Bandsaw tracking issue.

[Greg Cuetara]

I have a 10" ryobi home depot special sitting in my basement. It has worked fairly well for me with good blades on it and is still in good condition overall. A few weeks ago a blade snapped on me and I finally was able to get it fixed and I am trying to remount it. Before the blade and wheels and everything worked well...no rubbing no real issues. I put the blade back on the bandsaw today and the bottom wheel is kicking out on the bottom which makes the blade go to the outside of the bottom and therefore it won't track correctly through the guide wheels. If i turn the bottom wheel without the blade on it looks like everything is good but then like i said when i put the blade on the bottom kicks out just a little bit and at the top of the wheel it rubs against the frame and causes a pinch point.

I can adjust the wheel alignment at the top and that seems to be working good but the bottom wheel has me stumped right now.

Thanks for any advice.
Greg

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Sounds to me as if either the shaft the bottom wheel rides on or the bearing is wore out. Otherwise, it couldn't tilt as you describe.

[Greg Cuetara]

Ken, thank. Certainally not the news I was hoping for but I kinda thought it might be the bearing. I was able to pull it out and thought that it was ok. The one thing that seemed off was when I put the bottom wheel on there seemed to be a little slop but then when I put the bolt in the slop went away....not sure if just the bottom wheel is bad or not.

Greg

[Joseph Tarantino]

...... A few weeks ago a blade snapped on me and I finally was able to get it fixed and I am trying to remount it......

did you get the broken blade repaired? if yes, i'd toss it out and get a new blade. band saw performance is inexorably tied to the quality of band saw blades, in particular the welds on said blades. that's where i'd start.

[glenn bradley]

You may want to consider that the blade breaking may just be a symptom of whatever is going on with the lower wheel. If you take the lower wheel firmly in hand and rotate is back and forth like turning the radio up and down (boy, now I'm dated) it should rotate smoothly with no deviation of its path. If it is flopping around a bit, you will want to deal with that before buying another blade. Could be an upgrade in the bandsaw department is due.

[Greg Cuetara]

You may want to consider that the blade breaking may just be a symptom of whatever is going on with the lower wheel. If you take the lower wheel firmly in hand and rotate is back and forth like turning the radio up and down (boy, now I'm dated) it should rotate smoothly with no deviation of its path. If it is flopping around a bit, you will want to deal with that before buying another blade. Could be an upgrade in the bandsaw department is due.

I just spend quite a while trying to troubleshoot again and yes there is some wiggle in the bottom wheel. I tried to take the 'wiggle' out but I think it is moreso a condition of the crappy alum. bottom wheel which has warped. If I turn the wheel freely it is not true and it wobbles back and forth or from side to side by about 1/16" or a bit more. ugh definately not in the budget right now for an upgrade.

Thanks for the help and advice.
Greg

[Terry Beadle]

You might want to check that the wheels are co-planar. They might have gotten out of set from the broken blade.