Bandsaw Blade Tracking Adjustments Etc.

[JPG]

1984????

Sounds fishy!

Without the bevel, the blade teeth would likely chew up the tires.

The guide bearings have been there since day one and the wheel canted.

I be very skeptical!!!

[YewBet]

Hi folks, here is my 2cents.

My BS is Model 505641, SN 84505 which, according SS Bandsaw FAQ's, puts it at Aug. of 1983.
Firstly, the wobble in the upper wheel that Caleb reported & showed in his video looks to be way excessive. I thought mine was bad till I saw his! Wherever it originates from, needle bearings, shaft or arm & shaft, it's just too much. Anyone tried to change out these needle bearings themselves? My wheel has marks suspiciously like the swaging you see on the control sheave holding in the button bearing. Trying to remove the button bearing cost me a new sheave.
Secondly, my bottom wheel's tire has at least the same amount of slope as the upper. I'm in the "conical wheel" camp for BOTH wheels. I'm not the original owner, so not sure if newer parts have been installed. The bearing is in great shape, so might be.

[charlese]

My thought (Finally) is if the upper wheel needle bearings are in good shape - then perhaps lack of lubrication of those bearings have distorted the axle.

Don't have any idea about the lower wheel except those bearings are shot.

I wouldn't trust my abilities to replace the upper wheel needle bearings. Shopsmith recommends they replace those bearings.

If the axle is distorted, a new part would fix that.

[JPG]

This thread started as an attempt by myself to clear up some alignment misconceptions and provide some insight into why the adjustments are what they are.

That was completed some time back and after relatively few posts.

Since then the thread has expanded considerably as several of us tried to understand the idiodsyncracies of the SS bandsaw.

It has been a lengthy journey not without detours and other misdirection including extrapolations and just plain guessing(with a bit of 'education').

Adding to this(and having a positive effect on the outcome) was the blade twist problem experienced by Caleb.

I think we have arrived at an accurate understanding of subtle angular differences that make the SS bandsaw unique and 'what it is'.


What remains not understood is if Caleb got his twisting blade issue resolved.

I believe his twisting was caused by insufficient cant of the upper wheel. That caused greater tension on the back of the blade which allowed the less tensioned front(teeth) of the blade to twist. His upper wheel bearings may have also contributed to the twisting varying with tension differences. The fact that the blade drifted significantly to the back of the lower wheel with the lower guide bearing removed substantiates this(i.e. the angle of the blade at the top of the upper wheel was such that the back of the blade extended to a plane behind the lower wheel back).

It has been over two years since Caleb last posted to this thread. I assume he got the Chubby Checker phenomenon removed(at least I hope so and that this thread had a positive effect on that).

Thanks to all who suffered through all the floundering!

P.S. It just came to me that the blade drift that seems to be a common problem is likely caused(or at least contributed to) by the blade teeth edge being less tensioned than the back edge of the blade.

Since 'other' bandsaws ride centered on crowned wheels, that seems to be a recipe for unequal tension edge to edge. If the blade rides slightly 'forward' of the crown max diameter the back edge would experience greater tension. Since most 'other' bandsaws have the upper wheel adjustable(canting) it follows that that would cause a difference in the blade tracking on each wheel and contribute to front rear edge tension. Mostly brain wandering .

[YewBet]

I am well aware that I've jumped into the flogging of a long-dead horse.

Mind you, more than a few "precious metal" members have posted very

recently.

I have learned almost everything I think one needs to know about the SS

bandsaw from this thread and for that I am very grateful. Enough, in fact,

that I believe I can reassemble mine satisfactorily without any new parts.

Gotta like that!

Again, thanks to all for the contributions.

[JPG]

I am well aware that I've jumped into the flogging of a long-dead horse.

Mind you, more than a few "precious metal" members have posted very

recently.

I have learned almost everything I think one needs to know about the SS

bandsaw from this thread and for that I am very grateful. Enough, in fact,

that I believe I can reassemble mine satisfactorily without any new parts.

Gotta like that!

Again, thanks to all for the contributions.

I wish for a successful reassembly etc. and do hope we have not burdened thee with a lot of 'extra' rambling.

We tend to do that sort of thing in the pursuit of better understanding.

However no horse is ever fully fully expired! I dare say there will be more here.

All this discussion is far beyond the intent when the thread was started. However I fully appreciate and encourage the efforts that went into expanding the scope. Never say never!!!

[wa2crk]

Hi Guys he said as he beat the dead horse!!
I have a concern with my bandsaw in that the brass screws for adjusting the back up bearings for the blade. When alignment is complete and the blade is positioned correctly behind the bearings the brass screws are below the shoulder of the locking nuts.

tracking screws.jpg (113.9 KiB) Viewed 8209 times

So what I did is loosen all of the tracking adjustments so as to start from scratch and went through the entire alignment again. Got the same results. I made all adjustments to the post for bearing tracking in very small increments and made sure that the spring never lost tension during the adjustment. The bearing rotates freely at the top and bottom of the travel and stops rotating with very light pressure on the blade. If I put a business card between the bearing and the blade the bearing does not rotate freely either at top or bottom. This indicates to me that the post alignment is OK. In the picture you can barely see the gap between the blade and the bearing. My manual says in order to adjust the bearing to blade clearance when the bearing is at the bottom you adjust the top brass screw. This works quite well.

bearing clearance.jpg (95.57 KiB) Viewed 8209 times

The other quirk is that the post seems to be twisted because when looking at the post from the front it looks like it is twisted to the operator's left. I don't know if this is a significant thing to consider or not. So, what say you guys?

tracking post.jpg (105.14 KiB) Viewed 8209 times

Bill V

[reible]

I have to wonder if the screws you have in yours are the correct ones. On my saw which is more then likely a different vintage they are about 3/4" long. If you measure from the post to where the screw head is how long are yours?

brass screw length.jpg (69.99 KiB) Viewed 8201 times

I'm out in the shop now so I can measure or photograph other things right now and perhaps for the next couple of hours. I'm working on cleaning up my mess from the plastic drilling for my router bit holders. Then I'm changing to my woodslicer blade on the bandsaw which will mean the cover will be off anyway.

Ed

[jsburger]

Hi Guys he said as he beat the dead horse!!
I have a concern with my bandsaw in that the brass screws for adjusting the back up bearings for the blade. When alignment is complete and the blade is positioned correctly behind the bearings the brass screws are below the shoulder of the locking nuts.

tracking screws.jpg

So what I did is loosen all of the tracking adjustments so as to start from scratch and went through the entire alignment again. Got the same results. I made all adjustments to the post for bearing tracking in very small increments and made sure that the spring never lost tension during the adjustment. The bearing rotates freely at the top and bottom of the travel and stops rotating with very light pressure on the blade. If I put a business card between the bearing and the blade the bearing does not rotate freely either at top or bottom. This indicates to me that the post alignment is OK. In the picture you can barely see the gap between the blade and the bearing. My manual says in order to adjust the bearing to blade clearance when the bearing is at the bottom you adjust the top brass screw. This works quite well.

bearing clearance.jpg

The other quirk is that the post seems to be twisted because when looking at the post from the front it looks like it is twisted to the operator's left. I don't know if this is a significant thing to consider or not. So, what say you guys?

tracking post.jpg

Bill V

Bill, looking at the last picture. If you look at the blade in relation to the post above the bearing, the blade and the post are perfectly parallel.

I will have to go look at my band saw tomorrow but I did a complete alignment years ago when I did the double backup bearing upgrade. I bought the saw new BTW. I think my post brass screws are close to yours although I could be wrong.

The bearing/guide bracket is attached to the post by a single screw I think. As such it is probably canted just a bit so the bearing is not perfectly perpendicular to the blade.

[wa2crk]

JSB
I didn't think my tires looked too bad. I will take another look. I have changed tires on several bandsaws but I can't remember if I did mine or not. Bandsaw is dated 5/22/01 so they might due.
Bill V
P.S. there ain't no chunks missing yet!!