Bandsaw Vibration Reduction

[Evan Van Dyke]

I have a Rikon 10-347 that I have had for about 6 months. Love it, it cuts well, but I am getting to the point where I am trying to fine-tune the little stuff. The entire frame tends to vibrate when the tool is running, which is at its worst at the upper blade guides (no surprise, as it's hanging out in thin air as far away from support as it can get. This causes the blade / blade guide to vibrate a bit until the moment they touch the wood; the workpiece immediately dampens the vibrations and all is good. But this makes starting a cut a bit of a hit-and-miss operation - literally. Plus, it shows when using my wider blades on thin work...
- 1" Lennox Tri-Master (2-3TPI): amazingly smooth cut quality on anything thicker than about 3" (which is thick enough to stabilize the vibration). Thinner than 3" and the vibration causes a bad cut.
- 3/4" KerfMaster (3-4TPI): Great cut quality in just about anything - once the blade is in the wood the vibration stops.

The saw is sitting on a Grizzly Papa Bear mobile base, which is on concrete slab. Needless to say, I am thinking/planning on getting rid of this, since it seems like the prime suspect. However, if I take the mobile base away, what is the proper way to level the saw on the concrete slab? It doesn't have any leveling feet, and the bolt holes in the base are just for through-bolts. Like most basement slabs, mine is only kinda-sorta level.

Any other thoughts/ideas on vibration reduction here? I have tried playing around with blade tension, and that doesn't seem to make much difference, so I don't think it's a resonant frequency. Is there a way to test the wheels to see if they are out of balance? Any other ideas/thoughts on what may be going on here (other than me being nit-pickey)?

[Brian Tymchak]

Your lower wheel may be out of alignment. Check your manual for aligning that wheel. IIRC, the instructions identified symptoms that indicate which direction the wheel may need adjusted. This alignment helped settle my saw (10-325) down some, although not entirely. I've also had a bad blade that caused vibration but that should be an easy diagnosis just by loading another blade.

BTW, I doubt that the mobile base is causing any vibration that is showing up in the cut itself.

[Karl Loeblein]

See if this thread offers any clues.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/foru...5-big-problems

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Evan,

I've got that saw and I've never noticed a vibration. I bought the mobility kit with it so can't comment on whether the mobile base is contributing to the problem. But with all the wheels on your mobile base locked so the saw can't move, I don't see why it wouldn't be the same.

If you can't find any other source of the vibration get a chain hoist from Harbor Freight (assuming you have something to attach it to), lift the saw and pull the mobile base out. If the vibration goes away, order the mobility kit for your saw. If it doesn't, keep looking.

Cliff

[Pat Germain]

Does it have a V-belt? If so, I would suspect that. Swap it out for a link belt to see if things improve.

[Mike King]

take the blade off and run the saw. Does it vibrate? If so, it is likely the belt or a bad bearing on the lower wheel. If not, then look to the blade or upper wheel.

[Edward Weber]

+1 on using a link belt.

[glenn bradley]

Link belts are good for overcoming (read hiding) vibration problems. Don't get me wrong. I have used them on contractor saws and drill presses for just that reason. If I am having enough vibration on a 6 month old 18" saw I have questions before the warranty runs out .

Both of my 17" saws are on Shop Fox Mobile bases that allow a pair of feet to be screwed onto the floor in the front positions. The saws still wobble if I make them by pushing repeatedly on the top area. The amount of wobble has not made me want to give up the easy, minor movement I occasionally want when cutting odd or really large things.

Let's pretend the base is fine . . .

- Does the saw vibrate without the belt on?

If so this is a warranty issue for sure IMHO.

- Does the saw vibrate without the blade on (and with the belt on)?

If so I would still call it a warranty issue but, if you are so inclined, balance the bottom wheel.

- Does the saw only vibrate with a blade installed? Any blade?

If so you can look to co-planer wheels despite the many. many reliable folks who don't care about co-planer wheels.

Here's where I'm going with this. One of my saws was acceptable but, I didn't like the position of narrower blades on the wheels. I spent about an hour setting the wheels co-planer. While I was at it I added a link belt just because I had some laying around. I then went through the normal alignment of a bandsaw table, guides, etc. Once I was done the machine was so spooky quiet I almost couldn't tell it was running. I am not sure which change caused this or what combination.

When I inherited an identical saw I did all of the above but didn't bother with the link belt. It is darn near as quiet and the next time I'm in the machine I will probably strap on a section of link belt just to see if I can match the machines up. My point is that if there is something wrong, you need to isolate it and report it as a warranty issue if it is that. If the Rikon norm is at the vibration level you are experiencing you will have to decide how far to go to clean things up to your standards.

[Chris Parks]

take the blade off and run the saw. Does it vibrate? If so, it is likely the belt or a bad bearing on the lower wheel. If not, then look to the blade or upper wheel.

With no blade run the lower wheel and if the vibration isn't there run the top wheel at the same time using a cordless drill. I don't see how an out of alignment bottom wheel can cause a vibration but anything is possible and I would do everything I could to prove it wasn't the bottom wheel before I would try any adjustments on it. Using a cordless drill you could remove the drive belt and run it with the blade fitted and tensioned.

[Andrew Hughes]

I used to have a laguna 18 inch bandsaw that would shake and vibrant. I found the base had a twist where it sat on my floor. I found the offending corner and added a shim. Ran like top after that.
My current bandsaw that sits in the same spot is Aggi b20/20 it has much heavier base and bigger. It doesn’t have any problems. That the light laguna saw had.
Good Luck

[Bill Dufour]

Site lost my long post so short version. Pick up some rubber recaps thrown by big rig tires. place under each foot of machine to soak up vibration. Discard any with metal in them.
Bill D

[Tom Trees]

Sounds interesting, I've just about done nearly everything with my Griggio saw, which is kinda similar
Too much to mention, and have posted some about this numerous times, here and elsewhere, with video documentation also,
and eager to get back to the last stretch of troubleshooting,
I've been doing more than adjustments along the way, so not afraid of what might need doing.

I pretty much am at a point where I should get myself a dial indicator to check a few things, but the workshop is inacessable for the next while.
A bit much to suggest such as of yet for this machine in question, just trying to give some perspective.
that would be down the line yet, as some things above are worth trying first, aswell as other things I've documented here should you look.

If nothing I've covered in detail (accurately levelling, wheel alignment in both axis, tire dressing, wheel rigidity, and likely other stuff I'm forgetting will sort the issue, or can be factored out,
Its just a guess at the end of a long haul of red herrings and whatnot, as I'm nearly back to guesswork again,
then my money might likely be on the frame being misaligned, as that machine appears to have a flange mounted motor,???
(meaning likely no adjustment is possible)
One could fit a ring to align with the top wheel, (top wheels are only adjustable in one axis, therefore the datum in my opinion, so bottom wheel should align,
and that ring
(Look up the new utube video of SCM saw being assembled w/ Sam Blasco which has this ring) sorta adjustable

That might sort out an alignment issue should the saw be a bit "tippy" if the base has a bit of warpage,
which may suggest no guarantee that the frame is spot on

But is the shaft long enough to accommodate that? mine aint...

I've bought a longer belt to try out, which is a cheap fix if it works, the old one is damaged anyway,
seems I'm being a bit optimistic,
just saying if you can prove this to likely be the issue, then it's a warranty job,
as I guess you don't want to delve down the rabbit hole of that issue, like I might have to with my old machine.

Good luck, hoping it's something simple
Tom

[Curt Harms]

Something you could try that's simple, quick and cheap. Take the band off and remove the drive belt so the wheels turn freely. Make a mark on each wheel and spin each one several times. If the mark ends up in about the same spot each time that wheel is likely out of balance. A balanced wheel when spun should stop in random places. I think the heaviest area is on the bottom. If the wheel is spoked you could try taping weight - something like washers or coins - to the wheel opposite the heaviest portion as a temporary fix. Run it and see if it helps. If it does, you'll want a more permanent way to fix weights in place. If you look at the back of the wheel I'll bet there are several divots made with a drill bit removing metal to help with balance. Maybe there aren't enough or in the right place. Beyond that or a wonky blade, I don't have a guess.

[Pat Germain]

Link belts are good for overcoming (read hiding) vibration problems.

On the contrary, a v-belt itself can add a lot of vibration. They tend to have an inherent shape and, when turned, that inherent shape causes vibration. My contractor saw is far from a precision machine, but when I had a v-belt on it, the motor would bounce up and down. A link belt fixed that problem and not only did it eliminate a lot of vibration, the saw cuts better as well because the belt isn't slipping.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I have the same saw with the same Trimaster blade. Vibration is very much in the acceptable range. There has been a great deal of excellent advice and recommendations provided so far and unfortunately you will have to work through them one by one. I’m with Cliff and heartily recommend the Rikon mobility kit. With it you can easily adjust the saw for even weight distribution on a uneven floor. I recommend pieces of plastic laminate for shims if needed. Please follow through and let us know what the solution is.