Hello all! I’ve been having some trouble with my bandsaw, and I thought this might be just the place to come and ask about it.
The saw: a Delta 16″ 28-560 bandsaw. FOr those of you without a catalog next to you, this is a three wheel, free standing model. It’s not terrificaly new, (I don’t think they are made anymore), but it is virtually un-used. I got it from my grandfather when he moved into a retirement community that already had a wood shop. He said that he only used it a few times himself before he gave it to me.
The problem: it’s simple, the blade keeps jumping off! This only happens when I’m cutting something, but the size of the piece and rate of feed don’t seem to matter. It’s happened when I was cutting 1/4″ plywood strips, and when I was making short cuts (for box joints) in 5/8″ oak. I’m adjusting the blade tension according to the gauge on the back of the saw, and I’ve tried with two different blades (a 1/2″ and a 1/4″), one of which was brand new. Nothing seems to make any difference. The blade goes on, I let it run for a minute or two to make sure it’s tracked correctly, and then after about another minute or two of careful cutting, the saw makes a sharp *poink* kind of noise, and the balde jumps off in the next ten seconds or so, regardless of whether I am cutting or not.
My suspicion is that perhaps the tension-bolt is slipping (thus the noise), but I don’t know how to check this. I haven’t tried disassembling the case (and don’t particularly want to!) but from what I can see, the threads on the tension bolt seem OK, and everything seems to be in its proper place. Obviously I’m missing something though!
Thoughts? Suggestions? Responses to here, or to my personal email:
[email protected]
thanks so much!
-mikep
Replies
Schwap,
I'll be listening hard to the responses because my three wheel craftsman does the same thing..also inherited, also new like condition. I finally tightened as hard as I could...now it will not cut straight, blade slopes about 10 degrees. If I force a straight cut the blade stops. Very frustrated !
However, the table is nice for the coffee cup and ash tray....lol
Have you done the usual band-saw-tune-up things? Checked the wheels for alignment etc.
The tension gauge on the saw is most likely way off -- the built-in gauges aren't usually accurate.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Thanks for the tips! I have indeed done the usual checking, and things to be in good shape. Not great, but good. (I'm used to a slightly fancier model, but the price sure was right on this one!) From the basic checking I know that the tires are in very good shape, still springy without even having much in the way of wear tracks. The wheels seem to be in alignment (hard to check all three at once!), and there doesn't seem to be any additional friction coming from any of the bearings/blade guides (I pulled almost everything off to clean and check them). I can't help but think that this all has something to do with it being a three wheel model, but I could be barking up the wrong tree here, so to speak...
-mikep
Welllll, since you're not getting any other responses (where is everybody?) I'll suggest a couple things:
Try increasing the tension above that indicated by the built-in gauge.
Call Iturra Design (1-888-722-7078), talk to a tech person there, asking what they think. They happen to make a replacement tensioning spring that's got a good rep. Tell 'em you had heard about the spring and were wondering if the stock spring in your saw might be part of the problem. Milk 'em for info, see where you get. Good luck!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 9/2/2002 9:35:29 PM ET by forest_girl
while I'm not familiar with the saw check thrust bearings and the blade guides. Is the blade coming off when you're making the cut (pushing in) or when you're withdrawing the wood?
Since you said this was an older saw, any chance the tires on the wheels have gone bad??? Dry rotting or something. Also, since it's not being made anymore, did you do any web searches for any info on this saw? Maybe the nature of this saw was the it is a fussy one with inherent problems which may be why the saw was dropped from the lineup. Just some thoughts.
Don
Sorry Barry, couldn't edit to the proper addy.
Edited 9/2/2002 10:11:03 PM ET by Don C.
Again, thanks for the suggestions.
It's definetly *not* the tires. When I say that the saw is old, I'm talking in the five to ten year range, and maybe not even that old. It's not the current Delta catalog, but that doesn't say too much. In any case, the tires are fresh and springy, and barely marked.
It's *possible* that the wheels are out of alignment; it's hard to tell with a three wheel machine. I'm also not sure how I would go about adjusting this, if this was indeed the problem.
To answer another question, the blade jumps off when I'm feeding the wood in, regardless of speed. It seems to be more time based than anything else, because it will be fine for a (very short) time, and *bang* it jumps off. This has always happened when the blade is cutting something, and never when I was withdrawing something. I'm making a small box with finger joints, so the cuts aren't particulary deep either (5/8")
Still mystified-
mikep
You must find a way to check the alignment of those wheels. If they're off, you're never going to get that thing to track and cut. Remember, you're dealing with high speed so even small misalignment will produce a great effect.
Back in my sawyer days we had a huge "line bar resaw" with 40" dia. wheels and 12" blades. That piece of junk was so bad that you couldn't track a blade on it to save your life. The blades would usually move back on the wheel and when the teeth started running on the steel it made a scream that made the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard sound pleasant. The poor guy who ran the edger would jump right up on the roll case and run out of the mill!
Jeff
I have one of these saws. I bought it used eight years ago. The tires looked new then but the blade would jump off. I replaced the tires & it corrected the problem. I don't know if this will cure your problem but it solved mine. Also make sure the guide roller is not too far back from the back of the blade. Good luck, Jim
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