Bandsaw Blade tracking

[Paul Ryan]

I recently bought a G0555. After putting it together I cannot get the blade to track in the same position on the upper and lower wheels. If I have it tracking in the center of the upper wheel. The teeth on the 1/2" blade are almost touching the front of the lower wheel. If I set the blade to track in the center of the lower wheel, it hits the inside of the left blade guard, and is on the rear portion of the upper wheel. It has been this way for about a month.
Today I installed the riser kit thinking I could make some adjustments to how the upper assembly sits on the lower. But there arn't any to be made. The riser has set screws that position the riser block in only one position. After I put everthing together with the riser installed I still have the same problem. Anyhelp would be great.

[Tom Esh]

That does seem excessive, but rule out the blade first. If you still get excessive deviation with another blade then you probably should check the wheels coplanar alignment. The manual should detail how to check and adjust it for your saw. Some have an adjustable wheel hub and others require shimming a wheel.

[Jeff Mohr]

Are you using the blade that came with it?

If so...take the blade off, fold it up, and place in trash can.

Get a new blade (not grizzly) and I'm sure you'll see a difference.

I was having very similar problems with my new G0555x and was VERY frustrated. Finally, in a desperate attempt, I took out a new blade from olson and put it on....hums like it should. You would think the 'new' blade that came with the system would work but it doesn't.

Good luck and let me know if it worked.

[Jim Becker]

Have you checked your machine to see if the wheels are co-planer? If they are not, you may need to shim one of the wheels to reposition it. Not all that uncommon...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Paul,

I'd highly recommend a book by Mark Duginske. I believe it's called "The new Complete Bandsaw Book". It's available at Amazon for $14.95 IIRC. It is very thorough and goes into to great detail how to align and correct any misalignments with the wheels on bandsaws. Excellent book....well illustrated and written!

[Chris Padilla]

Are you using the blade that came with it?

If so...take the blade off, fold it up, and place in trash can.

...or at least in the recycle bin! :D

[Paul Ryan]

The blade I put on it initally was the blade from the factory, so a grizzly blade. After installing the riser I installed a new 1/2" blade from suffolk machinery. I am having the same problem with both blades. I have not check the wheels to see if they are both coplaner, I assumed they would be from the factory.
I will check the coplaner at some point today, thanks.

[Howard Acheson]

Be sure that you start by having the blade totally free from any contact with the upper or lower guide blocks and/or thrust bearing.

[Jesse Espe]

Concur with both Jim and Ken. One would think that coming from the factory, the wheels would be coplanar. However, since you had to unbolt the upper portion from the lower to install the riser block, all bets are off until you (re)verify the wheels are coplanar. When my G0555 arrived a few years ago, I had to make a small adjustment to the wheels to make them coplanar. The instrucions should help you do this.

Cheers,
Jesse

[glenn bradley]

Pages 40 and 41 of your manual discuss this adjustment.

[Paul Ryan]

1st thanks for all of the help.

I went out this morning and checked the wheels to see if they were coplanar. They wern't, they were way off. The measurment I got was the upper wheel was 5/16" forward of the lower wheel. That seemed way too much so I called grizzly. We went though a few things and he asked me to take pictures of my measurments and we would go from there. The guy I taked to was Larry. He too said that 5/16 was way too much that there had to be some other problem.

By the way, Larry was real helpful and seemed genuinly concerned.

I decided to take the table off to take the pictures. It was going to be easier to hold the straight endge and camera with the table off. Then I decided for giggles I would try a different blade. When I ordered blades from suffolk I got 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, & 3/4. I installed the other 3 blades and they all tracked properly, and when properly tensioned the wheels were coplanar. I even tried the blade grizzly sent with the riser and it tracked properly. So I reinstalled the 1/2" and again it was way off. So I called grizzly and told them all was fine again and thanks for the help. Then I called suffolk, and was told if it cuts fine, use it. If not call us back. Visually I can't see any problems to the blade. I don't know what to do at this point. I didn't pay for the 1/2, it was the buy 3 get one free, so the 1/2 was the free one. Bottom line the problem is the problem is fixed, but I have a 1/2 timberwolf blade that doesn't track properly.

[Phil Thien]

Does the 1/2 track better (more evenly) if you lower the tension?