G0555 bandsaw pulley hitting lower wheel

[mike roe]

First if this should be in another forum i hope one of the mods can move it.

Ill start by saying that i love this BS. works great. Once i had it tuned up with a good blade it started cutting wonderfully. I have a resaw blade on it which could leave a better surface but resaws straight and accurate. Ive even started ripping on it. Anyway i did a fair amount of resawing smallish boards this past weekend when out of nowhere i started to get a strong rythmic vibration. Actually it was more than a vibration it was a true hitting feeling. After looking it turns out that the lower wheel is hitting the very edge of the pulley, but only on one spoke. The spokse scrapes by the end of the pulley on its rotation. Since it never happened before i first thought something came loose. I checked everything i could and the wheels and pulley are tight. There isnt even minimal deflection when force is applied. I cleaned out the dust thinking maybe some had built up on the pulley or wheel. The belt from the pulley to wheel even looks straight. Bottom line i cant tell what moved or went out of alignment.

So since this is only one spoke could the wheel have possibly been pulled out of whack? Was the pulley always that close to the lower wheel? I knew it was tight right there but i never bothered to actually measure the clearance. I cant figure out why it would happen out of the blue with no noticeable looseness and why even then with only one spoke. Logic would dictate that on a coplanar rotation every spoke would hit the pulley - of course this is assuming the wheels are accuratley milled. Perhaps im over thinking and i should just move the pulley further onto the arbor a bit?

thanks for any info!
Mike

[Adam Strong]

The most likely cause is that the pulley shifted on it's shaft. It may feel solid but things have a way of getting wedged into place.

[glenn bradley]

I'm with Adam. The spokes make it pretty easy to reach the pulley which is keyed. There's a good picture on page 32 of the manual. Loosen the belt tension, position the pulley for correct alignment and re-tension your belt.

[Jimmy Williams]

I just had something similar happen on my band saw (different make). I found that there is a set screw on the drive pulley right on top of the key (in the v-groove). That set screw had become a little loose and allowed the drive pulley to slide towards the blade pulley. This also happened right after doing some re-sawing. You will have to realign the pulleys and then check that the set screw is tight.

[kenneth kayser]

If the set screw is loose, it will probably loosen again. Use locktite.