How big is my band saw blade?

[Thomas Colson]

A new tension bracket was the first thing I tried in troubleshooting: it did nothing to solve the problem. I just shimmed the bottom wheel to the max it can be shimmed and still get a few threads of the bolt on. When the blade centered on the top wheel, it sits well towards the front of the bottom, but at least an improvement over the previous barely on. The wheels are still not co-planer, by a significant amount, when checked with a precision straight edge. Tilting the top wheel in either direction does not move the blade any further back on the lower wheel. There is a slight improvement in performance, but I can tell it's not cutting right due not being able to center the blade on the lower wheel.

[John K Jordan]

...When the blade centered on the top wheel, it sits well towards the front of the bottom, but at least an improvement over the previous barely on. ...

Are there any extra washers behind the top wheel that could be removed?

If your saw is built the same as my old Delta with the riser block, I would examine the riser block itself. Perhaps it wasn't machined with precision or installed with a burr or foreign material near the back of one of the mating faces, canting the bottom cast iron frame forward a bit. Or otherwise misaligned. IIRC mine had pins and holes to index it properly but perhaps that one didn't. Might disassemble and check the block for parallel faces, shimming if necessary. For debugging, I might also remove the wheels and check that the upper and lower shaft are parallel. I guess it's possible the cast iron frame is warped.

I don't remember what has been written, but if it wasn't, it might be worth while to try a new blade (or back off the guides, install the blade backwards, and rotate a bit by hand and see if it still tracks toward the front). And, of course, double check the tires.

JKJ

[Thomas Colson]

Turns out I don't actually have a JWBS-14OS! (See my other post), so getting rid of the riser isn't an option now, as I can't find the blade guard that originally came with the machine.......