Machined pulley upgrade

[Jeff Hallam]

I would like to follow the common advice for Bandsaws and upgrade to machined pulleys. I live in a rural area in Nova Scotia and I'm not really sure where I could find a replacement. Part of the reason I think it will be difficult is due to the size of the pulley on my 14" Delta. Here is a pic:

82471

The BS is the X5 version. Does anyone have a source for a pulley this large? Or should I just stick with what I have.

Thanks

Jeff

[Bruce Page]

Jeff, I don’t think you will easily find one that size. Unless you have a serious vibration problem, I wouldn’t worry about it.

[Ben Cadotte]

I would like to follow the common advice for Bandsaws and upgrade to machined pulleys. I live in a rural area in Nova Scotia and I'm not really sure where I could find a replacement. Part of the reason I think it will be difficult is due to the size of the pulley on my 14" Delta. Here is a pic:

82471

The BS is the X5 version. Does anyone have a source for a pulley this large? Or should I just stick with what I have.

Thanks

Jeff

The small one on the motor you can probably find premade. The big one you can probably have balanced if its out of balance.

[Eddie Darby]

Can you tell us what it is that you are after by changing your pulley?

Is your machine performing poorly?

[Bruce Benjamin]

I would like to follow the common advice for Bandsaws and upgrade to machined pulleys. I live in a rural area in Nova Scotia and I'm not really sure where I could find a replacement. Part of the reason I think it will be difficult is due to the size of the pulley on my 14" Delta. Here is a pic:

82471

The BS is the X5 version. Does anyone have a source for a pulley this large? Or should I just stick with what I have.

Thanks

Jeff

I've never heard this advice for a bandsaw. It is mentioned from time to time as a worthwhile upgrade for tablesaws though. What I have heard regarding bandsaws is that a well balanced cast iron wheel is better than a poorly balanced aluminum one.

Bruce

[Pete Bradley]

You'll find all manner of "upgrades" recommended on forums. My recommendation is: don't fix anything that ain't broke.

Pete

[Howard Acheson]

Why do you think you need to change the pulley? Is it out of round or out of balance? It is unlikely that a pulley that size that rotates at a slow speed would be inducing much in the way of vibration.

[Jeff Hallam]

Mainly I'm just trying to get the smoothest operation I can out of this 14" machine. I have installed the link belt, cool blocks, a tire brush, and I also reinforced the enclosed cabinet by sandwiching some 2x material between the machine and the stand. All of these steps improved the quality of cut I was getting and reduced the wobble that I used to have in this BS. I was hoping a replacement pulley would be the last step.

Howard, you're probably right that at the larger pulley's speed there isn't much vibration being induced. The motor pulley is already a machined one, so I may already be at the end of the road for this upgrade.

Yesterday I took the blade off the BS and checked the wheels for balance. I was prepared to either drill small amounts or add lead weights for fix any issues. I spun each wheel about 12 times and marked the bottom point when the wheel stopped. I was quite happy to find that the marks were decently distributed; indicating (in my understanding) that the wheels were pretty good as is.

The next thing that is effecting cut quality is the buildup of sawdust underneath the blade (on the tire). Because there is no DC immediately below the blade, all of the dust falls down and is trapped between tire and blade as the bottom wheel turns. I know other 14" Delta models have a DC port right where I need one, for some reason they moved it to the enclosed stand on the X5 version.