How Loud is Your Bandsaw?

[Jeremy Griffith]

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Jeremy Griffith and I have been a registered member for quite a while. I have been lurking and gathering some very useful knowledge around here. I have been actively pursuing woodworking as a hobby since I bought my house 5 years ago and needed some furniture. Before that I had dabbled here and there with woodworking and even did a stint working in a mennonite cabinet shop throughout my teens. So I quess I've been working wood most of my life.

Now on to my question. 2 weeks ago I drove up to Grizzly to check out their new machines for this year. I left with the new G0453 15" planer and the G0513X bandsaw. Both were upgrades from benchtop models for me. I got everything cleaned up and assembled and I am happy with both so far. The bandsaw seems to be a great machine. When I first turned it on without the guide bearings adjusted against the blade it was very quiet. Probably the quietest machine in my shop. However when I move the bearings in against the blade it makes a lot of noise. Hearing protection becomes a must. Its a loud high pitch almost shrieking noise. So my question is to those of you that have roller bearing style blade guides, how much noise do they make and is what I'm experiencing normal? Are the guides on this Griz machine bad or am I just hearing the normal sound that a blade makes while running through the guides? And before anyone asks, I do have the blade adjusted properly as best as I can tell from the instructions in the manual. The bearings are set back behind the teeth on the blade. I don't remember any of the larger saws I've ever used being this loud. But its been about 7 or 8 years since I've used a bandsaw other than my Delta benchtop saw.

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy

[Dennis McDonaugh]

My mm16 is a fairly quiet machine, definitely no screaching howling noises from the guide bearings.

[Kelly Anderson]

I don't thank you want the bearings touching the blade when you are not actually making a cut. I would say you want them about a folded piece of paper away, sides and behind. When I use mine before the cut it is pretty quite but when making the cut and the blade comes in contact with the bearings the noise does pick up a little.

[Jim O'Dell]

Jeremy, first off, welcome to the Creek!
I'll let others chime in here and correct me if I'm wrong, Lord knows I'm a bandsaw newbie. But from what I've gathered here, you don't want the bearings touching the blade. It should be very close, but not touching. It will touch if you get too much deflection in the blade side to side or front to back. I forget the actual gap, but something in the thousandths area. I'll check in during the next intermission of the Stars game and see what others say. Jim.

[Bob Noles]

Jeremy,

Welcome to the other (posting) side of the creek.

Not sure why you are getting the excessive noise as the bandsaw is one of the quieter machines in the shop. Have you checked to be sure that your blade tension is torqued? If all else fails, I would go back and re-tune each piece from scratch and if still no results, a call to Grizzly may be the answer.

[Shiraz Balolia]

Jeremy - this is not normal.
I have the same saw in my shop and it appears that the blade/bearing/s need to be adjusted. Did you check the lower bearings and blade alignment? If you cannot get it figured out call our customer service and they will guide you through or replace any part that may need replacement. It is possible that the rear bearing may be binding - I had that happen once and after adjustment, the noise virtually disappeared. In fact I have to be careful to look at the blade to tell if the saw is running or not - its that quiet.

[Jeremy Griffith]

Thanks for the quick replys. I've read a couple different things about roller bearings as to whether they should or shouldn't be touching the blade. I've seen where they should be about the width of a dollar bill away from the blade. And I've also read that they should be lightly touching the blade. So I'm confused as to which it should be. Right now I have them lightly touching. That is what I read in one of the grizzly manuals I got offline. As of yesterday the manual for this model wasn't online yet and when I got my machine it had been shipped without the manual to Grizzly and they said they would send it to me later. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow and see what their tech people think. Even so the noise it makes seems much louder than it should even with the bearings touching. It almost sounds like a bad bearing to me.

[Jeremy Griffith]

Thanks for the post Shiraz. I guess we were writing at the same time. I readjusted the bearings several times and still get the noise. I'm still unclear as to whether or not the bearings should touch the blade.

Jeremy

[Jim Becker]

Jeremy, 'glad to have you here and posting.

Outside of so-called cool block guides, it's generally the practice to leave about the thickness of a folded dollar bill between the blade and the guides, including the thrust bearings when the blade isn't engaged with the wood. This should result in "nearly silent running" of the machine when you are not actually cutting. Spraying a little PAM on the back of the blade also can be useful in this regard...just a little, however.

[lou sansone]

I have roller bearings on my saw and they are pretty quiet. I think something is wrong with the bearing
best wishes
lou

[Dale Thompson]

Jeremy,
Try the Jim Becker "Pam" trick! It usually works. :) As has been mentioned, the blade should not touch the roller bearing until you are actually cutting! ;) If you have a bearing "problem", that should be easy to determine by backing off, one at a time, the upper and lower bearings as you are cutting. For safety reasons, use thin stock for this test. A "squealing" bearing may be nothing more than an excess of that "cursed" Cosmoline gunk that they flood the machines with so that they will not "rust" during their trans-pacific journey. :mad: :cool: In that event, I would follow the manufacturer's directions on the use of kerosene, or whatever, to get rid of the gunk and then relubricate the bearing with Vasoline. Personally, I'd skip the instructions and use WD-40 to clean the bearing and THEN use the Vasoline! :rolleyes: :D

Dale T.

[John Bailey]

Jeremy,

Welcome to the "Creek." It would appear that you've gotten a lot of good advice already. As you know, this is the place to get it.

John

[tod evans]

jeremy, welcome!

[David Abel]

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Jeremy Griffith and I have been a registered member for quite a while. I have been lurking and gathering some very useful knowledge around here. I have been actively pursuing woodworking as a hobby since I bought my house 5 years ago and needed some furniture. Before that I had dabbled here and there with woodworking and even did a stint working in a mennonite cabinet shop throughout my teens. So I quess I've been working wood most of my life.

Now on to my question. 2 weeks ago I drove up to Grizzly to check out their new machines for this year. I left with the new G0453 15" planer and the G0513X bandsaw. Both were upgrades from benchtop models for me. I got everything cleaned up and assembled and I am happy with both so far. The bandsaw seems to be a great machine. When I first turned it on without the guide bearings adjusted against the blade it was very quiet. Probably the quietest machine in my shop. However when I move the bearings in against the blade it makes a lot of noise. Hearing protection becomes a must. Its a loud high pitch almost shrieking noise. So my question is to those of you that have roller bearing style blade guides, how much noise do they make and is what I'm experiencing normal? Are the guides on this Griz machine bad or am I just hearing the normal sound that a blade makes while running through the guides? And before anyone asks, I do have the blade adjusted properly as best as I can tell from the instructions in the manual. The bearings are set back behind the teeth on the blade. I don't remember any of the larger saws I've ever used being this loud. But its been about 7 or 8 years since I've used a bandsaw other than my Delta benchtop saw.

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy

I've got a BS with bearing guides. I've got sensitive ears and find that it's only a bit noisy if it's misadjusted. Ears help tune equipment as much as eyes do, I guess.

Dave

[rick fulton]

Welcome Jeremy -

I had similar problems with my MiniMax BS when first setting it up. The noise started up just as the blade pushed against the thrust bearing (back wheel) on both guides (top and bottom). I tried all suggestions on the MM users forum except one (adjust with a hundred dollar bill ;-) ). Assuming both bearings could not be bad I decided it was normal and just used it that way for a while.

Strange thing is - the problem went away after many dozens of cuts. My guess it was either gunk (like cosmoline) in the bearings, or rust/crud on the back side of the blades (file or sand it round and oil it), or not enough tension on the blade. My tension method now is based on limiting backward blade movement (flex). With enough tension the blade and bearing rarely make contact and the blade will return to the original setup position when the force of the cut is removed.

Please post some pictures of your work. Any Mennonite influences on you home furniture projects?

Good luck with your new machines.
rick

[Charlie Plesums]

Directions on how far from the guides to the blades are often confusing... Many say a few thousandths of an inch...the thickness of a folded dollar bill (or for high end bandsaws, a folded hundred dollar bill). My problem is that a sheet of copy paper is about .004 (four thousandths), a dollar bill is about .006, and a business card is at least .010. So I don't understand people who say "a few thousandths" and then suggest a folded dollar bill (12 is more than a few).

I adjust my saw so that the side bearings are "nervous" - they twich a little as if they are trying to turn when the saw is not cutting, but definitely do not turn continuously. If the blade vibrates enough that the bearings have to be pulled back significantly to avoid turning, you need more tension. The thrust bearing should not touch the blade except when cutting, but as close as possible without touching (dare I say "a few thousandths"?)

If you have a carbide blade, do not file the back of the blade - they are already ground, and that voids the warranty.

[Jeremy Griffith]

Thanks for all the great replies. I decided to really give the bearings a good cleaning. This seems to have fixed the noise. I think there was a build up of the cosmoline in them. I also adjusted the bearings a little differently following what some have said here. It runs extremely quiet now and is also significantly quieter while cutting. Thanks for all the help. And it was a real treat getting a reply from the man at the top of Grizzly.:)

Jeremy

[John Towns]

I was wondering, did your noise problem get fixed?

John

[Wes Bischel]

Jeremy,
Welcome to the Creek! My first house was in E-town right off Radio Rd. which is now named something else since all the houses have been built there!

One thing to add to all the great advice - get a good blade and ditch the OE blade. If you do a search on BS - blades that is:eek: - you'll find a lot of good info on the brands and sources. My 14" came with a blade that must have had a bad weld because it thwumped and wobbled - put a Timberwolf on it and it was smooth as silk. Your 17" might have a better blade, but chances are you'll get better performance from a name brand blade.

FWIW,
Wes

[Jeremy Griffith]

Wes,

You're right, the OEM blade is horrible. I also bought one of Grizzly's blades while I was there and I am not overly impressed with that one either. I am definitely going to get a couple of Timberwolf blades in the near future.

I live on the same end of town as Radio Rd(now Buckingham Blvd.) Its amazing how this town has grown in the last ten years.

Jeremy