steel city bandsaw problems, I need help

[Mike Kees]

My problem is that the frame on my saw is not straight. This affects the alignment of the wheels and guidepost,guides etc. The saw is a steel city 18''. There are adjustments built into everything. Top wheel. bottom wheel, guidepost. MY problem is where do I start and how to do it. The saw at the points where the table is and the underside of the upper wheel door are 1/4'' out, imagine a straight line from the top corner of the door (opposite side from spine) to the base.The deviation is in the center ( table and where guidepost goes into the top). I took a bunch of pictures with my phone but am having issues trying to post them. So is this a minor problem that can be easily overcome with setup or more problematic, anyone with knowledge of this saw or extensive bandsaw setup knowledge feel free to chime in, sorry for the novel,thanks mike.

[Tom Trees]

Oh my ..where could one theoretically start
Is the saw new ?
So you got a straight edge and measured the deviation ...
Did you put a massive blade on it ? like more than 3/4" I wouldn't go more than that
Lay the straight edge on before tensioning the blade
does this measurement change much after tension ?
I would be using the guidepost as the reference if ya can ...is it parallel with the frame ?
I presume this would be the only non adjusting part on it ????
Say if you got a straight edge and lay it dead centered on both wheels , is it parallel with the guidepost ?
I can move the upper wheel on my ACM saw left or right in other words... the x axis .
What problems have you got running the saw first though?
I'm sure others will chime in soon
Good Luck
Tom

[Mike Kees]

Tom the saw is not new,I bought it used. The guy I bought it from ran one inch blades on it. Yes I used a piece of ash jointed straight as a straight edge. No my guide post is fully adjustable. Both of my wheels are adjustable in x axis. Ok so main problem is when a band is setup and tensioned when I adjust the tracking on the top wheel the blade ends up one half of an inch further back on the bottom wheel compared to the top wheel. My lower guides are shoved to the end of there adjustment range. The guide post is adjusted on an angle to attempt to stay in alignment with the blade. All of my adjustments have the one inch blade still on the machine. I dont intend to use a one inch blade long term. I will check to see if the measurement changes without tension ,but I think it is constant.

[Mike Kees]

I checked the deflection this morning. It is a constant it does'nt move at all.I tensioned till my springs bottomed out . So I am thinking the saw was built with this kink in it.

[Steve Demuth]

Mike,

Keep trying on the pictures, they would definitely help.

That said, this saw has, I believe, the usual adjustments for position and cant on the lower wheel. Your first order of business should be to get the wheels adjusted so they are coplanar. See here: http://steelcitytoolworks.com/media/wysiwyg/50200_250_300_band_saw.pdf.

Once you've got that, I believe that there are set screw adjustments to align the guide carrier parallel to the blade. Finally, adjust the table to be square in three dimensions (first, miter slat square to plane of bland; second, table square to back of blade; third, table tilt stop) to the blade.

All of these are normal adjustments on this saw. Unless the frame is seriously twisted, you can probably get there. The wheel adjustments are the hardest. If they are really messed up and you have no experience doing this, I would remove the table, doors, blade guides and everything except the wheels, and use a narrow blade while systematically solving this. Then reassemble the blade guides, then the table.

[Mike Kees]

Steve thanks for the help. I will be heading over to my shop tonite to tear it down a bit more and try to get the wheels adjusted. I think that I will take my son with me, I was working by myself before and it is real hard to adjust-check and readjust. I will keep you posted on progress.

[Mike Kees]

OK so I worked on the saw for about an hour with my son helping. We removed the table trunnion and guides completely,then installed a 3/8 blade. Figured out that when one moves/adjusts the lower wheel on a bandsaw things get interesting... After trying one adjustment we determined the direction that the wheel needed to move. The next discovery was that moving in very subtle increments worked far better. Eventually we achieved coplanar, but wait wheels are lined up and blade is off center on top wheel. More subtle adjustments and wheels are coplanar and band is centered on top wheel under tension. So we are achieving some measure of progress . On to the guidepost . I have one small repair to do before I can adjust this properly. I am now getting excited that this saw will work out just fine. Thanks for encouragement and help Steve.

[Steve Demuth]

Mike,

If you've got the wheels copanar, the rest should not be hard.

One thing to check before you reassemble is that you've got reasonable adjustment range for blade centering on the upper wheel using the upper wheel blade tracking adjustment control - the inbox just st able ve the tension release.