Bandsaw Vibration Troubleshooting

[Brian Eaton]

Hello! I've mainly been a reader and sometime poster on the neanderthal forum but I recently purchased my first major power tool - a Grizzly G0555LX bandsaw. I did a lot of research beforehand and while it may not be the best saw out there, the reviews, information available on the web, my intended uses, and budget made it my saw of choice. Aside from a dented fan motor cover (which Grizzly has already shipped a replacement for), assembly went well with no hiccups. At the suggestion of a friend, I knocked out the dent in the fan cover and got work tuning it up.

With the stock blade I noticed some vibration but was able to get it to the point where it would "mostly" pass the nickel test. Vibration increased a bit as the blade spun down but would stay upright with the motor running. Last night I replaced the stock blade (did not seem to cut very well at all) with an Olson 1/2" blade (a well reviewed an inexpensive change as I'm getting used to the new saw) and the vibration increased noticeably. This led me to do some troubleshooting:

With no blade installed I ran the motor and this eliminated virtually all of the vibration - a nickel would sit nice and still on the table, so I feel like that rules out any issues with the lower wheel/motor assembly.

Spinning the upper wheel by hand, I noticed that the tire seems to be very uneven (see video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whGRJdnxYnE. Further observation with the blade reinstalled and tensioned (to about 1/8" deflection) revealed that, with the guides set according to the manual, as I spun the upper wheel by hand, the gap between the blade and guide bearings varied - as if the blade had a bit of twist in it. With the guide bearings set just shy of touching the blade as i spin it the blade seems to intermittently contact the guide bearings.

I have also done a few spin tests of the upper wheel with no blade installed and it does seem to always stop with the same spoke at the bottom (3 times so far - it takes a bit for the wheel to spin down!).

So - my thoughts so far are that the upper wheel is out of balance (not sure how accurate the spin test is) AND/OR the tire at least on the upper wheel was not installed correctly or is just very out of round. The wheels are supposed to be computer balanced at the factory. I know that doesn't mean they were balanced correctly but it makes me wonder how much a poor quality tire can impact wheel balance and blade tracking. Is a lumpy/uneven tire enough to cause uneven blade contact/twist and thus vibration?

I'm trying to be very keep it simple, stupid and not leap to any crazy conclusions about what might be causing vibration issues and the tire (and possibly upper wheel) seem like the most obvious candidate for the cause of my issues. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[Brian Eaton]

Should add that I do you plan on contacting the manufacturer to work through this issue but I want to also seek the wisdom of this great woodworking community.

[Matt Day]

Looks like the tire isn’t sitting evenly on the wheel. Can it be nudged to the left so it’s up against the lip of the wheel all the way around?
If the upper wheel stops at the same point each revolution, it’s not balanced as you said. Adding weights (motorcycle weighs would probably work) to the opposite side should help.
As you noted, a call to Grizzly should be first.

[Mike Wilkins]

A new machine should not be exhibiting any vibration, and other than set up and adjusting, you should not have to make any repairs to a new product.
As others have stated, a call to Grizzly shoaled be in order. I have heard that they stand behind their products.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Give the manufacturer an opportunity to help resolve the issue.

[Mike Kees]

How are the tires attached to the wheel ? If they are just in a groove ,pull the tire off and see if the wheel alone is balanced. For myself if the tire was the culprit I would replace them with an aftermarket set (better quality).

[Allan Speers]

In my extremely limited experience, Grizzly makes a great bandsaw, but their stock black tires are awful. (others may have different experience than me.)
They may not be the source of your problem, but I'd replace them immediately anyway.

As for vibration, I know you think you've eliminated the motor area, but maybe not. On my 21" Grizzly, the pulley was too tight, and this was causing quite a bit of vibration. I loosened it a hair, and all was smooth as the sea on a windless night.

[Matthew Hills]

You can check the blade when it is off the saw -- you want the back to be straight (the weld is the common source of error), and you don't want any kinks (can happen if the blade jams or runs off the wheel, or you mishandle it off the saw). A high spot in the tire will also cause it to run uneven so that it can brush against the side guide.

Having a few spare blades is worthwhile -- helps debug issues like this, and a fresh blade is a nice change as your old blade gets dull.

Matt

[John Isgren]

With the blade installed turn the wheel by hand and see when the blade contacts the guide. If it happens every time the wheel rotates at the same spot then the problem is in the wheels/bandsaw. If it happen at the same place on the blade every time the blade goes around it is likely a bad weld.

[Brian Eaton]

Thanks, all, for the feedback! This week is pretty busy with work so I’ll work on methodically testing things out to see if I can narrow down the source of vibration.