Band saw blade wobble

[Prashun Patel]

I put on a brand new Timberwolf 3/4" blade on my Griz G0555 bandsaw today and I can't for the life of me get it to stop wobbling front to back about 1/16-1/8". It's otherwise tracking fine. My wheels have been checked for alignment.

The tension's also puzzling me. I usually tension my thinner (1/4") blade just north of the flutter point. But I can't get this big guy to flutter at all. Is there another way to test for proper tension?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Shawn,

The first thing that comes to my mind about the blade wandering front to rear....find the weld and see if it appears to be a square joint...in other words...the two ends of the blade were square and are still that way now that they are welded together.

[Al Weber]

I had the same problem with a Rikon 18" BS and a 1/2" timberwolf blade. Rikon Tech support basically said that it is insufficient tension which does seem to be the case. I just kept adding tension until it quit oscillating. I also tried setting tension using the flutter system and it didn't result in adequate tension for the blade. I suspect it is something unique to individual saws that aren't quite balanced properly but I'm not sure.

[glenn bradley]

If you use the flutter method to set the tension on a Timberwolf and it still dances, call them for a replacement. Probably a bad weld; it can happen.

[Barry Vabeach]

Shawn, there are a few tests for a bad weld - A, take the blade off and place it teeth up on a flat surface - you don't need the whole blade - just say 10 or more inches on either side of the weld - if the weld is an an angle you should be able to see that. Option B is to slowly rotate the lower wheel and note where the blade goes in and out - and make a mark on the lower wheel and on the blade at the farthest edge of each wobble ( I use chalk ) then turn the wheel again. if the wobble relates to a problem with the blade - it will correspond to certain points on the blade - if it relates to the saw, it the wobble will relate to points in the rotation of the lower wheel. It is easy to see this movement if you set the rear thrust bearing so the back of the blade just rubs it when the blade is wobbling back

[Brad Wood]

I had the same exact thing.... same saw, same blade. Suffolk never responded to my email and when I called they were not really interested in doing anything about it.
I've heard nothing but good things about them, so I was surprised.

I bought one of those Woodslicer blades and it works great.

this blade from Suffolk was my first and last purchase from them. Too bad they didn't see me as someone that values relationships and would have purchased all my blades from them over the next however many years.

[Jeff Mohr]

I had the same problem...only with a 3/16 blade. I called Suffolk and they told me to measure the blade and it turned out their blade was actually 1/8 or so longer than 93 1/2 depending on which blade I measured (I bought 4). Well, it turns out that the Grizzly bandsaw is made to fit a little bit SMALLER blade than the suggested 93 1/2....hence the manual that indicates 92 1/2 to 93 1/2. The guy on the phone with Suffolk was helpful in letting me know that he had heard about this problem but it would've been much better for them to tell me BEFORE I ordered and recommend I order a 93 inch blade or so instead of a too large 93 1/2.

Since Sufflolk wanted to charge me to make the blades smaller, I decided maybe I would call the bandsaw maker and it turns out they have a .pdf file that helps with the tensioning. If that is your problem, this little thing should help. You can call Grizzly and they'll send it to you via email or you can PM me your email and I'll forward it onto you....it is too large to attach here.

Good luck.