Michael Jasper
05-09-2021, 9:29 PM
Hi folks -
So I have a 9" grizzly 0803 bandsaw. Have been using it with a 3/8" blade for some time, but got a larger BS, so wanted to switch the 9" to a narrow blade.
I've tried putting on a 1/4" and a 1/8" blade, and I'm having the same problem with both.
I can get the blade to track in the center on the top wheel, but it ends up on the very forward edge of the lower wheel - with the teeth actually starting to go past the edge - so it looks like it could fall off in a second.
I checked the alignment - I can get both wheels parallel but the bottom one seems to be about 1/8" farther out. I tried shimming the top wheel to get it coplanar - that seemed to make things worse. I tried shimming the bottom wheel even more - reasoning that since the blade was at the forward edge, moving it forward might put it closer to center. What's weird is that depending on how much I shimmed it - it either stayed at the front edge or went to the back edge. Nothing I did seemed to put anywhere close to center. I couldn't even get it so it was entirely on the tire.
I've tried it with different amounts of tension on the blades, in case that made a difference - but it didn't.
I'm not entirely sure I ever checked tracking on the bottom with the 3/8" - but it never fell off for sure.
The other thing - which may or may not be related - is that the quick release tension lever has always been a little flaky. Sometimes it does exactly what it should. Other times, moving it to the release position seems to do almost nothing. It seems worst when there is the most tension. Using the deflection method on these blades, I ended up having to turn the tension up almost to the max - and when I tried to use the release bar, there's almost no change. Since the plate that angles the top wheel is part of the same mechanism, I wondered if there could be any relationship.
One last thing -- with no blade on there, the plate that angles the top wheel is floppy. It rests against the tracking screw but there is no force pulling it back against the screw. Maybe that's normal, but I wondered.
I've been doing lots of reading but so far, haven't gotten any clues. I know there are some bandsaw experts out there, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
So I have a 9" grizzly 0803 bandsaw. Have been using it with a 3/8" blade for some time, but got a larger BS, so wanted to switch the 9" to a narrow blade.
I've tried putting on a 1/4" and a 1/8" blade, and I'm having the same problem with both.
I can get the blade to track in the center on the top wheel, but it ends up on the very forward edge of the lower wheel - with the teeth actually starting to go past the edge - so it looks like it could fall off in a second.
I checked the alignment - I can get both wheels parallel but the bottom one seems to be about 1/8" farther out. I tried shimming the top wheel to get it coplanar - that seemed to make things worse. I tried shimming the bottom wheel even more - reasoning that since the blade was at the forward edge, moving it forward might put it closer to center. What's weird is that depending on how much I shimmed it - it either stayed at the front edge or went to the back edge. Nothing I did seemed to put anywhere close to center. I couldn't even get it so it was entirely on the tire.
I've tried it with different amounts of tension on the blades, in case that made a difference - but it didn't.
I'm not entirely sure I ever checked tracking on the bottom with the 3/8" - but it never fell off for sure.
The other thing - which may or may not be related - is that the quick release tension lever has always been a little flaky. Sometimes it does exactly what it should. Other times, moving it to the release position seems to do almost nothing. It seems worst when there is the most tension. Using the deflection method on these blades, I ended up having to turn the tension up almost to the max - and when I tried to use the release bar, there's almost no change. Since the plate that angles the top wheel is part of the same mechanism, I wondered if there could be any relationship.
One last thing -- with no blade on there, the plate that angles the top wheel is floppy. It rests against the tracking screw but there is no force pulling it back against the screw. Maybe that's normal, but I wondered.
I've been doing lots of reading but so far, haven't gotten any clues. I know there are some bandsaw experts out there, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!