Modification Bandsaw (Cast Iron table version)

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:42 pm

I have to say - It is really good to have you back, man. You do great work (good photographs too).

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:21 am

reible wrote:FYI, I rechecked my serial number against the chart and it indicates mine is from 1985 and did not have the nylon bolt. Of course when you get something used who knows what has been done to it....

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/faq/bandsaw.htm

Ed

WOW I had no idea, according to my serial number I got mine 10/28/1996 long after I though. I guess when you get old your memory goes not that I ever had a good one.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:14 am

paulmcohen wrote:WOW I had no idea, according to my serial number I got mine 10/28/1996 long after I though. I guess when you get old your memory goes not that I ever had a good one.

Details, Details, Details - at least you remembered acquiring it at all!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:35 pm

Some belated responses to some questions above.

[ATTACH]13806[/ATTACH]
All pix of a '91' vintage.

[ATTACH]13807[/ATTACH]
Der Ahctung Label.

[ATTACH]13808[/ATTACH]
Post anti slop screw(brass with steel jam nut)

[ATTACH]13809[/ATTACH]
Post clearance at top of motion.

[ATTACH]13810[/ATTACH]
Maximum height limited by bearing interference with 'nut'.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:18 pm

There have been some mechanical changes made. I have a full 1/2" clearance between the bearing and that nut (depicted in your last picture).

Upward motion on mine is limited by the shaft interferring with a rib in the housing.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 1:15 am

dusty wrote:There have been some mechanical changes made. I have a full 1/2" clearance between the bearing and that nut (depicted in your last picture).

Upward motion on mine is limited by the shaft interferring with a rib in the housing.

Looking at both Ed's pix and mine, I notice Ed's hits the rib at a height of the post higher than in my pix. I admit the upper backup bearing has been changed(dual narrower bearings), but they have the same od as the original.

Dusty, if yours hits the rib with a half inch clearance bearing to nut, where on the rib is the post hitting????

IMHO these differences can be explained by differing positioning of the post mounting parts. Lotsa adjustments that cause parts positioning to vary.

I side with Ed in that I do not think hitting the rib is a good way to limit travel. The bearing to nut interference is not ideal either, but better.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

After looking at my bandsaw, I 'discovered' the following:

1) I can only get 5 5/8" cut depth.

2) I apparently put the backup bearing in the upper of two positions. I now believe it should be 1" lower. (Perusing the manual verifies that)

3) If the bearing were lower, the post travel would be limited by the wider part of the post casting hitting the guide casting about 1/2" higher than it is now. That would result in a 1/2" bearing/nut clearance like Dusty's. It would also result in 6 1/8" cut depth. The top of the post would be closer to the rib, but I do not think it will hit.

It shall be changed!!!!! Will repost pix after changing!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 1:55 am

"The rest of the story"!

After 'changing' the following has occurred.

1) Cut depth is now a smidgen over 6"!

2) Post to rib clearance is quite small(1/32").

3) The upper travel is now limited by post and guide castings.

[ATTACH]13813[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]13814[/ATTACH]

Thanks for asking the ???, pointing out discrepency and causing me to re-examine(fix) mine!!!:D

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:06 am

Since you have taken the band saw apart down to its many removable pieces, I know that before you are done you will have to do an alignment of the guide post (#71). I am patiently waiting to hear what you have to say about this alignment procedure.

Given your methodical approach, I am certain that you will get this task done and done well. What I want to know is how long did it take. I have spent literally hours attempting that alignment. I have both of mine close but not perfect. I now compromise. The bearings are not the same distance behind the blade throughout the vertical movement. I have settled for having they just behind the blade (1/32") in the down position.

I would sure like to see how this is done on the factory floor. I would also like to test a brand new band saw right out of the box. I have doubts about what I would see. Mine was new so long ago

.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:37 am

dusty wrote:Since you have taken the band saw apart down to its many removable pieces, I know that before you are done you will have to do an alignment of the guide post (#71). I am patiently waiting to hear what you have to say about this alignment procedure.

Given your methodical approach, I am certain that you will get this task done and done well. What I want to know is how long did it take. I have spent literally hours attempting that alignment. I have both of mine close but not perfect. I now compromise. The bearings are not the same distance behind the blade throughout the vertical movement. I have settled for having they just behind the blade (1/32") in the down position.

I would sure like to see how this is done on the factory floor. I would also like to test a brand new band saw right out of the box. I have doubts about what I would see. Mine was new so long ago .

Ed's comments should be very 'interesting'.

I await also!!!:)

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 3:43 pm

It looks like we have had a few twists and turns the last day or so. It is interesting to see how threads prompt us to look at different things and learn more details as we go.

It is interesting to see that the "anti slop" is using a brass thread like the other two adjustment screw, it makes since and I might add one of those to my "small parts not worth ordering by them selves" list. For now the nylon part seems to work.

I actually wasn't planning on discussing the alignment procedure for the arm.

Since there appears to be interest in the subject I'll do a mini post detailing what I did, this may or may not work for you and your machine and it may not be the approved method.

As a starting point the saw was without table and the upper arm backed away from the blade. No guide blocks installed. Blade guard off. In other words as open as I could get it to see all that I could see.

First, my machine has had the dual bearings added, so step one was to align the new bearing assemblies, this required installing a new blade and setting the tension. The bearing near the tension gauge can only move side to side and if fixed in the in/out location. This then requires the blade fall between the bearings without being deflected. I did this with visual inspection and by feeling the bearings, when hand moving the blade you can feel the bearing spin and can feel which one has more pressure on it by attempting to stop the bearing from turning. Once I had that set and visually saw no deflection of the blade as it went through the bearing set I moved to the lower set.

The lower set was way off on my saw. Again the adjust is just left or right but I could not move things far enough to get it aligned. At this point I could have filed the parts or... make changes by changing the bushings around. I went with the bushing change and got to the point of having the alignment within the range of the other parts. Again here adjusted the bearing so the blade was not deflected by the settings.

This next step is what got confusing, especial when the arm had excessive left/right play in the down position. The arm has several things to adjust and with all that play I was only guessing at where things should be set...

After applying the nylon bolt I was able to get rid of some of that play, like I said it is better but not perfect. I then adjusted the arm so when locked at the top and locked at the lower position the blade looked to align to the top bearing notches. I had to tweak this a little as I got the blade and bearings closer together. So far things had gone well and I think most people can get this far without much problem.

Now comes the tricky part. You have two screws to get the arm to be parallel to the blade at both the top and bottom of the arm movement. But that is not all that come into play, the screw that sets the rod "tension" also comes in to play. The two screws in the front with lock nut loose both effect the settings at the top position and bottom position of the arm...

I set the arm in the middle, that is about half way between the upper and lower positions. I advanced the screws about a half turn at a time then reset the rod tension. When I was close to touching the bearings to the blade I moved the arm to the bottom position, about a 1/4" from touching the table and then to the top position. I could then see the two issues, the distance was different in each position and the needed to be adjusted so it centered on the bearing. I went for the centering first then to the moving of the arm to even the distance top to bottom.

I started to adjust the screws by loosening one a 1/4 turn (more towards the blade) and tightening the other the same amount, followed by the rod tension if needed. Once I was satisfied the distance was equal I once again moved the screws in the same direction and the same amount followed by the rod tension as needed.

As I closed in on the adjustment I was watching the bearings and as soon as I could see them spin I backed off until they didn't, maybe about a 1/8 turn. Held them in position and did the lock nuts. Checked again, all was well.

At this point I put the guide blocks in place and adjusted. Again visual inspection saw no movement of the blade, except for when I hit the top end and the arm hits the webbing...

The finial adjustment of the arm took maybe 15 minutes so that wasn't all that long. The good news is that with the way the saw is made and the use of the back of the blade as the reference you should not have to do this very often.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures...

Ed

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Modification Bandsaw (Cast Iron table version)

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