Bandsaw vibration problem

[Dave Tinley]

I have a Rikon 18 bandsaw and pretty much been a good saw for the money. But I noticed it always seem to have a fair amount of vibration and I thought the cut should be smoother then is has been concidering I am using a Lennox Tri-master blade.
Last night I measured the upper wheel runout with a dial indicator and with the blade on and tensioned it has 65 thousenths run out, with the tension off and the blade off it has right at 70 thousenths. This seems to me to be alot.
Before I contact Rikon, I was wondering if anybody else had some input??
Thanks
Dave

[lou sansone]

that seems like way to much. My experience is based upon 24" and 36" band saws. They should not run out more than +/- 0.010" on the face of the wheel and about the same in the side of the wheel .


lou

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I recently bought a used JET 18", and I was less than impressed with the cut quality...especially with a big blade. My JET 14" cut much better, frankly. I put a smaller blade on the other day and noticed a buildup of 'crap' on both tires. Never saw that on the other saw. It was tough' enough that I used steel wool to get it off. May or may not have had anything to with it, but the cut is smoother, and the vibration is less than it was.

Are you gonna make it to Fredericksburg this year? (Oct 7-9)

KC