Strange noise from Grizzly 17" bandsaw

[Rob Miller]

I recently bought a Grizzly 17" bandsaw and today it started making a strange clunking noise. As near as I could figure it seemed to be coming from behind the hub of the lower wheel. Not on every rotation of the wheel, but every couple of rotations I get sort of a clunk as if one were to tap the body of the saw with the handle of a small screwdriver in the vicinity of the lower hub. I don't see any debris or anything in there and vacuumed around it the best I could. Has anybody run into this? Not sure what to do about it. It doesn't seem to affect the function of the saw but it's annoying.

[Reinis Kanders]

Check if belt is loose. I had similar noise and bolt that holds motor had loosened and there was not enough tension on the belt.

[Rich Riddle]

It would be helpful if you would post the model of the saw. This will allow for an examination of the manual and lead to better clues. How old is the saw? Every other rotation would eliminate many things since bearings would make the noise when moving. It could be a part loosening, belts wearing or slipping, etc.

[Mikail Khan]

Try running the motor with the blade off. Could be a bad blade weld.

MK

[glenn bradley]

Since you recently bought the saw I will assume a G0513-something. I agree that a quick check of the motor bolts is in order but, would also check the lower wheel to see that it is secure on the shaft. Other steps mught include removing the belt and running the motor alone, manually rotating the wheels and, although this generally causes a thumping on every rotation, look at the blade weld. Let us know how you do.

[Rob Miller]

It would be helpful if you would post the model of the saw. This will allow for an examination of the manual and lead to better clues. How old is the saw? Every other rotation would eliminate many things since bearings would make the noise when moving. It could be a part loosening, belts wearing or slipping, etc.

The saw is a G0513anv and it's about a month old with very little time on it.

[Steve Menendez]

Try running the motor with the blade off. Could be a bad blade weld.MKThat's what immediately came to mind for me, as well. Check for any "lump" present at the weld seam (as if all the flashing was not properly ground off), and also that the curvature (camber) across the weld seam matches the camber in the main body of the blade.If you can correlate the thumping sound with a spot on the blade (i.e. make a black sharpie mark or some other similar way to mark the blade as it goes around), you may find that the solution is much less expensive than a saw repair.Steve.

[Rob Miller]

Incidentally, it makes the sound if I just spin the wheel with the motor off as well. What's odd is that it just began out of nowhere, i.e. it was quiet to begin with and last night it just started making noise. I'll do some more investigation today, i.e. spin the wheel with the blade off, etc. Wouldn't a bad weld show itself right away, i.e. on first use?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The saw is new? I would suggest calling Grizzly technical support.

[ken masoumi]

My 14" bandsaw started to make that thumping noise a while back , I noticed a pulley had slipped because the key that's suppose to be holding it in place had come loose ,the thumping noise was the result of the pulley jumping back and forth on it's shaft..

[Steve Menendez]

The blade could have developed a crack, also. Taking a good close look at the blade (all the way around) doesn't cost anything - just give it a once over to be on the safe side.Steve.

[Huck Schwee]

I think I saw someone recently say that they had a similar problem and it was some loose motor mounting bolts. They were not happy because it was a new machine but it was a relatively easy fix.

[Floyd Mah]

Another cause is that the blade could be deformed (bent) at some spot. Mark the blade with a Sharpie and see if the sound repetition is the same period as the blade rotation. Also place a piece of wood near the blade and see if the blade travels relative to the posterior blade guide.

[Rob Miller]

I took a closer look this morning. Without tension the noise goes away. I suspect the blade due to the frequency of the noise. Will inspect it closely when I get a chance over the weekend.

[Chuck Saunders]

If it is the blade that came with the saw, well I think its job was just to keep the wheels from spinning during shipment. The teeth are purely coincidental. Since it's new check for loose bolts (everybody lets something slip sometime) then call Grizzly Tech and they can suggest other possibilities.

[Phil Thien]

I took a closer look this morning. Without tension the noise goes away. I suspect the blade due to the frequency of the noise. Will inspect it closely when I get a chance over the weekend.

I had a similar problem with a small 10" Craftsman once. It turned out the bearing press-fit into the bottom wheel hub wasn't that snug. When the blade was tensioned and the wheels turned the bearing would move around a tiny bit in the hub and make a knocking sound once per rotation. I could only detect the noise at lower speeds, when the saw was turned off and the wheels were coming to a stop. And it only happened if the blade was under tension.

The fix for me (bought the saw used) was to use some Loc-tite stuff for gluing bearings into their bores.

[Rob Miller]

I took the blade off and it runs quiet as a mouse. I inspected the blade and I don't see anything wrong with it. The weld looks good and the back of the blade is straight there and there are no kinks or bends, etc.. Tomorrow I'll readjust everything from the bottom up and see where that goes.

[glenn bradley]

I took the blade off and it runs quiet as a mouse. I inspected the blade and I don't see anything wrong with it. The weld looks good and the back of the blade is straight there and there are no kinks or bends, etc.. Tomorrow I'll readjust everything from the bottom up and see where that goes.

With the blade off you are also without tension on the machine so the blade may not be the trouble, just an enabler of the misbehavior. Sounds like you're on the right track.

[Myk Rian]

Since it isn't every rotation, I suspect a bearing issue.

[Mikail Khan]

After reinstalling the blade, put some tension on it, adjust the ball bearing guides far away from the blade and turn on the saw. See if the noise returns.

[Guy Belleman]

Could it be the alignment of the belt from the motor? Under load with tension on the blade, if the pulleys are not perfectly aligned, the belt could be catching on the side. Pulley's can slide some. Probably not the case, but worth a look.

[Keith Hankins]

If it is the blade that came with the saw, well I think its job was just to keep the wheels from spinning during shipment. The teeth are purely coincidental. Since it's new check for loose bolts (everybody lets something slip sometime) then call Grizzly Tech and they can suggest other possibilities.

That was very funny! I have the 17" HD and its 10years old and I'd 2nd that. If it's the stock blade throw it out! I run nothing but a Laguna carbide blade on it now and use it only for resaw. My 37 Delta (thats 1937) does all the small stuff.

[Rob Miller]

I had emailed Grizzly to get an opinion on the noise and they gave me some things to look at. Out of the blue, they called yesterday and advised me they're sending another blade. It is, of course, the same quality as the original blade but it was nice of them to take the initiative and do this without me requesting it. +1 to Grizzly's customer service.

[scott vroom]

I would take Ken's advice and call Grizzly tech support, if for no other reason than to document a quality issue with their new saw.
Request a case number.

[Scot wolf]

Hope you get it figured out. I'm sure it's something simple. +2 on getting some decent bands.