How to adjust lateral blade guide position - Delta 14" bandsaw

[Warren Gandy]

I just got a 28-200 14" bandsaw with riser kit from the late 60s. I've been playing around with adjustments and it seems that the blade should be centered better between the top guide blocks. And perhaps more importantly, the back of the blade should sit in front of the back bearing better. On some cuts I'm finding that the blade kind of shifts to the right (off of) the bearing. I don't see a way to adjust this. Any suggestions?

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[Steve Engelschall]

I have a Delta 28-203, so a similar bandsaw but a 1980s model. My blade is not centered between the aluminum guide blocks, but it is definitely in front of the bearing. Can't exactly help you with your saw, but wanted you to see that exact centering between the guide blocks isn't necessarily required. It IS important to get the thrust bearing behind the blade. Good luck.

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[Lee Schierer]

I believe your saw has a hexagonal bar type shaft. There is probably enough play between the fit of the casting and the shaft and the shaft in it's housing to center your guides.

My Delta 14" is a bit newer than yours. On the back side of the vertical adjustment for the guide there is a set screw (See Photo)
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The casting has a hexagonal hole, but on my saw the steel shaft is round.
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Adjustment is accomplished by tensioning your blade, backing off the guide blocks, then loosening the set screw on the back so you can rotate the casting on the shaft.

You might want to see what the end of the vertical adjustment shaft on your saw looks like.

[Richard Verwoest]

Could that be the wrong sized thrust bearing?

[Cameron Wood]

From the manual:

adjust the ball-bearing blade supports in toward the
back of the blade. The back edge of the blade
should overlap the outside diameter of the ball bear-
ing by about 1/16" - The bottom roller is set at the
factory and is fixed, but the top roller is mounted on
an eccentric shaft and can be adjusted if required.
The supports should be adjusted so they will be
about 1/64" clear of the back of the blade whenever
the blade is running free without cutting. The blade
should bear against the support ONLY WHEN lT lS
ACTUALLY CUTTING

You'll need to file out the screw slot.

[Warren Gandy]

I believe your saw has a hexagonal bar type shaft. There is probably enough play between the fit of the casting and the shaft and the shaft in it's housing to center your guides.



I'm finding that once I tighten the main thumbscrew, it pulls back into exactly the same position, which I think is a good thing.
wrt the bottom of the hex shaft and that set screw, I've tried taking it out completely and can't get the guide assembly to budge from the hex shaft. I might assume that it's never been taken off since 1969.

[Warren Gandy]

Could that be the wrong sized thrust bearing?

Well, that's an interesting idea. I'll have to spend some more time finding some measurements.
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[Warren Gandy]

From the manual:

...

You'll need to file out the screw slot.

Aha! eccentric shaft!
Thank you for bringing the manual into this. I'm going to see if I can find that in the manual I have. I don't recall seeing this section.
And yes, that slot will need some work before I can adjust that bearing.
While on the topic of bearings, what's a good lube to use? And how? (I haven't looked closely enough to see how penetrable the seals are.)

Lastly, what's a reasonable amount of "runout" on the wheels? When playing with the tracking I found the back of the blade was bobbing quite a bit. I seemed like more than a 1/16th of an inch of variance between the blade and the thrust bearing over the course of a full cycle. I decided to take the blade off and put an indicator against the face of each wheel. The bottom appeared to move about 15 thousands (about 1/64") but the top only around 5 thousands. Then I noticed that the top wheel will actually flop if you push it up a little so I'm not sure how accurate my measurement was with no tension on it. I have to assume most of the movement I saw is caused by the 3/4" blade that came on it.
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[Cameron Wood]

The blade moving back and forth is probably the blade. I use Tri-flow in a small bottle with a skinny tube on the end, but anything or nothing would also work.

I've been very happy with this blade- still going strong after two years.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HFC5ZYM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a similar saw (which I got out of a dumpster!) & I rigged up a fence as shown here- recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpbwH9510MY&t=104s

[John Lanciani]

Bearing is supposed to be a 6200, they cost a couple of bucks so not really worth fussing with. 3/4" blade is too much for the saw, 1/2" max.

[Lee Schierer]

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If you don't have a throat plate for that hole in the middle of the table you need to get or make one for safety. There should also be an alignment pin that fits into the outer end of the blade change slot to keep the table aligned.

Take the time to align the saw table as explained in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNdrkmx6ehI). You will be glad you did.

As noted by John, a 3/4" blade is too large for a 14" saw. 1/2" should be the maximum width blade.

Blades that move back and forth in the guide are kinked and should be changed.

I would suggest you examine the tires closely for cracks and grooves. If they are damaged, you should replace them.

It is normal for the upper wheel to move when there is no blade in place. That is part of the tracking adjustment.

If you replace the bearings on the guides, be sure to get shielded bearings not seal. Sealed bearings have too much rolling resistance to work properly.

As long as you can make the small adjustment on the upper bearing per the manual, don't worry about the blade being centered between the guides. The guide blocks are adjustable. Be careful when you tighten the set screws for the blade guide blocks. That casting is easy to break. DAMHIKT.

[John TenEyck]

I would check to see if the wheels are coplaner and plumb on the right side. If the riser block wasn't installed properly that could be contributory or the source of the underlying problem. Sometimes with used equipment you have to go back to square one. If you find the wheels are OK, it would still be a good idea to make sure the bolt through the riser block is really, really well torqued. You would be surprised how much flex happens at the upper guide when you apply tension if that bolt isn't torqued enough.

And, as said, 1/2" max blade on that saw.

John

[Warren Gandy]

If you don't have a throat plate for that hole in the middle of the table you need to get or make one for safety. There should also be an alignment pin that fits into the outer end of the blade change slot to keep the table aligned.
Yes, I have the pin and I'm planning to get some table inserts with my Carter order of a new 3/8" greenwood blade.


Take the time to align the saw table as explained in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNdrkmx6ehI). You will be glad you did. I've looked at a few of the Alex Snodgras videos. I do think the table should rotate just a hair so I'll be looking at that soon.


As noted by John, a 3/4" blade is too large for a 14" saw. 1/2" should be the maximum width blade.
I'm assuming that the previous owner had the 3/4" blade for resawing which aligns with the fact that it has the riser block. I haven't done a whole lot of cutting with it yet but I did notch some 4x4s and cut some 3/4" panel material. Both seemed to cut fine albeit a bit slow. I just tried to cut some 3/8" thick slices out of a 2x6 on edge and found it cutting very slowly and I could smell the beginning of burning. The 3 TPI blade might not be course enough and/or might not have enough set in the teeth? Regardless, I expect that a new blade will make for a new experience.
Interestingly, the manual for the saw mentions 3/4" blades available from Delta and the tension guide on the back appears to have a 3/4" blade graduation. So it was clearly designed to use up to 3/4" blades. But practically, a narrower blade would be more ideal. The cut radius is huge with a 3/4" blade! And from what I've been reading, the 3/4HP motor alone limits just how much resaw can be done on these.



I would suggest you examine the tires closely for cracks and grooves. If they are damaged, you should replace them.
No issues with tires that I've found yet. They seem to have a decent softness and no visible issues. But I'll go over them again more closely.


If you replace the bearings on the guides, be sure to get shielded bearings not seal. Sealed bearings have too much rolling resistance to work properly.

As long as you can make the small adjustment on the upper bearing per the manual, don't worry about the blade being centered between the guides. The guide blocks are adjustable. Be careful when you tighten the set screws for the blade guide blocks. That casting is easy to break. DAMHIKT.

Thanks for the info everyone! I'll keep working on this.
One of my primary reasons for the saw is to cut a special kind of insulation that can be quite tall (hence the desire for the riser kit). I have a couple of specialty blades on order for this job and hope one of them will work well. Once I've got that figured out I want to work out more wood applications.

[Lee Schierer]

I've looked at a few of the Alex Snodgras videos. I do think the table should rotate just a hair so I'll be looking at that soon.


I'm assuming that the previous owner had the 3/4" blade for resawing which aligns with the fact that it has the riser block. I haven't done a whole lot of cutting with it yet but I did notch some 4x4s and cut some 3/4" panel material. Both seemed to cut fine albeit a bit slow. I just tried to cut some 3/8" thick slices out of a 2x6 on edge and found it cutting very slowly and I could smell the beginning of burning. The 3 TPI blade might not be course enough and/or might not have enough set in the teeth? Regardless, I expect that a new blade will make for a new experience.



My 14" saw also has a 3/4 Hp motor. The first time I attempted to resaw, the saw was really slow cutting and the blade wanted to stall. I discovered that the belt was loose and once I adjusted it, it cut much better.

I've seen several demos by Alex with his band saw. It is impressive, but I suspect there was more tweaking in his shop before it came to be his demo saw. Once I aligned my saw following the vieo, I could change blade sizes back and forth with no wandering during cuts. I simply center the blade on the upper wheel, no matter the size or Tpi of the blade. My 1/2" Timberwolf is 0.025 metal with 3 tpi. Recently, I resawed an air dried treated 2 x 6 x 36" to make several 1/4" thick slices for a project I'm slowly working on. The saw had no problem making the cuts.

[Warren Gandy]

If the riser block wasn't installed properly that could be contributory or the source of the underlying problem. Sometimes with used equipment you have to go back to square one.

John

I had assumed that the riser block would have internal keys that make it easy to align. But that's just an assumption. Here are some pics. I am definitely surprised that the block isn't cast in a way that it looks continuous/congruent/correct on the outside. Is this how they are supposed to look?
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(wow, how the color of the machine changes with what seem like minor color temp differences..)

[John TenEyck]

The risers should have locator holes and pins to mate with those in the top and bottom castings so that everything stays in proper alignment. Checking to make sure the wheels are coplaner (which could be off for other reasons, too) and in the same vertical line (which can only come from the riser/frame), will tell you if you should suspect there might be a problem with that alignment. It's an easy check so worth doing, IMO.

John

[Rick Potter]

There is a pin which aligns the riser block on mine. There are also aftermarket risers that are universal fit. Mine is factory.

[Warren Gandy]

It's an easy check so worth doing, IMO.

John

What technique do you suggest for checking this?

[John TenEyck]

Here's how:

https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/coplanar-bandsaw-wheels-2.aspx

Even if this isn't the root of the issue you're having, getting the wheels coplaner, should they not be, pays big dividends in getting the saw to cut straight, so it's not wasted effort.

John