Adjusting bandsaw upper wheel bearings

[Craig Earls]

I am trying to refurbish an older Taiwanese 14" bandsaw I got a good deal on. The upper wheel bearings seem good (smooth, no roughness) but how much torque should I place on the nut that holds the bearings on the upper shaft? The bearings are not designed to take thrust, if I put what I feel is a reasonable torque to the nut, then the bearings bind. I really don't want it backing off during use. Is there supposed to be a bushing between the bearings that takes up the force?

[David DeCristoforo]

The problem with a lot of the early Taiwanese machines is that you never know quite what they were thinking. QC was not great. Nor, for the most part was the engineering or the build quality. You might want to post a pic of the thing. But you "should" be able to tighten it without locking up the bearing so something might be missing....

[Craig Earls]

The problem with a lot of the early Taiwanese machines is that you never know quite what they were thinking. QC was not great. Nor, for the most part was the engineering or the build quality. You might want to post a pic of the thing. But you "should" be able to tighten it without locking up the bearing so something might be missing....

Thanks. I am a few hundred miles and a few weeks from being able to take pictures, but I will keep that in mind.

On the more predictable brands, like Delta is there a bushing between the bearings in the upper wheel?

[David DeCristoforo]

"On the more predictable brands, like Delta is there a bushing..."


No way to tell without even a model number. If your saw is a Delta "clone" you might get some help from looking at a Delta parts sheet :
http://www.mikestools.com/download/Delta-Parts-Lists/28-200-14-Inch-Wood-Cutting-Band-Saws-BS2B.pdf

But there is little likelihood that they will match "across the board".