powermatic bandsaw vibration

[Andrew Lunn]

Hi everybody. I really enjoy reading the posts here. This is my first post. Hopefully you can help me out. I recently purchased a Powermatic "14 bandsaw and am having excessive vibration. When I run the thing without the belt on there is some vibration from the motor. All bolts are tight. WIth the belt on, there is a bit more vibration; with the blade on, a bit more. The saw is not bolted to its mobile base, as I have a mobile base with four metal corners, and that is where the holes are for bolts in the saw's cabinet. If you look at the wheels as the saw runs, they do not appear to turn in perfect circles. The hubs of the wheels travel in noticeably eccentric paths as the saw comes to rest. Measuring the surfaces of the wheels, not tires, for runout with a dial indicator produces measurements of about 10 thousandths for the upper wheel and about 6 thousandths for the bottom. There is no runout on the motor pulley. Anybody have any thoughts? Anybody have similar problems? Thanks in advance. Andrew

[Chris Barton]

One source of wobble can be the belt which you can replace with a link belt that will improve the performance of the saw and the stability issue. The wheels may need to be aligned and balanced and there are many articles on how to "tune up" a band saw on the web. Good luck!

[Mike Cutler]

How are you measuring runout? Is it being measured on the outer rim, or the face of the wheel at the rim? like measuring runout on an brake disc.

Does the machine "rock" around in it's mobile base at all?

Is the blade defective in any manner? Lay it out on a large table and check to see that it is not bent in any way?

Lastly, has the machine done this since day one?

Most importantly. Welcome to Sawmill Creek Andrew. Pleased to meet ya'

[Andrew Lunn]

One source of wobble can be the belt which you can replace with a link belt that will improve the performance of the saw and the stability issue. The wheels may need to be aligned and balanced and there are many articles on how to "tune up" a band saw on the web. Good luck!

Hi Chris. The saw's pulleys use a serpentine belt and not a v-belt, so I figured you can't use a link belt on them. There's no real groove for the belt to fit into. Or am I mistaken and you can use a link belt with this sort of pulley? All of my other machines have v-belt style pulleys. I use link belts on my table saw and jointer and really like them. I'd love it if I could use one on this band saw, but it looks like it would work itself right off the pulleys.

[Andrew Lunn]

How are you measuring runout? Is it being measured on the outer rim, or the face of the wheel at the rim? like measuring runout on an brake disc.

Does the machine "rock" around in it's mobile base at all?

Is the blade defective in any manner? Lay it out on a large table and check to see that it is not bent in any way?

Lastly, has the machine done this since day one?

Most importantly. Wecome to Sawmill Creek Andrew. Pleased to maeet ya'

Hi Mike. Nice to meet you too. To answer your questions, I measured the runout on the surface of the wheel near the edge, beside the tire. The machine does not rock in its base, but it does sway some when you push on it. The blade is a 1/4" timberwolf blade and does not appear to be defective at all. The saw vibrated prior to upgrading the blade. It has vibrated since the first time I fired it up. Everything is aligned and tuned as best as I can tell. Wheels aligned; pulleys aligned; tensions set properly.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I've been reading here awhile and have been very impressed with how kind everyone is. Very nice.

[John Bailey]

Andrew,

Can't help with the bandsaw, I don't have one, so I don't know enough about why the vibration. I can, however, welcome you to the "Creek." If you've been lurking for awhile, you know this is the best site around. I'm sure you'll find the answer you're looking for.

If you bought the saw new, I would say you should be getting help from the seller. I've read nothing but good about the Powermatic Bandsaw, so it sounds like something isn't right.

John

[Bruce Page]

Andrew, welcome to SMC.
The first thing I would check is the run-out of the tires themselves with & without the blade attached. If they are also running the .010/.006 out, it would indicate to me that the wheels aren’t round. Also, check if there are any peripheral brackets etc, moving around. My old 14” Delta vibrated pretty bad, I traced it to the belt guard, added a reinforcing bracket and it ran smooth as silk from then on. As already mentioned, work with your dealer to get this resolved. PowerMatic is pretty much top of the line in the 14" BS catagory, it should run smooth!

[Andy Hoyt]

Andrew - I have had the same bandsaw (with riser block) since last winter and it's bolted to the floor. I've always felt that it ran pretty darn well. And now I'm afraid to actually analyze it further. Ignorance IS bliss.

[lou sansone]

I don't think that the 10 mill runout is the problem. If you are getting vibration from the motor without any other thing hooked up that is not right. Is this a used machine? Could there be some junk attached to the "fan" on the motor? Electric motors just should not vibrate at all when running without anything attached to them. That is where I would look.

lou

[Andrew Lunn]

Andrew,

Can't help with the bandsaw, I don't have one, so I don't know enough about why the vibration. I can, however, welcome you to the "Creek." If you've been lurking for awhile, you know this is the best site around. I'm sure you'll find the answer you're looking for.

If you bought the saw new, I would say you should be getting help from the seller. I've read nothing but good about the Powermatic Bandsaw, so it sounds like something isn't right.

John

Thanks for the welcome John. I definitely will contact the seller if I can't get it to work itself out here shortly. I thought maybe there was something I was overlooking. Everyone here has been very helpful.

[Andrew Lunn]

Andrew, welcome to SMC.
The first thing I would check is the run-out of the tires themselves with & without the blade attached. If they are also running the .010/.006 out, it would indicate to me that the wheels aren’t round. Also, check if there are any peripheral brackets etc, moving around. My old 14” Delta vibrated pretty bad, I traced it to the belt guard, added a reinforcing bracket and it ran smooth as silk from then on. As already mentioned, work with your dealer to get this resolved. PowerMatic is pretty much top of the line in the 14" BS catagory, it should run smooth!

Thanks for the suggestions Bruce. Yeah, the wheels are a bit odd, with the way they seem to travel in eccentric paths at their hubs. Doesn't seem right to me, but then thought maybe it is reverberating vibration. I haven't noticed anything loose. I will contact the dealer if I can't work things out on my own. Thanks again for your suggestions.

[Andrew Lunn]

Andrew - I have had the same bandsaw (with riser block) since last winter and it's bolted to the floor. I've always felt that it ran pretty darn well. And now I'm afraid to actually analyze it further. Ignorance IS bliss.

Don't sweat it Andy. If yours had problems like mine, you'd know it. I do, though, think that part of my problem might be that my mobile base is not really the right base for my saw. It's one of those bases where you insert 3/4" plywood into metal corners that have casters under them. The saw then sits essentially on those triangles of metal at all four corners and is not actually bolted to anything. We'll see.

[Andrew Lunn]

I don't think that the 10 mill runout is the problem. If you are getting vibration from the motor without any other thing hooked up that is not right. Is this a used machine? Could there be some junk attached to the "fan" on the motor? Electric motors just should not vibrate at all when running without anything attached to them. That is where I would look.

lou

Hi Lou. This machine is brand new. I don't think anything is inside the motor with the fan. I agree that the motor should not vibrate. What I'm wondering at this point is if the mobile base I'm using is not stabilizing the saw enough. Another thought I had was that maybe the motor pulley is unbalanced. If I don't get this worked out soon I will call the dealer. Thanks for your advice, Lou.

[lou sansone]

Hi Lou. This machine is brand new. I don't think anything is inside the motor with the fan. I agree that the motor should not vibrate. What I'm wondering at this point is if the mobile base I'm using is not stabilizing the saw enough. Another thought I had was that maybe the motor pulley is unbalanced. If I don't get this worked out soon I will call the dealer. Thanks for your advice, Lou.

the pully might be the problem. take it off and see if the problem is resolved.
lou

[Kelly Craig]

I have a 14" PowerMatic I've had for about three years now. It's sitting on a mobile base, but isn't secured. For the most part, it's not bad on vibration (of course, a tin Lizzy would seem good after the Craftsman I gave away). Without the motor connected to anything, there is no vibration. As such, I'm in the camp of "remove the pulley" and test. If that doesn't cure it, I think a new motor wouldn't be unreasonable.

[Peter Quinn]

I have a 14" PowerMatic I've had for about three years now. It's sitting on a mobile base, but isn't secured. For the most part, it's not bad on vibration (of course, a tin Lizzy would seem good after the Craftsman I gave away). Without the motor connected to anything, there is no vibration. As such, I'm in the camp of "remove the pulley" and test. If that doesn't cure it, I think a new motor wouldn't be unreasonable.

Uh, the op hasn't posted in 5 years, and I'm hoping he's got the problem dealt with by now. I have the same BS and have thankfully not had any vibration issues with it.