I just got a new TimberWolf BS blade for my 14″ Powermatic BS. Because the tension on the blade is different from others I have used, I decided to be very careful in my setup. While setting up the blade I put it on the wheels and adjusted it so that it runs in the center of the top wheel, but I noticed that it runs towards the front edge of the bottom wheel even though initially I had it dead center as with the top. I can run the saw and the top will remain dead on center, but the bottom continues to stay towards the front of the bottom wheel, but never comes off. I’m not sure if this is a problem because when I turn the saw on it still cuts, but I’m concerned if this is maybe a symptom of the wheels not be coplanar? Any advice?
Bio
Replies
There should be an adjustment on the bottom wheel similar to the adjustment on the top wheel where you can change the tilt. Just adjust the top of the bottom wheel away from the open side which puts the bottom of the wheel further out until the band tracks acceptably. You will need to move all gauge wheels or other out of reach of the blade while the blade is seeking its proper place on both wheels. This should work as long as the wheels are coplaner.
Don't laugh but I don't get this knowledge so much from experience with a band saw but rather from aligning a tractor up to a threshing machine or grinder. Does this date me.
Edited 1/10/2009 9:22 pm ET by Tinkerer3
I don't think there is a tracking knob for the bottom wheel.
Bio.
Bio,There is typically no tracking adjustment for the lower wheel. The condition you describe suggests the wheels are not coplanar. But this is not something that is as problematic as many books say it is. You are probably not going to have any problem as long as the blade is running true on the upper wheel.To get the wheels coplanar, you will need to remove one, or both and insert shims as necessary to bring them into the same plane.But before you do that, if you haven't already read it, get Michael Fortunes instructions for setting up a band saw. Best advice you'll read.http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=24093 Rich
I was afraid that they were not coplanar. I have been using the saw and had no problems, but I was wondering if I just didn't know what to expect from the tool since it was my first time ever using one or having one. I've followed the setup recommendations that FWW and The WoodWhisperer have offered and I just noticed this little snag today.
Bio
Bio,Which recommendations from FWW did you follow? Are you referring to Fortune's article?Rich
Yep.
Bio
It's probably not a problem if the blade runs true and tracks correctly (i.e. no side to side flutter or front to back jogging). With the blade tensioned hold a pencil or some other object stationary on the table next to the blade, but not touching it. Turn one of the wheels by hand. As the blade moves watch the relation in distance between the pencil and blade. If it varies it could effect the smoothness of cut.
If the saw runs well and stays on the wheels,then forget about coplanar and dead center tracking.It is rare that a bandsaw runs exactly like manual pictures.Sometimes a narrow blade will react quite different from a wide blade. I have a 16" saw that tracks perfectly with blades up to 1/2". 1" and 3/4" blades tend to run near the edge but never come close to coming off.
mike
This is a 3/4" blade so I'll put a 1/2" on and see if it does any different.
Bio
I'll second the advice that if it runs well, and its current location allows you to adjust the guide bar parallel to the band (you don't have to readjust guides when you change height), and the table perpendicular to the blade, don't mess with it.
Shimming out a crowned wheel alone has only a modest impact on where the band tracks because the band wants to track the highest point on the wheel. On the top wheel, the tracking knob moves that high point back and forth by tilting the wheel. Some band saws have an adjuster for the bottom while others force you to adjust around the fixed bottom or shim. The bottom adjuster if present is for dialing in the saw, not regular change.
Coplanar gets a lot of press, but its effects are way overstated and you really can't look at that adjustment alone. I recommend anyone contemplating bandsaw tuning look at the machine as a system of interrelated adjustments (roughly in this order): lower wheel (in/out, angle), upper wheel(in/out, left/right, track), guide bar (parallel to band in two dimensions), table (perpendicular in two dimensions.
Pete
Thanks.
Bio
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