Grizzly Bandsaw Headache

[Rick Hubbard]

In mid-December I ordered a new Grizzly G0555 bandsaw and got it all set up over the New Years weekend. When I set it up I installed a new ½ inch Woodslicer blade. Boy was I impressed. It resawed 5 ½ oak flawlessly and I spent most of a day processing a stack of oak planks.

When I was done sawing for the day, I un-tensioned the blade and did not work with the saw until the next weekend (last Saturday). When I started the saw back up, it was like a totally different machine- It would not cut in straight line for anything. I went through the entire set-up process again, making sure everything was properly adjusted. It still would not cut correctly (about 2 inches into the cut, the leading edge of the stock would begin moving to the right of the blade, and the bottom of the cut would be narrower than the top). All this seemed to indicate insufficient blade tension so I kept applying more, but to no avail- it still would not cut straight.

Monday night I called Griz Tech Support and they advised me to make some adjustments to the collars that support the tension release arm. When I went to do so, I discovered that the metal brackets on which the tension mechanism rides were both bent and skewed. Pretty clearly, what was happening when I tried to cut with the saw is that what ever tension was on the blade would immediately dissipate when the least amount of pressure was applied to the blade (when sawing).

I also discovered that the threaded tension rod is evidently stripped so now I can’t even move it!

I’m pretty disgusted with the saw at the moment. I have a hunch Grizzly will make it right, but I’m wondering what I could have possibly done to make this happen. Has anyone else ever had a similar experience with this saw?

Thanks,

Rick

[Dan Gill]

Nope. I have the same saw, and I've never had that kind of trouble. I'm thinking it would take a whole lot of force to strip that screw! I'm sure Grizzly will make things right. Perhaps you just had a badly machined part.

[Rick Hubbard]

Yeah, your're right about how much force it would seem to take to create that much mayhem with the tension rod threads AND for the twisted bracket- maybe I don't know my own strength!

Which leads to yet another question- Is it possible to apply too much tension with only a hand-knob?

Like you say, Grizzly will probably make things right. I should mention that the Griz Tech Support guy I spoke to is a far cry from the tech support at the software vendors I deal with everyday(their first reaction to anything is to blame someone or something else for the problem).

[Dan Gill]

I really wondered about whether you were just using the hand knob. I can tell you that I have trouble getting my blade tight enough just with the hand knob. Partly that's because of the extension and the mobile base--that knob is way up in the air. But I don't see how you could strip those threads with the hand knob unless there was something else wrong. And even that wouldn't explain the bent brackets on the tension release. Something is really boogered up.

[Mark Rios]

When I had my G0555 (with the riser block) about three years ago, I was using 3/4" blades and was milling some 10" and 12" walnut logs that were approximately 3' long. I tensioned the poop out of the blades and eventually bent those upper bars. I remember that part of my experience but the fix is kinda fuzzy in my memory. I do remember that Grizzly sent me some new bars and instead of just replacing the old ones, I straightened them and then ADDED the new ones, one each side. This may have been siggested by Grizzly, it may have been mentioned in a reply post or I may have thought it up on my own.....I don't remember. I seem to remember something about the threads on the bottom of the threaded rod or on the nut but I'm not sure what; they may have gotten replaced as well. I also want to remember that there was some sort of modification to the threaded rod/nut assembly that allowed for more tension but I just can't quite get my gray matter to bring it up. Sorry.

hth

[Rick Hubbard]

I just got off the phone with Griz Tech support. They (as I suspected) are sending out replacemnts for all the damged pieces, including a new tension spring.

When I spoke to the rep he asked if there had been an "insert" with the owners manual that explained how to properly re-adjust the lower collar at the bottom of the tension rod (the one under the brackets). I had not seen such an insert and there did not seem to be one included with the on-line docs. In any case, what is involved is loosening the top collar, screwing it upwards, then prying up on the lower collar with a screw driver (about 1/4 inch, he said) and then screwing the upper collar down to the brackets and tightening the set screws on both collars. I can see where this might have some effect, but I STILL think the original problem had to do with a weak or broken tension spring.

Even with all this, I'm pretty happy with the saw, if I ever get it put back together again). As a little additional "insurance" I think I will take the brackets that seemed to have bent so easily to a machine shop and have them make some that that are thicker and heavier.

[Art Davis]

Rick,

I have been in the dark for a long time about tensioning. Most of the "conventional wisdom" has told me to tighten the **** out of the blade. Then I bought some Timberwolf blades and they told me not to.

I just read a study by Mark Duginske in the current issue of Woodworker's journal and he says that most woodworkers overtension their blades. You might find the article to be interesting reading as I did.

I have the same Griz bandsaw that you have and fortunately have never had a problem with it. Like others, I too have found the Grizzly customer support to be quite good.

Good luck solving your problems.

Art

[Brad Olson]

The damage you describe could happen if you bottom out the spring.

The spring is required to still have enough left in it to cushion the blade.

I've seen damage to the upper trunion/tension assembly occur to users who bottom out the spring.

Other than that it could have just been a bad assembly. I've also seen this happen before and this is why Iturra design offers beefed up replacement parts for those who upgrade their springs.

[Rick Hubbard]

I seem to be getting closer by the minute to getting this problem satisfactorily resolved (and also getting closer to understanding why it happened in the first place).

Just a few minutes ago I received an “addendum” to the G0555 user manual that explains the procedure to use when setting up the saw with a different length blade (I purchased a 93 ½ inch blade from Highland and the G0555 comes standard with a 92 ½ inch blade). The procedure described in the standard Grizzly manual is a little vague and evidently I muffed it. The “addendum” is much more straight-forward, so I predict that once I have replaced all the damaged parts, things will be just fine.

I have a hunch I may have damaged the $30.00 Woodslicer blade, though. Is it possible, with all the extra tension I put on it, to have stretched it so that tooth-set is no longer correct?

Also, speaking of tension, has anyone ever played around with the idea of using a torque wrench on the tensioning rod to dial in the exact tension setting? Other than the obvious problems of needing to stand on a step ladder to do it (and modifying the tensioning rod) I can’t imagine why this would not work. It seems like once a blades correct tension was set, it would be easy to calibrate a torque wrench to that setting.