Bandsaw table has a bump at the blade slot

[John Coloccia]

My bandsaw has a bump at the slot for the blade. Yes, the alignment pin is in. I don't know if it was always like this and I just didn't notice, or if it somehow developed with time. Putting the pin in actually makes it a little bit worse so I'm guessing it was just not drilled right in the first place.

Anyhow, I'm not going to bug Grizzly about it since it's well out of warranty and I really should have done something about it earlier. I'm also not going to pay $500 for a new table! I'm considering heating up the pin and pounding it on an anvil to taper it and make it slightly oval so that I can give a little twist to realign the slot. It's only off by a little, but it's enough that a nice, flat board will catch. It's just starting to bother me more than it used to.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Jonathan Spool]

Does it have an effect on your cuts?

[John Coloccia]

Does it have an effect on your cuts?

Yes and no. The bandsaw isn't a precision tool anyhow, so a tiny little bump makes no noticeable difference in the cut, however the edge of the stock catches on it sometimes, and it's quite annoying when you're in the middle of a graceful, flowing cut and all of a sudden you catch the lip.

If the back of the table were slightly lower than the front, I wouldn't care one bit. That it's slightly higher is the problem.

[David Castor]

I don't have an answer, but I had a similar problem with a new Grizzly bandsaw (G0513X) recently. The table was not level and I had a similar bump at the slot. After sending a couple of photos to Grizzly, they shipped me a new table - the packaging was a little sketchy (I had to laugh at the "FRAGILE" sticker), but it seems to have survived the trip. Due to a major garage re-wiring project (so I can plug in the bandsaw), I just changed out the table last night. I'm afraid to check to the table for flatness - but guess I will tonight. And I still have the old table - not sure what to do with it - assuming the new one is an improvement.

The CS rep did not really question the issue with the table at all - you might want to give them a call and just discuss the situation with them.

[John Coloccia]

You know, maybe I will call them, David. I really kind of feel like it's my fault for having ignored it for so long but I guess there's no harm in calling. They can always just say "no" if they want to.

[Rod Sheridan]

John, can you grind or file the edge so your stock doesn't catch?

Regards, Rod.

[John Coloccia]

Yes, absolutely. This is definitely an option and something I've been considering also if I can't find another solution. I would just get in there with a die grinder and a sanding disc and just knock off the edge.

[Floyd Mah]

I mentioned that I had the same saw in your last thread about the bearings. I had been noticing a bump also, but I manage to realign the slot by pushing the pin in further. I had the thought that maybe you can place a shim on the proximal side, at the top of the pin, to force that side of the table up slightly when you pushed the pin in. It might be a temporary fix and would give you some idea how far off the top is.

[John Coloccia]

Solution!

So I called Grizzly, told them that I wouldn't mind taking off some metal if they had any clever ideas. The rep suggested that I remove a bit of material from the hole. This works because the pin is tapered. I grabbed a chainsaw file, took a bit off the top of the high side and a bit off the bottom of the low side. It took a couple of tries but now I shove in the pin and the table is perfectly aligned!

I guess I should have just called them in the first place. Honestly I really didn't think I'd get a recommendation from a manufacturer on how to modify their tool so I didn't even bother.

Hey, so now we all know the simple way to align a bandsaw table if we ever need too. LOL. Glad I could help :)

Floyd: the whole procedure took me about 5 minutes. If you've never tried it, cast iron files like butter.

[Chris Padilla]

Hmmm, my MM20 has a bit of a rise from one side of the blade slot to the other as well and while it bugs me, it hasn't impacted any cuts as far as I could tell.

[John Coloccia]

Hmmm, my MM20 has a bit of a rise from one side of the blade slot to the other as well and while it bugs me, it hasn't impacted any cuts as far as I could tell.

Mine was out about .014", about 1/64", at the outer edge. Less at the center, of course. The most annoying thing is it would randomly catch depending on my stock and where it happened to be passing over the slot.

[Wes Grass]

My Felder table is magnetized. But only at the slot. Steel parts won't stick anywhere else. Just right over the slot. Slide them slightly off to the side and nothing. Weird.

[Floyd Mah]

Wes, maybe place a piece of paper over the slot and sprinkle some iron filings on it. Bet you get the classic picture of the magnetic field and one side of the slot is the north pole and the other is the south pole.

[Dave MacArthur]

John,
I had something similar happen on my Agazzani, one side of the slot was higher than the other (slot coming out the front of the saw). I ended up finding that the four bolts that mount the table underneath all thread up into the table bottom, and have two nuts on them to screw up against the table bottom--one to bottom out onto table, one to lock that nut in place. Someone mentioned that cast iron is soft and warps easily, and to check that all four bolts were torqued into the table equally, or it could warp one side of the slot higher.

I checked it, and sure enough, I had left some slop in the left two bolts--didn't lightly bottom the bolt out in the table threads. I screwed all the bolts in equally with no torque/tension on the table, reset the holding nuts, and viola... no more bump at the slot!

I know you solved your problem, but the concept might help you if you see more uneven-ness later or want to check it.

[Eiji Fuller]

My Felder table is magnetized. But only at the slot. Steel parts won't stick anywhere else. Just right over the slot. Slide them slightly off to the side and nothing. Weird.
I just noticed that too! I was thinking how weird it was. Mines an FB540.

[Eiji Fuller]

I totally disagree that a bandsaw isn't a precision tool. Mine sure is.

[Carl Knapp]

John,

If your saw is the saw design as most.
1. I would say that you should be able to adjust the twist out by adjusting the four bolts and jam nuts Dave was talking about. A lot of guys with the Centaros sold by Mini Max have done it. Its a bit tricky to figure out which bolts to adjust. you need to play with it and keep track. while you are adjusting across the slot you need to have another straight edge watching to make sure you are not making a convex or concave in the table \
2. The other option would be to clamp the tables flat or maybe even depress the high side a bit, find a slightly larger pin and re-drill.
3. Option three would be to see if you have enough cast area to mount a flat plate under with a couple hand nobs.

I would rather adjust it out.

[John Coloccia]

re: precision tool

Let me rephrase. I don't use my bandsaw as a precision tool, so a little off here and there doesn't bug me. I do get pretty good cuts off my bandsaw, but I don't use it to shave a little here and there, or to do precise miters, etc. I usually turn to the TS, or often just hand tools. That's just how I use mine and no reflection on what's possible or how anyone else uses their.

re: the bolts

I saw a couple of you mentioned that. The problem here was that the table was only off by about .002" with the pin out, but went out about .014" with the pin in. There was just something goofy about the pin hole. A couple of minutes of filing is, though, fixed it and now it's dead flat over the slot.

[Chris Padilla]

Good stuff...looks like I'll be visiting the underside of my BS table soon....

[Leo Vogel]

I had the same problem with a new Grizzly bandsaw I ordered several years ago. I called Grizzly, explained to them that it appeared the table had a bit of a twist in it, and that I couldn't pass a board over it without it catching. They wanted to know if I had the pin in the table, if I had assembled the saw correctly, and generally were just a bit negative about the whole situation. After spending considerable time on the phone. they said they couldn't do anything without me sending them pictures of the problem. Probably a reasonable request, but I didn't really want to get into taking pictures, talking back and forth, etc., so I decided to fix it myself. I simply put a few boards on the table, with a few c-clamps, and took the twist out. I haven't had a problem since. I wish now that I had waited and bought a larger Italian saw.