Replies

1. 
   EdHarrow | Jul 02, 2003 06:33pm | #1

   I'm not familiar with the JET, but IIRC Louis Iturra (Iturra Designs) has an article in his catalog about alignment, and I think in it he discusses the JET in particular.  A great catalog, if you use bandsaws you should have it.  Better than some of the books you have to buy IMHO.

2. 
   JDorn | Jul 02, 2003 06:53pm | #2

   I had the same problem with my generic tiawanese 14" saw, though when i slapped a pair of #15 washers on it as shims my wheels still turn like normal and now the wheels are only about 1/32nd out of being coplanar which is a great improvement over the over 1/4 out of coplanar they were before the shims.

   What did you use for shims?  If you used washers did you use really wide ones or something?

   JD

3. 
   DennisS | Jul 02, 2003 11:32pm | #3

   Bob -

   In my humble yet closely held opinion, the Jet guy is fulla beans. I had the same problem with my Delta bandsaw and found that with the bigger blades (3/4" max.) the back side of the blade would run on the inside of the return guard with the top wheel being close to 1/8" too far back from the bottom wheel.

   Got some regular washers that fit the upper shaft (try a saw shop or machine shop for varying thickness and shaft diameters) and aligned the wheels to almost perfect. Now the saw cuts and, more importantly perhaps, *sounds* better as well. No more scraping sounds!! (grin)

   I would do everything in my power to get and keep everything as tuned as possible on any machine, especially a bandsaw. They seem to be most sensitive to being discordant.

   ...........

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]

4. 
   JohnWW | Jul 03, 2003 12:04am | #4

   Bob,

   I have a lot of experience with these saws and I wouldn't worry about a minor, up to 1/8 in., misalignment between the top and bottom wheels.  In fact if you aren't doing very demanding work, the saw will work adequately even if the wheels are fairly far out of line. 

   The top axle on Taiwanese saws has a shoulder that the axle nut is supposed to bear on when it is tightened, if you place a shim behind the wheel and try to tighten up the nut against the shoulder you'll put too much pressure on the bearing as you've experienced.  Delta bandsaws, by the way, have a spacer between the inner and outer bearings so the nut can still be tightened up properly if the wheel has to be shimmed. 

   There are two solutions to this problem, use Loctite on the nut so it will stay tight without being run up against the shoulder, or wrap some copper wire that's no thicker than the shoulder around the threaded end of the axle to move the shoulder forward a bit.  You should wrap a little more wire than is needed to make up for the shim since the soft copper will crush a bit, it may take a couple of tries to get the right fit.  Iturra makes shims to move the bottom wheel forward on Taiwanese saws, but in your case, where the upper wheel needs to be moved outward, I don't think he offers a solution.

   John W.

5. 
   DavidP52 | Jul 03, 2003 07:53pm | #5

   Order the special shims that are machined with a shoulder so as not to cause the pinching that washers will. Meantime, the deviation should be a problem unless you really crank up the tension.

1. 
   JohnWW | Jul 03, 2003 10:38pm | #6

   I'm not familiar with the shouldered shims you're describing, they're not in the Iturra catalog or any other I know of.  I can see how one would work under the nut on the upper wheel of a Taiwanese saw if the thickness of the shoulder matched the thickness of the shim placed behind the wheel.  Actually a set of shim washers that would fit inside the bore of the upper wheel bearings would be perfect if they could be found.

   John W.