Bandsaw guide/riser block problem

[Jesse Busenitz]

I have a delta 14" bandsaw that I upgraded to Carter guides and also put a riser block in. I noticed after a while that the thrust bearing wasn't centered and the blade kept sliding off when cutting that direction, so I shimmed my riser block a bit, but then I loose most of my tension release. I thought about getting a longer bolt for the thrust bearing and adding a couple washers/spacers to move it out to the left a bit. Anybody else ever have this problem before? I'm likely going to sell this to a neighbor, so maybe I should just let him figure it out:D

[Mel Miller]

You're not running it with the side guides that far away from the blade are you? It would be easy to add a washer behind the thrust bearing to center it better.

[Jesse Busenitz]

You're not running it with the side guides that far away from the blade are you? It would be easy to add a washer behind the thrust bearing to center it better.

No, just moved them out to show how the blade is not centered. I think a washer would work, except if you used a 3/4" blade it might not have enough clearance in the back.

[John TenEyck]

If the trust bearing was centered before you added the riser block then you didn't get the riser block installed correctly. Perhaps it there was a problem with how the riser block was machined or where the pin/holes were located that caused that. With the side bearings away from the blade, as in your picture, does the thrust bearing position change relative to the blade when you raise/lower the upper blade guide assembly? If so, then the wheels are not in proper alignment, and you would need to move the upper wheel left/right via the riser block until the blade guide assembly goes up/down w/o changing position relative to the blade.

FWIW, you can't adequately tension a 3/4" blade on a 14" CI Delta BS, so there's no need to consider that possibility. You can't even adequately tension a 1/2" blade for that matter, but you can get enough tension on it to do good work.

One more important point. You need to really, really torque the nut on the bolt through the riser block. You do not want any extension in that bolt as you apply spring tension, and the way to prevent that is by applying enough torque to the nut.

John