Adjusting "cant" of bandsaw wheels?

randyrls · Post by **randyrls** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 5:31 pm

After I tuned my bandsaw it gives excellent performance, but I recently wanted to do some short radius cuts, so I switched to my 1/8" blade. It immediately ran off the front of the wheels. Fortunately I was spinning the wheels by hand! My 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" blades run perfectly centered and against the backer bearing on the left side of the saw. The local Woodcraft doesn't have a 1/8" saw blade in the correct length.

Is there a difference in the blades going to narrower widths?

I remember hearing that it is possible to bend the wheel shaft to increase it's "cant". If believe that you should bend the shaft upward to increase the cant? Correct?

I may replace the 1/8" blade with a Timberwolf blade before I try anything drastic.

Any assistance or ideas are appreciated.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 7:27 pm

randyrls wrote:After I tuned my bandsaw it gives excellent performance, but I recently wanted to do some short radius cuts, so I switched to my 1/8" blade. It immediately ran off the front of the wheels. Fortunately I was spinning the wheels by hand! My 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" blades run perfectly centered and against the backer bearing on the left side of the saw. The local Woodcraft doesn't have a 1/8" saw blade in the correct length.

Is there a difference in the blades going to narrower widths?

I remember hearing that it is possible to bend the wheel shaft to increase it's "cant". If believe that you should bend the shaft upward to increase the cant? Correct?

I may replace the 1/8" blade with a Timberwolf blade before I try anything drastic.

Any assistance or ideas are appreciated.

I do not recommend 'increasing' the cant if the larger blades track properly.

Question is, why the 1/8" blade will not.

BTW 'centered' is not the objective. Blade back running against the tracking bearings is.

Is it possible the tires have a groove worn in them that the 1/8" blade wants to fall into?

algale · Post by **algale** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 8:07 pm

I'm with JPG: check tire for a groove keeping the 1/8th blade from riding back far enough to hit the autotrack bearing.

randyrls · Post by **randyrls** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:29 am

JPG40504 wrote:Question is, why the 1/8" blade will not.
BTW 'centered' is not the objective. Blade back running against the tracking bearings is.

JPG]
Is it possible the tires have a groove worn in them that the 1/8" blade wants to fall into?[/QUOTE]

This isn't likely, I replaced the worn out rubber tires with the newer orange tires when I tuned the saw. I have not used this saw blade before and I've ordered a new Timberwolf blade. It may be possible that I am over-tensioning the blade. I will have to check that this morning. I release the tension on the blade when not in use.

Added Later: I went down and checked the blade with both less and more tension, but it keeps running off the tires. One thing I did notice is that the "joint" in the tire is cut straight across the tire and it appears that the joint slopes down toward the front of the tire. There are scuff marks where the tire was joined the scuff marks are wider toward the front of the tire.

Thanks for the replies.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:12 am

Are the 'orange' tires 'slicker' than the rubber ones?

Getting back to canting, have you checked to see if it is correct?

Which wheel is it slipping off first(upper/lower)?

Are the guide blocks positioned correctly so the blade back does not touch anything but the lower tracking bearing?

Wonder what fun I will have with the 1/16" blade that I have not tried yet?

randyrls · Post by **randyrls** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:54 am

JPG40504 wrote:Are the 'orange' tires 'slicker' than the rubber ones?

Yes]Getting back to canting, have you checked to see if it is correct?[/QUOTE]

I did do a straight edge on the wheels.

Putting the edge across the upper wheel rims just touches the rim of the lower wheel.
Putting the edge across the lower wheel rims gives about 1/8" gap on the lower rim of the upper wheel and about 1/4" on the upper rim of the upper wheel.

The first measurement makes me think the upper wheel does need more cant.

Which wheel is it slipping off first(upper/lower)?

I haven't let the blade get that far.

Are the guide blocks positioned correctly so the blade back does not touch anything but the lower tracking bearing?

I removed the cool blocks so they aren't part of the problem. The blade doesn't touch either of the tracking bearings.

Wonder what fun I will have with the 1/16" blade that I have not tried yet?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 12:35 pm

That 'cant' seems minimal to me!

So we are back to where you started with the initial post!;)

At this point I think increasing the cant might help/cure the errant 1/8" blade.

Moderation is the operative word here. Apply torque to the shaft(not the wheel) a little at a time and check for 'results'.

With a straight edge laid against the upper wheel, the straight edge should clear the top of the lower wheel by about 1/4".

With a straight edge laid against the lower wheel, the straight edge should just touch the bottom of the upper wheel.

The previous two sentences are the result of my 'sample' size of two, neither of which I have tried using 1/8" blades on.

Buena Suerte

randyrls · Post by **randyrls** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 1:55 pm

[quote="JPG40504"]That 'cant' seems minimal to me!

So we are back to where you started with the initial post!]

SUCCESS!!! I drilled a 17/32" hole in the end grain of a piece of 2x4 about 24" long. I removed the wheel. (Only played "chase the E-clip" once!) Then used the 2x4 as a lever to increase the cant. Did this twice. The blade now rides firmly against the backer bearing. I did notice that the cant changes as you increase the tension on the blade. Resting a straight edge against the top wheel shows the changes. This disturbs me a bit as it shows that the unit has some flex somewhere in the upper wheel assembly.

Thank you for your help in getting this under control.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:46 pm

randyrls wrote:SUCCESS!!! I drilled a 17/32" hole in the end grain of a piece of 2x4 about 24" long. I removed the wheel. (Only played "chase the E-clip" once!) Then used the 2x4 as a lever to increase the cant. Did this twice. The blade now rides firmly against the backer bearing. I did notice that the cant changes as you increase the tension on the blade. Resting a straight edge against the top wheel shows the changes. This disturbs me a bit as it shows that the unit has some flex somewhere in the upper wheel assembly.

Thank you for your help in getting this under control.

Some 'flex' is to be expected. The arm is not impervious to deflection. It is long term deflection that causes the arm to acquire a new position. Actually we be referring to twist here.

This is why the blade tension should be released when not being used.

Me thinks a reason for a difference of 'opinion' regarding the necessity of relieving the tension has to do with the typical size blade folks use. Those with larger blades are more likely to agree it needs to be done than those who use smaller blades and therefore have lower tension settings.
JMHO;)

vaughnsimon · Post by **vaughnsimon** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 5:55 pm

I just want to say "Thank You". This thread seems to have fixed a problem that has had me flummoxed for weeks. My faithful old band saw is now back in service. As was said, use moderation. A bit of 1/2" thin wall conduit was plenty strong enough to do the job for me.

Vaughn