Need Band Saw Help (Blade Tracking)

[Ted Wong]

I can't figure this out. I just retired my band saw wheels, crowned them with a 7º bevel on each side and balanced the wheels out for vibration. The wheels by themselves look great.
I pop them on the old 18" Bridgewood, load a new blade, set the tension, get the wheels co-planer and start the saw. Disappointment quickly sets in as I watch the blade vibrate from front to back about 3/16". "What the . . ."' I say. The crowns are pretty much the same (almost exactly the same. The wheels are in the same plane. and everyhting looks like it is supposed to. I even flip the top wheel around thinking I out it on inside out but that doesn't help either. No I'm really puzzled because the saw tracks worse than before and I can;r figure it out. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Ted'

[Mel Fulks]

Sounds to me like a misaligned weld.

[Ted Wong]

I don't think so. I tried two different blades from two different manufacturers and both tracked the same.

[Erik Loza]

Agree with Mel: Sounds like a bad blade(s).

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Lee Schierer]

I think you may have messed up your new tires. Bandsaw tires are crowned (curved) not beveled. If you did in fact bevel them, they probably won't work. If they are beveled, the band will probably try to wander as you are seeing it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I agree with Lee with a little more information.

Some bandsaw tires are crowned and some are flat.

Often European manufactured bandsaws use tires that are flat without any crown. My Mini-Max MM-16, for example, has flat tires and they aren't glued on.

[doug faist]

This video has a bit of a different perspective on how to adjust a bandsaw. I've tried it and it works.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

Just one more opinion.


:)

Doug

[John Coloccia]

If it's the tires, it will wander back and forth at the frequency that the tire is turning. If it's the blade, it will go back and forth at the frequency that the blade is rotating. You should be able to rotate the wheels by hand and figure out which it is.

It's probably bad welds. I've gotten NUMEROUS bad welds from every supplier I've used, and it's become a pet peeve of mine. I've had multiple bad welds from Timberwolf, Highland, Carter (or Olson...not sure who botched it up), and Laguna. They all seem more than willing to replace the bad blade, but it's really gotten rather annoying.

Anyhow, just put a block of wood against the back of the blade, and then rotate the blade by hand. Note the distance. After a few rotations, it should be obvious if it's the tire or the blade.

[bob hertle]

I think you may have messed up your new tires. Bandsaw tires are crowned (curved) not beveled. If you did in fact bevel them, they probably won't work. If they are beveled, the band will probably try to wander as you are seeing it.

I've been running with 5 degree bevel (to center) for more than 20 years with absolutely rock steady tracking. Many of the restorers on the old ww machinery site, crown the same way. 7 degrees seems a little steep, but should work fine. I'd check the face runout of the wheel, also tension normally and run an indicator against the back of the blade. If you find the major indicator excursion to occur at wheel rotation frequency, it's time to examine your crowning method. I would also suspect blade, but I'm not there to see exactly what's happening. FWIW, I think your saw probably came with flat, or nearly flat tires.

Regards
Bob

[Joseph Tarantino]

ted.......is this what your band saw is doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrxBP8YBKYM&feature=plcp

if it is, the problem in the video was caused by defective welds in 4 brand new timberwolf blades. my problem was rectified by getting lou iturra of iturra design to weld up a 1/2 blade for me with an absolutely perfect weld to eliminate the blade as a potential problem source. the blade he sent me rectified ALL my saw's blade related issues:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AacXG4D8AWc&feature=context-cha

[Jim Matthews]

I can't add anything to the discussion here concerning the source of the oscillation, but have a suggestion;

Is it possible to spin the bandsaw wheels and lightly sand the tires? It shouldn't make things worse, and you'll likely feel if there's a high spot.