Grizzly G9963 Resaw (27", 3" blade) setup and modification

[james hepp]

I just bought a Grizzly G9963 27" resaw bandsaw, and am having some difficulties with it. This is the discontinued (fairly LARGE) vertical bandsaw that takes a 3" blade.
As it turns out, the wheels use NO TIRES and are dead FLAT.
I'm speculating that Grizzly may have discontinued this saw due to problems arising from the wheels being FLAT and would like to learn more on the subject of band-wheels & bandwheel design/maintenance.

Several makes/models of industrial resaws come from the factory with Flat wheels, however sawmills regularly crown / recrown their wheels.
are these intended to be crowned according to end user specs prior to use?


The wheels on this Grizzly resaw are just under 28" -and I have been unable to find any tires that fit a 27.75" 3" wide wheel. as for having these wheels crowned, I'd like to get some advice before seeking out services...


The saw I just bought had been "modified" -and I "un-modified" this last night, -but I can't help but wonder why someone would weld the WASHERS (Part 117) to the upper ARBOR BRACKET HOLDER (part 118, which has about 1.5" slot for the PIVOT SHAFT rather than the hole shown in the diagram http://cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g9963_m.pdf )
in it's welded position, the wheels were about 1" out of co-planarity, with the 2" blade's teeth riding directly on the lower wheel -maybe they were using this machine to take the set out of their saw-bands??? any blade run on this machine would be instantly ruined, so this was the first thing I addressed, but now that I have full adjustment of the upper wheel, the guides removed and an order of new parts/blades on the way, I'm really not sure how to go about setting-up this saw?
and back to the wheel issue, I'm wondering if I should even try until the wheels are crowned and rebalanced?

Is there any reason I couldn't fabricate a jig and grinding tool, and grind a couple thou' crown on wheels under the saw's own power?

Another "interesting" element on this saw is it's lubrication tank. there's a Lubrication reservoir and a "lubricant absorber" (parts 55 and 56 in the diagram) no info is provided, and I'm not exactly sure what to use in this, or if this is of much use? I like the idea of the misting system shown here: http://www.borsonresaw.com/pages/saw.html , but perhaps this can be used as well???

I have a bandsaw feeder, it is the Grizzly G1094 (which is a Comatic 1/2hp unit) but is was mounted so that the fence maxed out at more than an inch away from the blade, and I doubt the previous owner had any clue about where it SHOULD be mounted. where should the roller fence and the feed wheels be located in relation to the blade? I hate to drill any holes until I know for certain where it should be located


Grizzly is no help on this. I tried calling several different times, and while I reached different "Tech Support" personnel, none seemed knowledgeable nor interested in finding out. one tried to sell me $200 worth of tires for a 24" bandsaw, insisting they'd stretch if heated (they were for a 24" x 2" wheel of a different design altogether...)


The guides are another issue to contend with. I ordered parts to replace the missing and damaged ones, but I'm not sure this is the BEST guide design for this saw... as designed, it uses bakelite plastic dowels (1" diameter) and only the upper guide uses a rear roller bearing.
would a series of roller bearings work better? or is what it has sufficient for a 3" blade running at 4900fpm? I like Baker's guide systems, but they only accomodate up to a 2" blade, + retrofitting would likely be equal difficulty + expense as simply fabricating my own


Finally, the throat plate is chewed to hell and needs replaced... do you use zero clearance plates with a big blade like this, or is some more clearance needed?


By the way, the blades I ordered are from Grizzly, but they're Lenox Woodmaster "B" blades which are 206.75" x 3" x .050" @ .78tpi. -bimetal, carbide teeth. once this saw is running and running well, I'd like to try a Stellite tooth blade, but for the initial road tests, $160 is about all I'm willing to spend on something that may get destroyed in short order.


I realize there are too many questions to address all at once, but ANY advice or direction on ANY of the things mentioned would be so greatly appreciated.


-Kyle, Estero FL

[Van Huskey]

I actually have played with this bandsaw, a friend of mine used to have one.

First, lets deal with the wheel. I prefer flat wheels/tires with a wide blade, it gives better support to the blade and theoretically reduces metal fatigue in the band. Flat wheels don't work as well with narrow blades but this is a non-issue here. Flat wheels are more sensitive to co-planer and out of round issues though. I would not introduce a crown unless it was a last resort to track the blade properly, I would then do my best to do it with a tire not the wheels itself. If you do decide you have to have tires try Bobby at Woodworkerstoolworks.com he may be able to help. If you go this route checking on OWWM.com will get you plenty of info on crowning rubber tires, jigs etc. Crowning the lower wheel using the saws power is a lot easier than crowning the upper wheel that way... :D Not sure exactly what you want to know about setting up the saw after "fixing" the modifications. Just approach it like any bandsaw with the guides farther out of the way than normal and going slowely since you don't know how far out you may be initially.

Can't help on the coolant tank issue, I didn't even notice his saw had one and have never used one on a wood cutting saw. Unless you are running the powerfeeder at a high speed and pushing the motor/blade to the very limit for long periods of time I doubt you will see any heat related band issues.

On the feeder fence, the fence may have been fine for him if his only focus was resawing wide lumber down to a minimum of 4/4. The "problem" with feeder fences like this one is the small amount of lateral adjustment. If you plan to cut veener I would set it up so at full extension it can touch the blade (maybe be able to go 1/16th past the blade since I am drilling holes. I have seen feeder fences "out of place" because of the webbing underneath the table didn't allow perfect placement and the best compromise for the owner was reached. If you plan to use the saw for resawing and ripping I would work on a removable feeder fence that would be clamped into place. If you don't plan on doing any veener just normal resawing you may appreciate the fence being "maxed out" a little farther from the blade... This really is common sense once you decide how you plan to use the saw.

You can cut the plate as zero clearance but the laterla movement of the blade will chew it a little but it won't hurt anything.

Finally I would apprach blades. Funny enough my friend had the exact same blade you do, not really surprising since it is one of the best band "saw mill" blades and the only Woodmaster Lenox makes in 3". We were not able to get near the tension on it a bi-metal blade needs to function in the optimum range. If you take it as a whole that is a very light saw to expect it to tension a 3 x .05 inch blade to over 25,000 PSI. He was using it to cut veneer and even power feed the finish quality was pretty low. He switched to a 2" X .042" Woodmaster CT and the saw was able to get about 24,000 PSI on the blade, still not ideal but the extra tension and ground versus set teeth made a HUGE difference in cut quality.

Stellite is probably available from band mill suppliers and although it doesn't last as long as carbide it is softer and deals with shock better without chipping. If you are cutting processed lumber where the chance of hitting nails etc is low I would go with carbide instead. Also if you are cutting veener and thus finish being important I would use the 2" Lenox Woodmaster CT in variable pitch and .035" gauge, it is relatively thin kerf to save wood and the thinner band gauge will allow closer to optimum 30,000 PSI tension on that saw and the VP will reduce harmonics aiding finish. The other option would be the 2" Laguna Kerf King. In the wide blades on that saw I would not recommend a Lenox Trimaster since it has a very thick gauge at 2" and above, way too much for that saw.

Good luck, hope this helps.

[Van Huskey]

I forgot to mention guides. They were somewhat of a pain to set since all the rod move independently but are locked at one time. The reality is the high beam strength of a wide high tension blade just doesn't hit the guides often so any basic guide will do. I would like a bottom thrust bearing but imagine it would be a pain to add one. Looking at the guides I did have the thought that if it were my saw I would make single piece rectangular guides out of Lignum Vitae which would make setting the guides much easier especially on the bottom. Phenolic would also be a great material to make these one piece guides from.

[james hepp]

Thanks so much for all the help, I've put a tremendous amount of time into this machine, but finally, it is making sawdust. The saw cuts surprisingly straight, however the last remaining problem occurs after shutdown. -for some (unknown to me) reason, the blade runs forward after I turn it off -while it is winding down... and the only way to save it is to crank the tracking screw to pull it back onto the wheels.
-this happens pretty quick, too, and the brake doesn't stop it fast enough. throwing the tracking off is the only way I have found, -then of course, it has to be reset by manual spinning this big-b--t--d by hand, EVERY time it is run.

I've not found any play in the bearings, but something is definitely awry here.

anyone have any ideas or advice.
aside from this significant issue, it cuts really well. far better than I ever expected. -if only I can get this tracking problem resolved, I think I should have a pretty good machine here!