Shopsmith Forums

So I just installed the new tabletop onto my band saw and it looks fantastic. Added on the fence and the upgraded bearings, and I am almost ready for some re-sawing.

The issue is, I hear tapping when I turn on the band saw. It seems to be coming from the upper wheel area and I cannot pin-point the exact cause. The only thing I can think of is that the back of the top idler wheel is vibrating and tapping the back cover.

Running it w/o the cover on (never do this BTW) sort of verified this, but I cannot find a way to fix the issue.

The whole machine is running smooth as butter, and now I have a tapping noise when I run it. Any help would be appreciated.

Is there a small kink in the blade? My horizontal band saw will tap when the blade is about to break.

I seem to recall on mine that my upper-wheel was once canted in such a way that the play in the fiber-washer on the mounting would have some excess play, and the upper-wheel would 'walk' in and out. If you haven't yet checked the upper-wheel canting per target, that may be something to do.

Good luck,
Chris

If the upper wheel is 'tapping' the base, the wheel is 'canted' excessively and/or the wheel is warped.

Where is the back of the blade riding on the upper wheel?

I suspect either a kink in the blade or a bulge in the weld is clicking on the guide blocks. Sounds can be telegraphed upward from the upper blocks.

You can try holding a sharpening stone on the back of the blade to smooth it down.

You can also move the blade slowly by hand and see if there is a spot on the blade that catches.