Craftsman 22401 bandsaw owners

[Brian Keith]

Have any of you experienced a side to side wooble from the saw being top heavy? I think mine is coming from the stand cause the stand walls are kinda thin and flexing a bit?? The base doesnt move because I though I needed to shim it and thats how I noticed the stand flexing. If you have found this what did you do to remedy it? Thanks

[Robert Mahon]

I also have the 22401 and don't seem to have the wobble you describe. However, as I've only had it for a week, I'll keep an eye open for it.

Mine is installed on and bolted to a Delta mobile base (the unit requiring 4 pieces of 1-1/2" by 1-1/2" wood stringers). The only wobble I see is when I tug on the table and the entire machine moves a bit, including the mobile base.
As long as it doesn't cause a problem when in use, I won't worry about it.

[J. Scott Chambers]

Make sure you installed the cross brace at the top near the door. I left that out and had the exact same problem, had to take it back apart and installed it. No flex at all now.

[Don Bullock]

You might also check to see if any of the many bolts that hold the base all together are tight.

[Brian Keith]

I made some cuts last night and the wooble doesnt seem to affect this. I went through and tightened all the base bolts but didnt help much. The brace is there. It just bugs me cause it has a slight wooble when I grab the table and and give a push side to side,but I can live with it I guess.

[Robert Mahon]

As this type of machine is top-heavy, all of its ilk will exhibit the same tendency. In fact, I believe Grizzly expressly recommends bolting to the floor to eliminate tip-over.
Also, I believe someone indicated the problem (and vibration) was reduced by placing 50 lb. sandbags in the cabinet. While this should help, I don't believe anything other than reinforcing the base-plate by welding and rigid anchoring will eliminate the tendency completely. The stamped-steel base plate alone allows enough flex to produce this problem. I don't think it is the cabinet structure.

[Curt Harms]

I have the Rikon 10-325 and have a similar issue. Most of the weight is on top of the bolted-together base sitting on a another portable base. I don't find this affects function. The wobble could perhaps become a problem if a heavy piece were perched on one edge of the table, but so far I haven't had a problem. I think it's just the nature of the beast, especially on mobile bases.

Curt

[Robert Mahon]

Agreed.
although there is a "Box structure" under the sheet metal base/platform, it is still just relatively thin (I'd guess about 16 gage) sheet-metal. My mobile base is more rigid than the platform the base cabinet is bolted to and when I shake the machine, the mobile base shows no sign of movement. The "wobble" seems to be because the platform deflects.

I'm not going to worry about it until it causes a problem. I can always MIG-weld two (2) 1-1/8" X 1-1/8" X 1/8" angle-iron braces securing the bottom of the cabinet to the extreme edges of the platform to improve the rigidity of the entire structure.