thus the bandsaw moving on the tubes effects the coupler thus effects the PowerPro. Just trying to be analytic without hardware to check my theory.

I tend to think that your hypothesis is correct (the bandsaw moving on the tubes effects the coupler thus effects the PowerPro), insofar as whatever slack might be found in the coupler would naturally be larger with greater separation, assuming some wear or flexibility in the coupler itself.

However...

[keakap]

...

BTW With the band saw all set to run on the Mark V, I have very little (if any) flopping in the breeze. It is stable enough that I would be surprised if it created the infamous "growling" effect.

I agree. And again I had mentioned the flappingness not as a problem so much as an oddity when the coupler et al came to the fore.

[keakap]

Hello everyone.
this viberation problem may be a problem, but I think leaving the 10" circler blade on the machine while using the band saw is a mistake.
I own two SS (a greenie & a 510/20)
A while back ago on my greenie, I did the same thing. only instead of the set screw backing its self out, my table lossened up and slid down into the saw blade. No major dammage was done. but...
Now when not using the saw, I disconect it.Plane and simple.
C.A.G.

I absolutely agree. I don't remember if I stated here that leaving the TS blade on is an obvious safety hazard, but if not I should have. I definitely left no uncertainty about that stance in conversations with SS Support. I would NEVER recommend to anyone that they leave a blade on like that, for safety considerations.
[But I can do it. There is nothing -- or there WAS nothing-- that could have come loose, a la table, during my BS setup that wouldn't have come loose under perfectly normal- i.e. exceptional safety checks being done always- circumstances, EXCEPT if a new criterium were introduced unknowingly, in this case 'growling'.

[Btw, many words have been used to describe the PP noises, and I've used most if not all of 'em. But they all pale to incompetence next to the live audio interpretation- even over the phone- given the other day by Wes at ShopSmith. When he did it I had to look over at my Mark 5 to see if it had suddenly started itself up. ]

To be clear, for safety, I do NOT recommend leaving a blade on the table saw when using the BS.

[keakap]

Leaving the blade attached when using the Mark 5/V for other than a table saw is probably NOT a good safety practice if for no other reason than "your attention is not focused on the blade"....

Also here, I holeheartedly agree. And imagine when your ill-focused attention suddenly is confronted with a spinning blade- 20 SECONDS AFTER you turned off the machine!

Good thing this happened beFore lunch!

[keakap]

... looseness in the mounting of said SPT. ...
In any event the bandsaw being loose concerns me a...

Time to reset terms.
The problem was not with the Band Saw per se.
"Loose' was a possible issue with the coupler, worn or not, and as a possible cause of "growling" etc.
Flapping in the breeze was not mentioned as a problem but rather as an oddity and a 'norm' at the same time.
Things can bend or move without being loose.

In this situation the Band Saw was in use when the real problem occurred, otherwise it had no real involvement. "Growling" was a problem withOUT the BS.

I realize I caused most if not all of the confusion. What can I say-- I was confused.

However...