Hello,
I’m shopping for a bandsaw and I’m drawn to the Rikon, but I have concerns about the lower wheel mount. The shaft holding the wheel sticks through a sleeve in the frame. Four bolt in the sleeve tighten down on the shaft to hold it in place. This looks suspect to me, but maybe I am not seeing the entire mount. It looks like the four bolts have to be tightened independently to center the shaft and adjust it to track precisely with the upper shaft. Does that make sense? Has anyone had a problem with the Rikon lower wheel mount?
Good day,
Jay
Replies
Jay,
Which model Rikon are you looking at? I am planning to spring for a 10-325, 14 inch deluxe in the next few days. I will be interested in the responses to your question.
Thanks for asking, George
You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. - Michael Pritchard
Morning Jay...
If you don't get a satisfactory answer ( I suspect you will), I will most likely be dropping by Highland Woodworking here in Atlanta either Sat. or Sunday to pick up supplies as I am off for three days. I will be glad to check your concerns on both the 18" and 14" Deluxe as you didn't state which but another poster inquired about.
A motor hanging outside the case is always a concern as it puts a lot of weight on that shaft. My new Steel City has countered those concerns by adding 4 larger adjustment bolts attaching the motor to the case. The case siding has also been strengthened in that area. Then they added a motor support under the motor to reduce hostile weight that would be transferred directly to the side of the lower case and could cause the shaft to mis-align if that motor has no additional vertical support. They also beefed up the shaft bearings and bearing size just for that reason.
Give me a shout (tons to do in the shop) if you don't get your answer!
Regards...
Sarge.. jt
Woodcraft in Eugene, Oregon has three or four of the Rikons on display as well as some Jets and a General brand model or two. Each Rikon has the same four bolt system to attach the lower wheel. It reminds me of the way my the diffuser lens is held in place on my kitchen incandescent light fixture, except there are only three screws on the light fixture. Sorry, I'm sure this is just confusing blather if you haven't seen the Rikon bandsaw, but it is a cheap looking set up on an otherwise decent bandsaw. I'm considering the 14" for $749. Maybe it isn't an issue, but it is unique and I'm just phishing for information from someone with more knowledge or experience. Thanks for offering to look at the saw. Let me know what you think.
Good day,
Jay
It is cheesy looking on paper, but I'd take a look at it in person before making a decision. The top wheel shaft housing in my U.S.-built 20" industrial machine pivots on two pointed screws with locknuts quite similar to what the Rikon seems to have. It's worked well in heavy use for 60 years. The screws in mine look to be 7/16 and they're fitted to cone-shaped indentations in the cast iron housing. This allows side to side adjustment of the top wheel. It's a certainty that the Rikon will be lighter built; you'll have to decide if it's flimsy or not.A lot of people own this saw, so it would also be worth searching the archives for the experiences of other Rikon users.I suggest that you evaluate your choices as a whole, paying special attention to how the knobs, levers, switch, etc. work for you. For machines of roughly similar quality, how the machine fits you is most important.PeteEdited 2/24/2007 2:45 pm ET by PeteBradley
Edited 2/24/2007 2:46 pm ET by PeteBradley
Morning Sarge,
After reading this thread, I started to wonder about mine. I have the 18" Rikon and have enjoyed it after about 2 years. Question being, I looked at the bottom shaft that has the 4 adjustment bolt that hold the shaft and my staft is at the top of the adjustment. I didn't move it. Should the shaft be directly in the center?
As soon as it stops freezing rain here, I'm going out to my shop to have a look see. Seems to me that the shaft would need to be directly in the center. Let me know if you know anything about this or have an opinion. At this point the, I have the machine resawing fairly well. I wonder if I adjust the bottom shaft if I can get it to perform better? I will report back for all the Rikon interested folks.
Have a great Sunday,
Jeff
Morning Woodman..
Ideally, the shaft would be less prone for wear and tear if centered. I have seen the saw but didn't go over it well as I had already decided on Steel City after all the design quality I found in a saw in that price range.
If you could get back to this thread on what you find, that would be great. I am probably not going to Highland today as I found all the little goodies I needed at Lowe's surprisingly. I'm near complete on a Euro fence, crown guard and upgraded splitter guard I" building for my new (factory re-conditioned) Uni-saw. Highland probably won't get the call till next week-end.
If this turns out to be a concern... I don't think that it will appear with just a visual check. It would be more of a problem that would probably arise down the road after a lot of use. Those that have the saw have not stated any negativity to my current knowledge.
So.. at this point I will render it "innocent" until proven guilty. I do not want to make un-necessary mistakes in reviewing it as others being paid to do so by assuming or not having all the facts ala "Steel City 18" BS has Flaws". And if I do measure the table for flatness, I do believe I will make sure the pin is in! ha.. ha...
Regards...
Sarge.. jt
Sarge,
I went out to the shop to take a look. My saw is cutting well and I would say it is cutting very well now to this point. The 4 bolt issue on the lower wheel is not a concern. They all lock tightly and the shaft cannot move. It actually make the bottom wheel pretty easy to fine tune. I don't have any concerns about the shaft moving.
When I resaw, it's usually 8-10 inch material with a 1/2" woodslicer blade and I have not had any issues. Although I will definately agree that it is not a MiniMax or Powermatic, but it doesn't have the pricetag that the others do. So for a shop the size of mine, woodworking on occasional weekday evenings and weekends, it works great.
I would definately buy this saw again. Although I wish it had a "flip open door" so the blade comes off easy like the new 14".
Jeff
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