Bandsaw belt -HELP!

[Cathy Schaewe]

I have the Rikon 10-325, and really haven't had any problems with it until now. I caught a blade, which bent. After I straightened it out, I restarted the bandsaw, and it started, then the blade stopped. I opened it up, and the drive belt had come off and shredded. So, I ordered a new one, put it on, changed the blade, and adjusted all the bearings and the blade tracking, turned it on .... and it just whirred to a stop. The belt had come off. Took the bottom wheel off, looked at everything, put it all back together .... same thing. :mad::mad::mad:

What am I doing wrong???:confused:

[Chris Ricker]

I don't have this saw Cathy but, did you check the belt tension between the motor pulley and the bottom wheel when you put the new belt on? also, there may be a shear pin on the motor pulley that may have popped.
I'm just thinkin out loud.
good luck.
CR

[Carroll Courtney]

Are the pulleys still aline?Sounds as if the pulleys have shifted alittle and not line up any more.----Carroll

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Cathy,

I don't have the Rikon but I went to the Rikon website and looked at the manual for that saw.

Since the saw has 2 speeds, there is a "double pulley" on both the wheel and the motor. I would make sure that the belt is on the correct pulley on both the motor and the wheel and that you have the correct tension on the belt using the handle. BTW I found that an interesting and unique way of adjusting belt tension.

That would be my first recommendation.

If those are correct, then I'd worry about pulley alignment.

Good luck and get back to us if we can be of further help.

[Fred Perreault]

Cathy, I have that saw (almost 2 years) and have called Rikon once (in Billerica, MA) and they answered questions, and when it got more serious sent a tech to fix the issue at my shop. Sorry I don't have any suggestions at this time, but I will take a look at my saw and see what gives. Also, I think that trying to straighten a twisted or bent bandsaw blade is unwise.... I've tried that.
"Our technical support staff is on-call from 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET, Mon-Fri. Please call 877-884-5167 or email techsupport@rikontools.com."
Fred P.

[Mike Peace]

I agree with Fred. I helped a friend with that saw a while back and the Rikon folks were very helpful.

[Cathy Schaewe]

Yes, I've talked to Rod there when I first got the saw, and he was very helpful. I adjusted the tension of the belt to what they told me to in the past - and I won't try to straighten a blade again! The belt is definitely on the correct pulleys.
I'll call Rod on Monday; I just was hoping somebody had a magic bullet!

[John Keeton]

Cathy, I can't help with the issue you are having, but whenever I bend a blade, I trash it. They rarely ever run true after that, and it isn't worth the hassle. Hope you get it up and running!

[Ronald Blue]

The only thing that will cause a belt to come off when properly tensioned is misalignment. I too looked at the parts break down. Unless I overlooked it I saw no mention of a drive key or pin. I am guessing they are using a setscrew to lock the pulley to the shaft. You might check the pulley to see if it has possibly moved outward and thus causing a severe enough misalignment to throw the belt. The sudden stop when the blade caught could have caused the pulley to slip on the shaft and at the same time move out. Just something to look at. It appears the belt is not very long on this bandsaw and the shorter the belt the more sensitive it will be to misalignment. I don't have this bandsaw so I am making an educated guess here. Maybe you can get it up and going without having to wait until Monday. Good luck.

[Cathy Schaewe]

Well, it is working now. The suggestions were right on the mark - I checked the alignment of the pulleys, and that was the problem. Somehow, even after putting it back on twice, I didn't have the bottom wheel seated. Since the pulley is part of the bottom wheel, not having it seated right meant it was too far out, causing the belt to slip off immediately. I don't know how it didn't go on right the first two times, but it works now!
Thanks for the suggestions that made me go look at it more carefully and figure out the problem. The people here are the best!