Bandsaw throwing off 1/8" blades

reible · Post by **reible** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 7:49 pm

I'd have to say I would lean towards the blade. Being it is within the specified tolerance of use it still could be this actual blade might be slightly over sized.

Attempting to lightly over tension might work, just do it a little tighter and hand spin again.

Ed

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:18 pm

Does it throw the blade off of the front or rear of the upper wheel?

It looks like your wheel's tire has several indentations from other blades. This shouldn't be the case for such new saw. It would be my guess that your tension indicator is mis-aligned. This is a simple thing to fix - instructions in your manual.

Also a cause of these tire indentations is too much tension. If this is the case, then your upper wheel may have taken on a lean towards the front. The fix here is the bending thing, but don't do this until you check your tension gauge.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:43 pm

Regardless of your reluctance to 'correct' insufficient 'cant', you need to at least check for it.

I predict it is insufficient.

If the blade were too long, the upper wheel would be rubbing against other parts.

Tire wear is another possible cause, but I do not see evidence of that in yer pix. A groove may be there from a 1/4" blade?

Decreasing cant occurs over time and is accelerated by constant tension. That may be why work before, slips off today.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:55 pm

d.rositer wrote: From the other thread, I suspect that the cant on the upper wheel is not correct but I am not about to try bending any of those castings.
What can I do? Why is this thing throwing off blades?

Dan

Hi Dan! Wanted to let you know when correctin the cant of the upper wheel, the castings do not bend! Only the flat metal arm bends.

danr · Post by **danr** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:51 pm

charlese wrote:Does it throw the blade off of the front or rear of the upper wheel?

It looks like your wheel's tire has several indentations from other blades. This shouldn't be the case for such new saw. It would be my guess that your tension indicator is mis-aligned. This is a simple thing to fix - instructions in your manual.

Also a cause of these tire indentations is too much tension. If this is the case, then your upper wheel may have taken on a lean towards the front. The fix here is the bending thing, but don't do this until you check your tension gauge.

Always comes off the front so that it hangs free.
I adjusted tension and the tension spring every time I changed blades I cleaned the tire with brake fluid and thoroughly dried it. Brake fluid you say? Does not eat rubber parts and is a solvent. Been doing that for years and didn't cause a problem.

BTY. I had to take a break for a while. Had hip surgery and they don't want me playing with my power toys while taking these neat pain meds. So I am doing what I can for a while without actually putting my hands in the machinery.

Dan

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:06 pm

d.rositer wrote:....Brake fluid you say? Does not eat rubber parts and is a solvent. Been doing that for years and didn't cause a problem.

BTY. I had to take a break for a while. Had hip surgery and they don't want me playing with my power toys while taking these neat pain meds. So I am doing what I can for a while without actually putting my hands in the machinery.

Dan

\

Isn't brake fluid slippery? I use silicone on my tires. Just need to keep it inside the saw. Don't want it to get on wood that is to be finished.

Best wishes on your recovery. Follow Dr.s orders:)

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 12:20 am

Best Wishes on your 'recovery'.

You could check the cant since it does not involve powering it up.

Do follow proper restraint as recommended.

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:20 am

d.rositer wrote:Always comes off the front so that it hangs free.
I adjusted tension and the tension spring every time I changed blades I cleaned the tire with brake fluid and thoroughly dried it. Brake fluid you say? Does not eat rubber parts and is a solvent. Been doing that for years and didn't cause a problem.

BTY. I had to take a break for a while. Had hip surgery and they don't want me playing with my power toys while taking these neat pain meds. So I am doing what I can for a while without actually putting my hands in the machinery.

Dan

I find that the belt conditioner (auto parts store) works really well on the black bandsaw tires as well as on the belts in the Shopsmith. I keep a can near by all the time and use a few cans a year. Best of luck with the surgery. It does pay to follow the doctors orders. I find the therapy afterwards normally hurts more than the surgery and you must be careful not to overwork the area. Their theory of "pain gives you gain" sucks sometimes.

danr · Post by **danr** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:56 am

billmayo wrote:I find that the belt conditioner (auto parts store) works really well on the black bandsaw tires as well as on the belts in the Shopsmith. I keep a can near by all the time and use a few cans a year. Best of luck with the surgery. It does pay to follow the doctors orders. I find the therapy afterwards normally hurts more than the surgery and you must be careful not to overwork the area. Their theory of "pain gives you gain" sucks sometimes.

"belt conditioner", hmm, have some and had not thought about that.
Waiting for word from SS on correct and best way to check and fix the cant if indeed that is the problem.
Belt conditioner may work better. I began using brake fluid years ago when I noticed cracks in the old tires. Eventually replaced with the new polyurethane. I had hoped that my new saw had the urethane as standard, but nope.

Still have several weeks outpatient therapy ahead. Already on home therapy and progressing well.

Dan

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 12:25 pm

d.rositer wrote:"belt conditioner", hmm, have some and had not thought about that.
Waiting for word from SS on correct and best way to check and fix the cant if indeed that is the problem.
Belt conditioner may work better. I began using brake fluid years ago when I noticed cracks in the old tires. Eventually replaced with the new polyurethane. I had hoped that my new saw had the urethane as standard, but nope.

Still have several weeks outpatient therapy ahead. Already on home therapy and progressing well.

Dan

If the upper wheel needs to be canted more, I recommend removing the upper wheel and use a 18" to 24" snug pipe on the axle to bend the arm. Do not push or pull on the upper bandsaw wheel. I have a few examples of someone getting carried away doing this. I have been unable to take out all the twists from some wheels as these wheel twists do effect the blade tracking.