Bandsaw question

[Julio Navarro]

How important is it to have balanced wheels on a bandsaw.

I dont mean copolar, or aligned, but balanced.

I read a description of balancing the wheel by marking the bottom of the wheel as it comes to a stop after spining (sans blade and handpowered, of course) if the wheel came to a stop to often at the same or near the same spot then the wheel is unbalanced.

Well, I looked at my Rigid 14" and it seems that they are out of balance. I tried to balance them by adding small weights to the wheel at the opposite side of what appears to be the heavy side(the side that hits bottom all the time)

So my question is, if I can make the wheels copolar, and the tracking is good on the blade, how important is the balancing?

Any thoughts, experiances,etc. is welcomed.

[Don Baer]

Julio,
I assume you are doing this with the blade removed so one wheel doesn't interfere with the other. I have balanced a lot of fans empellers and electric motors. There are two methods of doing it. One is to add weight to the light side and the other is to drill into, but not all the way in to the heavy side. Just take faily large bit bit a say 1/2 in. and make a dimple in the rim of the wheel. Spin the wheel and check the balance. If it still out then do the same next to the dimple you did last time. you can repeat this as many time as you need to. You won't weaken the wheel if you don't drill too far in.

[Wes Bischel]

Julio,
I'll let the experts post whether or not it's absolutely necessary - for me, I thought it was for a smoother running machine - and less wear on the bearings in the long run. I used the drilling method Don mentioned (which is what the manufacturer had done) - along with the free spin technique you described. It didn't take much, or a long time to do and on my no-name Chinese BS it did make a difference in how smooth the unit ran. If I remember correctly, one of the comparison articles on bandsaws mentioned the higher quality units did have the wheels balanced.

Wes

[Julio Navarro]

Thanks, Don, Wes.

[tod evans]

julio, both my saws have bolt on weights to balance the wheels. just like a car they run smoother when balanced...02 tod

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

How important is it to have balanced wheels on a bandsaw.

About as important as it is to have good bearings. Imbalance is bad for bearings. It induces vibration which the poor bearings have to absorb. Over time the bearings may revolt and rattle.

[john whittaker]

Julio, I refurbished a 1956 ish 14" Delta/Rockwell band saw last year. Balancing both wheels made a difference. Between balancing the wheels, replacing the bearings and replacing the drive belt...the saw went from walking across the room to a very solid performer.