Shopsmith Forums

Spooner wrote:You injured your what?

Mitty big words for a woodworker Buckeye. LOL!!!

So these should touch the blade???

I plead guilty of plagiarism, but not erudition. That was a direct cut-and-paste quote from the Olson page, and I merely failed to put it in quotation marks!

Olson says to leave about 0.003” of clearance between the block and the blade, on each side. Here are their instructions: https://www.olsonsaw.net/wp-content/upl ... s-Inst.pdf

I used to do it that way, but I found their process a bit fussy. These days, I move in each cool block, one at a time, until it just kisses the blade, and lock it down. Then I turn a bandsaw wheel by hand until the blade has made a complete circuit, to make sure tbat the blocks don’t rub on the weld or other blade imperfection. If it does, I’ll first try to dress off the blade imperfection. Then if it still needs it, I’ll readjust one of the cool blocks to just kiss the blade at the imperfection. That makes setting the cool blocks much faster, and it works great for me.

I figure that when you’re cutting, the wood is almost certain to push the blade against one guide block or the other. So my adjustment method shouldn’t have a significant effect on either wear or friction. But I think it does do a little bit better at keeping the blade centered and aligned.

I had a similar loud problem with mine. Turns out I didn't have the speed dial set right. Also check the upper wheel bearing grease. I cleaned out the needle bearings and re packed them with wheel bearing grease got much quieter after that. I use a 3x5 index card when I set my cool blocks.

The upper wheel bearing is under a lot of stress and definitely needs to be repacked with grease occasionally. One of the biggest noise makers is simply the connection to the headstock, if you don't have the saw perfectly aligned you can expect a lot of noise and it's probably not good for the lower wheel bearing either.

Index card, grease and alignment. I'll check all those this weekend. Thanks guys..

Spooner wrote:Index card, grease and alignment. I'll check all those this weekend. Thanks guys..

Okay here's what I found. I gaped the blade on the top and bottom cooling blocks. I may have to replace them as they have warn unevenly. The top wheel has some play in it but I removed it cleaned the pins and re-greased. The bearings on the top and bottom of the table and the set over by the tensioner all three are noisy to spin and they do have some wobble to them. I'm guessing they are bad or going bad. I'm going to get the bearing kit for it and see if that helps. It was a little out of alignment so I adjusted it's height just a tad. I turned it on and made sure I was running around 1000 rpm and it was quieter but still loud enough I would want to wear ear protection when using it. I hope the bearing kit helps.

I try and go slower than 1000rpm if I can. Also make sure your tension is correct. Might want to check and see if the guide is calibrated correctly. You can use the same oil you use for lubing up the speed control sheeves, sewing machine oil, on your guide bearings to see if that helps. Just take them out and try and clean them up best you can and add a few drops of oil around the bearing seals and let it soak in and try and to work the oil in. Sometimes fine dust will dry out the bearing grease. This might get you working until replacement comes. I always wear ear protection and eye protection with power tools. The band saw can be loud, but it is also a continuous sound frequency. Long term exposure can lead to hearing loss.

ShoptimusPrime wrote:I try and go slower than 1000rpm if I can. Also make sure your tension is correct. Might want to check and see if the guide is calibrated correctly. You can use the same oil you use for lubing up the speed control sheeves, sewing machine oil, on your guide bearings to see if that helps. Just take them out and try and clean them up best you can and add a few drops of oil around the bearing seals and let it soak in and try and to work the oil in. Sometimes fine dust will dry out the bearing grease. This might get you working until replacement comes. I always wear ear protection and eye protection with power tools. The band saw can be loud, but it is also a continuous sound frequency. Long term exposure can lead to hearing loss.

That is a good point Shoptimus. I do wear ear protection when in the shop. However other bandsaws I have experienced have been quiet enough that I didn't have to wear ear protect if I didn't want to. Thus leading me to believe there is something wrong with the SS one.

I found the answer to replacing the lower bandsaw wheel bearing. Find a #885586 Integral water pump wheel bearing on eBay or Amazon, it is the exact bearing and shaft used originally. It measures.625 shaft thickness, the bearing is 1.18 in diameter, the shaft on the wheel end is 1.75 inch and extends on the drive side 3 inches. I paid about $20. It is necessary to grind a flat on the drive end for the set screw. Otherwise you just need to heat the wheel so you can pull it from the old shaft, put the wheel on the new shaft and re install it.

Just a follow up, I installed the new bearing today “#885586 integral water pump assembly”, I heated the aluminum wheel and used my 3 arm puller, it came off smooth and easy, reheated the wheel and drove it on the new shaft to the correct depth, ground off a flat on the other end for the set screw and the saw is humming like new. Total coast was just over $20! Just make sure you get the wheel back on the shaft at the same depth as the old one so the blade lines up properly.

Is this #885586?