Bandsaw upper wheel bearing play

crokseti · Post by **crokseti** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:25 am

Is it normal to have a slight play in the bearing or should it be tight?
The lower wheel has no play.
Shopsmith only offers the bearing included with the wheel.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:39 am

crokseti wrote:Is it normal to have a slight play in the bearing or should it be tight?
The lower wheel has no play.
Shopsmith only offers the bearing included with the wheel.

Sure the 'play' is 'in the bearing'?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:54 am

JPG40504 wrote:Sure the 'play' is 'in the bearing'?

We are talking about the band saw upper wheel, right! If there is play, where would it be if not from the bearing? Either the bearing is not tight in the wheel or the bearing is not tight on the shaft.

To answer the question crokseti, yes, there is a slight amount of play but very slight. I don't know how to quantify it.

Does the blade track properly on the upper wheel?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:19 pm

dusty wrote: . . . If there is play, where would it be if not from the bearing? . . .

Consider what the wheel/bearing is attached to!

If the play is the same top/bottom as left/right, It may well be the bearing.

I asked the question to allow consideration that something else may be 'moving'. After all it is mounted out on the end of an arm that is itself secured by a shaft and bushing. And the whole assembly is 'tensioned' and bolted together..

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:50 pm

crokseti: the arm to which the upper attaches should be rock solid but the wheel does move more than I thought. It moves more than a 1/16" on my two machines. It moves about the same no matter where you push/pull on the wheel.

crokseti · Post by **crokseti** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:51 pm

Mine moves about 1/8th at the bearing.
The smaller size blade tracks on the inside edge but the 3/8 blade tracks more center.
The neoprene wheel is wore out and thats where the most vibration is from.
The only tracking adjustment I see is on the front guides.
I'm hoping that the new wheels will smooth things out.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:12 pm

crokseti wrote:Mine moves about 1/8th at the bearing.
The smaller size blade tracks on the inside edge but the 3/8 blade tracks more center.
The neoprene wheel is wore out and thats where the most vibration is from.
The only tracking adjustment I see is on the front guides.
I'm hoping that the new wheels will smooth things out.

There should be a fiber washer on the inside of the clip. That washer rides next to the bearing. My fiber washer is a bit narrower than 1/8", probably from wear. If you are missing this washer, that may be the cause of your 1/8" movement.

I assume you have lubed the needle bearing with wheel bearing grease. This should be done every 50 hours running time, or yearly.

Concerning tracking of blades around the upper wheel - the travel of any blade is aligned by the double bearing (guide bearings) on the left upper side of the case. Yes, the smaller blades will use the back part of the upper tire. If you lay a straight edge across the top wheel, the straight edge should be at least 1/4" away from the lower wheel. If less than this, the fix is to pull the bottom of your upper wheel out,while pushing the top in. This action will bend the support arm. If the saw was left for a long time with tension on a blade, the support arm may have twisted a bit.