Bandsaw Riser Kit

[Russell Neyman]

I installed a six-inch riser block in my Grizzly G0555 bandsaw today, increasing my blanking capacity to a full 12 inches. Great upgrade!
337819 337821

A a couple of tips for those of you who will follow suit: Do not deviate from the sequence of steps noted in the instructions, especially the part about removing/replacing the guide bar. Expect to have the new blade fit very snugly (mine required an upper wheel adjustment).

Question: Will this same Grizzly fit a Rigid?

[Dok Yager]

Russell, I am not sure that will fit a Rigid. However I have a Shop Fox that`s identical to your grizzly except color. I put in my riser assy as soon as I got it and I don`t regret it one bit. I like the extra re-saw capacity and the blade selection is even better IMHO. You can make or buy a table extension for larger pieces and a Kreg fence is great way to go. Enjoy.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Most all of these Taiwanese build bandsaws are identical, I have one that I added the riser kit to some 10 years ago or better, I also added a second motor and jack shaft so I can saw metal with the right blade on the saw.

The speeds for both wood and metal sawing are written on the front of the saw, as mine is a 4 speed bandsaw I get 3 speeds easily without removing the bandsaw belt, the slower speed is for harder metals, fast one is good for copper brass and alluminium.

When I saw metal the bandsaw motor is not used.

The extra motor hung on the back with a hinge does the work then, and the saw’s motor is just an idler in that use.

If I don’t saw metal the V-belt is taken off the saw motor and hangs free.

Couple of pictures will help with showing the what, where and how.

337871 337872 337873 337874

[Steve Russell tucker]

Mr Van Der Loo if you don't mind me asking do you happen to know what riser block you used for this band saw? I have one pretty close to that color is the only difference really and I didn't want to get the wrong one. Thank you and have a great day
S.

[Brice Rogers]

Looking at the picture of Leo's saw, I see that it has the brand name "toolex", but it looks absolutely like my Harbor Fright (Central Machinery) saw right down to the plastic skirts on the bottom and the wood saw decal. BTW, HF sells a riser block kit if you contact them through their tech support department.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Like I said all these saws are identical but for the color or name on it.

The Toolex was a importer/reseller of these lathes, not in business anymore as far as I know.

The only difference I have seen is de blade guide adjustment bar, as mine and most are round with a flat side on it, some did have a hex shaped bar,

My riser set came from a local wood machinery dealer, a no name product without any instructions, I just build it on and adjusted the piece so the wheels where lined up in both horizontal and vertical direction.

A long straight edge for the vertical and two sight sticks for the horizontal adjustment.

[Roger Chandler]

Question: Will this same Grizzly fit a Rigid?

Russell, I got a riser block for my G0555LX version of that 14" saw when I purchased it. I do know that even among the 14" class saws, some require a specific riser block kit, and Grizzly sells several for different model 14" saws. I would inquire to tech support to find an answer to your question.

My G0555LX really performs great. I have an 18" Jet bandsaw that I don't use very much any more because the Grizzly G0555LX does such a great job, but I like to use the Jet when I use my resaw sled to cut boards from logs.

[Jon Shank]

I used the grizzly riser kit on my Rigid a year or so ago, fit perfectly.

Jon

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Like I said before these riser kits are all alike, but for the riser bar and the color on the riser block and the blade guards, some rattle can paint makes them alike :D

[Steve Nix]

Russell, I am not sure that will fit a Rigid. However I have a Shop Fox that`s identical to your grizzly except color. I put in my riser assy as soon as I got it and I don`t regret it one bit. I like the extra re-saw capacity and the blade selection is even better IMHO. You can make or buy a table extension for larger pieces and a Kreg fence is great way to go. Enjoy.


I have a ridgid and a powmatic. They have identical riser blocks.

[Rich Aldrich]

I have a ShopFox W1706 which is the same as the G0555, except the ShopFox has cast iron wheels and the Grizzly has aluminum wheels. I put the riser in right away and have had issues finding blades short enough. Tension has always been marginally loose at maximum tension adjustment, so I put a 1/8" shim between the riser block and the upper casting. The shim fixed the problem. I tried a few of the blades that had been too long and they work perfectly.

I dont know if it was the riser block or something on the saw itself. It cuts really well now.

[Roger Chandler]

Some riser kits are specific to certain models as indicated earlier, and attested to by Rich in his post above. When I got mine for the G0555LX it was a different part number from the one for the G0555. My G0555LX has a different detensioning system on it and cast iron wheels, and the G0555 has aluminum wheels if I remember correctly. My former 14" bandsaw looks like the one Leo pictured above.......same color, but had the Brand name of TREND on it. I got it back in 1992, from Trend Machinery, somewhere out of Massachusetts, I believe.........they are out of business now, but I had found parts for that saw from several vendors, and upgraded the blade tensioning system on it, put a Baldor motor on it, and changed the guide blocks. I sold that saw to a friend, and he still uses it.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Exactly what I found, getting things for the Trend, was interesting.
They are not all the same, interchangeable, things

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Some riser kits are specific to certain models as indicated earlier, and attested to by Rich in his post above. When I got mine for the G0555LX it was a different part number from the one for the G0555. My G0555LX has a different detensioning system on it and cast iron wheels, and the G0555 has aluminum wheels if I remember correctly. My former 14" bandsaw looks like the one Leo pictured above.......same color, but had the Brand name of TREND on it. I got it back in 1992, from Trend Machinery, somewhere out of Massachusetts, I believe.........they are out of business now, but I had found parts for that saw from several vendors, and upgraded the blade tensioning system on it, put a Baldor motor on it, and changed the guide blocks. I sold that saw to a friend, and he still uses it.

Maybe you should look at this page from Grizzly, just scroll down and you will see there are 5 saw models, and two saws have alluminium wheels the others have cast iron wheels.

Remove this part/ http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-1-HP-Bandsaw-Polar-Bear-Series/G0555P?utm_campaign=zPage /and this as well

You can see all dimensions are exactly alike, and as I said before the only difference here is again just the guide post are different because some use the rack and pinion adjustment and other do not.

As for Rich having a problem, who says it was the riser block that caused this, the block could have been off, or his height adjustment bracket could have been right, as these are just cheap cast pieces, I do not believe it was because of the riser block sets ###

Here are the riser sets all alike but for color and the guide post.

338069 338070 338071 338072

[Roger Chandler]

Thanks for that clarification, Leo. I think you and I were coming at the same destination from different directions.......I certainly was not disputing your statements, [just in case you took it that way :) I appreciate your posts, as they are always informative]

I guess it is perhaps the guide bar and color that make the kit specific, and not generic. It does appear the riser blocks themselves are the same, but either the hex shaped or rack & pinion guide bar differentiate the kit from the ones with the round bar. That would likely account for the reason Grizzly lists 4 different kits for the 14" class saws. The G0555LX you picture above and the one I have, has the rack & pinion guide bar on it.

For the original poster, if his saw has the round bar, their kit should work just fine on the Rigid saw. There is/was also a saw parts vendor up in Massachusetts, http://www.sawcenter.com/bandsaw_parts.htm that carried lots of parts for both tablesaws and bandsaws of different brands [likelysome of the same manufacturers] Tiwainese and American. I know they carried parts for the Delta Unisaw [American] and other saws [Tiwainese] and same for the bandsaws. Folks looking for parts could contact them as well.

[Rich Aldrich]

Maybe you should look at this page from Grizzly, just scroll down and you will see there are 5 saw models, and two saws have alluminium wheels the others have cast iron wheels.

Remove this part/ http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-1-HP-Bandsaw-Polar-Bear-Series/G0555P?utm_campaign=zPage /and this as well

You can see all dimensions are exactly alike, and as I said before the only difference here is again just the guide post are different because some use the rack and pinion adjustment and other do not.

As for Rich having a problem, who says it was the riser block that caused this, the block could have been off, or his height adjustment bracket could have been right, as these are just cheap cast pieces, I do not believe it was because of the riser block sets ###

Here are the riser sets all alike but for color and the guide post.


Leo,
I agree it could have been the original frame of the saw having the dimensional discrepancy. I never put a blade on 93" blade on it. I immediately installed the riser block and put the 105" blade on it. It is amazing how well the saw cuts now - just like the bandsaw at the paper mill where I previously worked.

Now you want to talk about bandsaws, we have two bandsaws at work made by Filer and Stowel back in the 60s. They have 8 foot diameter top and bottom wheels with a blade that is 13" wide. The shaft for the top wheel is about 10 ft above the operating floor and the bottom wheel is in the basement.They are capable of cutting up to a 54" diameter logs. We cut all local hardwood - up to 82,000 board feet per day. Working there, I am like a kid in a candy store at work. I get burls for turning, lumber and even a birdseye log now and then if it has a large heart.

Rich Aldrich

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Rich the original Delta saw was a great saw, these copies of it are pretty good for the money, and the one I have does a good job. knowing how to set-up and adjust the saws makes a so-so saw into a real good piece of equipment.

As for saw and also bandsaws, our families firm did all kinds of work and I got a lot of experience in a very wide field in mechanical and automotive fields, we did also work for a couple of sawmills in our area.

I helped a friends sawmill from going bankrupt by setting their new secondhand bandsaw up so they could use it, as it was set up by the engineer from the company they bought it from, out of Germany, and when he was gone (and wasn’t coming back) and they where ready to use it, it would just not cut flat and straight.

It was a fairly large horizontal bandsaw, nowhere the size of your work place one, but had wheels of about 5 or 6 feet (it’s been a while) and this was placed in a newly build hall and needed to saw specialty Oak beams for the restoration and rebuilding of buildings that had been damaged in the war and or were neglected because of the fund being spend on more pressing matters, and these beams had to be delivered.

This saw had a very long hydraulic cylinder to move the carriage back and forth, after having looked it over and seen the problem they had, it was really a very basic and therefore a simple adjustment and then it was making a perfect flat and straight cut, we sawed a 4mm thick/thin slice from the length of a log, just to see if we could do this, and all this happened on a Sunday afternoon as I just stopped by my friends place, made for some very happy people and friends :D