coplaner adjustment on lower wheel

[Doug Lochner]

I recently purchased a used Agazzani N'RA 20" bandsaw from a cabinet shop that went out of business. The saw was a bit rough but the bearings and tires look good, it has Carter guides and the price was right. It is a well built saw, much heavier duty than any of the Chinese ones I've seen including the Grizzly and Rikons I've owned.

I've cleaned up the saw, repainted it and rewired the 3-phase motor to a VFD inverter so I can run single phase - all is going great except when I tension a 3/4" blade and adjust the tracking to center the blade I get blade movement front to back. The blade moves forward and back not side to side.

I recall this can be corrected by adjusting the bottom wheel, but I do not remember if it is the side bolts or top and bottom bolts.
Anyone out there have a clue how to adjust this?

[Dan Forman]

Here is a link to an article explaining how to do this on a MiniMax, I'm sure it would be similar to yours. Scroll down a little short of halfway, look for "steps to adjust coplaner." http://www.jwsjoinery.com/jws/bsm.htm

With the blade stopped, does the blade protrude more on one wheel than the other? On mine the teeth would be barely over the edge of the wheel on top, but farther out on the the bottom. Loosen the center bolt on the lower hub. I adjusted using the top and bottom bolts on the bottom wheel, and used a piece of mdf - with cutouts for the table and wheel hubs, - for a straightedge, lined all four edges of the two wheels so they all hit the straightedge, then relocked the center bolt. Finis.

Do this with your customary tension on the blade.

Dan

[Josiah Bartlett]

Front to back movement of the blade may not necessarily be a coplanarity issue. The tires may just have a bad wear pattern or have worn flat. You can try recrowning them. Alternately, the blade may have a faulty weld. Spin it by hand and see if the front to back motion is always at the same spot on the blade or tires.

[Doug Lochner]

The MiniMax webpage has good information, especially the part about the blade not needing to track "centered" just sqaure to the blade.

I will give it a shot today.

[Doug Lochner]

Thanks Josiah,

One of the "features" of Azazzani bandsaws is heavy cast iron (computer balanced) wheels bonded with FLAT vulcanized rubber. They are totally different than crowned wheels, designed to run large blades under heavy tension, which is what you'd expect from an industrial saw.
I've tried 3 blades, all exhibit the same behavior, so I don't think it is a blade issue.
I had to make this same adjustment on my Rikon saw (it that case, it required about an 1/8th inch turn of the top adjustment bolt to get it dialed in).
I will make a gauge and check coplaner today on the Agazzani.
Again, thanks for your input.

[Doug Lochner]

Here is a link to an article explaining how to do this on a MiniMax, I'm sure it would be similar to yours. Scroll down a little short of halfway, look for "steps to adjust coplaner." http://www.jwsjoinery.com/jws/bsm.htm

With the blade stopped, does the blade protrude more on one wheel than the other? On mine the teeth would be barely over the edge of the wheel on top, but farther out on the the bottom. Loosen the center bolt on the lower hub. I adjusted using the top and bottom bolts on the bottom wheel, and used a piece of mdf - with cutouts for the table and wheel hubs, - for a straightedge, lined all four edges of the two wheels so they all hit the straightedge, then relocked the center bolt. Finis.

Do this with your customary tension on the blade.

Dan
Thanks Dan,

If you remove the table and blade guard shutter assembly there is no need for a special gauge on the Agazzani saw.
I was able to use a 4 foot precision ground metal level I have as a straight edge. Yep - the wheels were out about 3/8 inch!
A quick adjustment and the problem is gone!

I appreciate the link. It is good to know that the blade does not need to be exactly centered on the wheels to track properly. The 3/4" blade I'm testing with is just slightly off center but is running perfectly.

Thanks again for the heads up.

[Phil Thien]

I've tried 3 blades, all exhibit the same behavior, so I don't think it is a blade issue.

That wouldn't be three blades ordered from the same vendor, would it?

If that is the case, I'd absolutely try someone else because tearing into the saw.

[Dan Forman]

Doug --- Glad it worked out. I just did mine a few weeks ago. MiniMax suggests running the blade so that the teeth hang just off the edge of the wheels. They have flat or nearly flat tires like yours. They say that this will help preserve the tires, protecting them from wear from the set teeth. You might check with Agazzani to see if they suggest the same thing. I think for mine, its ok to run small blades in the center, but anything over 1/2" should go the other way.

Dan

[Doug Lochner]

Doug --- Glad it worked out. I just did mine a few weeks ago. MiniMax suggests running the blade so that the teeth hang just off the edge of the wheels. They have flat or nearly flat tires like yours. They say that this will help preserve the tires, protecting them from wear from the set teeth. You might check with Agazzani to see if they suggest the same thing. I think for mine, its ok to run small blades in the center, but anything over 1/2" should go the other way.

Dan
Thanks - it makes sense.
It seems to be tracking great now, not at the edge of the wheel, perhaps 1/4" from edge - but right on the money alignment wise.

I will check with Agazzani and see what they recommend. I emailed them about getting a manual and some specifications when I first got the saw and they referred me to their dealer in LA. I'll see what he says.

After adjusting the coplanar I did some quick tests. It saws really straight. I was able to do paper thin resaw of scrap stock, so I'm pretty pleased. This is a 3 phase saw. I added a phase inverter to run it on single phase which worked out great! Variable speed, soft start, motor braking and single phase operation all for less than a replacement single phase motor. Now all I need is a couple of new blades and I should be good to go.

Thanks again for your help.

[Dan Forman]

I think we need a picture of your rehab job!

Dan

[george wilson]

I THINK MiniMax has no tires. I May be wrong. Some years ago I was in the shop of a guy I was doing some special work for. He had a MiniMax bandsaw,and he showed me how the blades had to hang off the edge of the wheels to keep from flattening the set of the teeth. It was rather dark,but I think the wheels had no tires. I was wondering how long it would take for the wheels to wear just a little rounded! Then,the unusual system would be in trouble!

Im my own shop,over a period of time,we had worn the cast iron wheels like that on a small horizontal metal cutting bandsaw. we had to remove the wheels and machine them flat,removing as little as possible so the blades would still reasonably line up with the guides.

[Doug Lochner]

I think we need a picture of your rehab job!

Dan
Will do - I still have a few things to finish: mount the Start and Kill switches, box the inverter/main power panel, add a micro-switch to the foot brake (to tell the inverter to kill power when you manually apply the brake) and bead-blast and mount the fence rails. As soon as it is buttoned up I will post some pics.

[Dan Forman]

I THINK MiniMax has no tires. I May be wrong. Some years ago I was in the shop of a guy I was doing some special work for. He had a MiniMax bandsaw,and he showed me how the blades had to hang off the edge of the wheels to keep from flattening the set of the teeth. It was rather dark,but I think the wheels had no tires. I was wondering how long it would take for the wheels to wear just a little rounded! Then,the unusual system would be in trouble!

Im my own shop,over a period of time,we had worn the cast iron wheels like that on a small horizontal metal cutting bandsaw. we had to remove the wheels and machine them flat,removing as little as possible so the blades would still reasonably line up with the guides.

Mine has tires. Maybe your friend's wore out and he never replaced them.

Dan

[Doug Lochner]

I THINK MiniMax has no tires. I May be wrong. Some years ago I was in the shop of a guy I was doing some special work for. He had a MiniMax bandsaw,and he showed me how the blades had to hang off the edge of the wheels to keep from flattening the set of the teeth. It was rather dark,but I think the wheels had no tires. I was wondering how long it would take for the wheels to wear just a little rounded! Then,the unusual system would be in trouble!

Im my own shop,over a period of time,we had worn the cast iron wheels like that on a small horizontal metal cutting bandsaw. we had to remove the wheels and machine them flat,removing as little as possible so the blades would still reasonably line up with the guides.
George,

The Agazzani does not have removable tires, instead it has a thick (3/8") vulcanized rubber layer bonded to the wheels. The wheels and rubber are milled flat, apparently this is preferred for large blades. After adjusting the coplaner it tracks perfectly. The blade runs true in all directions with no vibration. It is really a great saw.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I THINK MiniMax has no tires. I May be wrong. Some years ago I was in the shop of a guy I was doing some special work for. He had a MiniMax bandsaw,and he showed me how the blades had to hang off the edge of the wheels to keep from flattening the set of the teeth. It was rather dark,but I think the wheels had no tires. I was wondering how long it would take for the wheels to wear just a little rounded! Then,the unusual system would be in trouble!

Im my own shop,over a period of time,we had worn the cast iron wheels like that on a small horizontal metal cutting bandsaw. we had to remove the wheels and machine them flat,removing as little as possible so the blades would still reasonably line up with the guides.

George,

My Mini-Max MM-16 has tires. In fact, Mini-Max advertises that the tires change quite easily and are vulcanized.