Noisy Upper Bandsaw Wheel

[pennview]

Regarding those support bearing, two of them should be touching the back of the blade at all times and the third comes into contact with the back of the blade only when cutting. The left support bearing (near the tension adjuster and the lower support bearing below the table are in contact with the blade at all times. The upper support bearing above the table shouldn't touch the blade while the saw is running, but comes into contact with the back of the blade when cutting.

[dusty]

radster:

I have just opened my band saw, disconnected from the power station, backed off the cool blocks, disengaged the bearings lower right side and spun the wheels by hand.

I hear a noise but it is definitely not metal on metal.

I then pulled the blade off so that I could spin the wheels independently. The upper wheel is virtually silent. I can hear the bearings in the lower wheel but the noise is minimal and definitely not obtrusive.

With the blade remounted and slightly tensioned, I hear the tracking bearing rattle as I still the wheels. The noise level from these bearings is greater than from the lower wheel bearing.

I do hope this helps you track down the noise in your band saw.

[dusty]

Hello everyone-
New to the forum and new to Shopsmith as well.

Having just fulfilled a lifelong dream of my own space for a wood shop, I took my Uncle's advice and went out and got a used Shopsmith Mark V510. The ad I saw online said "Used Shopsmith plus extras." Little did I know when I went out to look, the "extras" included two Powerstations, a bandsaw, jointer, belt sander and scroll saw. Major score!!:D

Prior to taking possession, the equipment had been sitting, unused, for two years. I've been busy cleaning, aligning and lubricating everything but came across a situation with the bandsaw I can't figure out. The upper wheel turns freely and is nice and quiet until I put some tension on the blade - then it gets noisy (metal on metal sound) and it doesn't turn nearly as freely as before.

I pulled the wheel off and had a look at the needle bearings. Everything appeared to be in order, so I applied some wheel bearing grease the best I could (my little finger isn't so little), reassembled and the noise is still there.

Any suggestions?

The highlighted statement in your post may be the primary evidence in this case.

Even with the blade mounted and slightly tensioned, I feel virtually no resistance when manually spinning the wheels.

Fortunately, the needle bearing can be replaced in the upper wheel. Not the case with the lower wheel. Problems there mean a new wheel assembly.

[radster]

Do you hear the noise if turning by hand and disconnected from the Power Station?

With all bearings disengaged and the two wheels turning with the blade mounted, what metal could be making metal to metal noise? The wheels or the blade and some thing stationary.

CAUTION: With the blade guides (bearings) disengaged, I would recommend not running under power any more than is necessary.

Dusty-
The Bandsaw is not connected to the Power Station. After work tonight, I'm going to disengage all the bearings to see if I can isolate the noise. (turn by hand)

Radster

[JPG]

Dusty-
The Bandsaw is not connected to the Power Station. After work tonight, I'm going to disengage all the bearings to see if I can isolate the noise. (turn by hand)

Radster

Just to make sure we are all referring to the same thing, do realize that a power station and a power stand are different animals.

A power stand is a single(or double) SPT mount with fixed pulleys and a single speed motor.

A power station has a speed control (variator) and is intended to be a power source for mountable SPTs using a 'coupler' like the Mark 5/VII/7/V.

[mrhart]

I heard a bunch of squealing once when running the bandsaw....then she went in the house.
Just kidding hunny!............she'll never read this anyway, my daughter says I'm a shop nerd

[radster]

Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is it is definitely a Power Station. The bad news is the noise is coming from the upper wheel assembly. First, I disengaged all the guides (bearings) and determined the noise was the wheel assembly. I pulled the wheel off and took Dusty's advice and packed the needle bearings really good. Put it all back together and still have the same noise. IM BUGGED!:mad:

Radster

[billmayo]

Check the Auto Track bearings (2), on the left side of the bandsaw blade path. I find this is the first blade bearing to have problems with noise and wear.

[dusty]

Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is it is definitely a Power Station. The bad news is the noise is coming from the upper wheel assembly. First, I disengaged all the guides (bearings) and determined the noise was the wheel assembly. I pulled the wheel off and took Dusty's advice and packed the needle bearings really good. Put it all back together and still have the same noise. IM BUGGED!:mad:

Radster

I may be reading between the lines but this previous post leads me to believe that the replacement of the bandsaw bearing (upper wheel) is not a piece of cake.

How bad is the noise. Be aware that the bandsaw is definitely not nursery quiet.

[fiatben]

Mine squeals like a pig, but I still cut wood with it all the time. I actually bought a set of bearings for the upper wheel. They are actually pretty cheap, less than $10 locally. But I haven't gotten around to putting them in yet. I can't see that it would be particularly difficult but would love to hear from those with experience.

I really want to go completely thru my bandsaw and get it tuned up. I'd love to do some resawing.