I fixed my Band Saw jumping off wheel problem

R

Reg ELLERY

Joined
Jun 22, 2002
Messages
934
I have been having problems with my band saw jumping of the bottom wheel for years. I had an old bloke around a couple of days ago to build some forges.
I was cutting some plate and the saw jumped off the wheel twice in a few minutes. He said why don't you adjust it? it is like the belt sander it should have a tracking adjustment. He did not know where but it should.

Well I messed around today and found that the bottom wheel has the blade fed onto it by passing through two ball bearings. I found a bolt behond the bearings which when loose would alow the bearings to pivot and change the blade angle feeding onto the wheel. I adjusted the blade angle and it is like someone elses machine not mine.

I was so happy I had to tell some one. It is like the ones you blokes by from harbour frieght. It can be used as a cutop horisontal style or by adding a small cutting table it can be used in the vertical.

Well I hope that it will help someone. If you need pictures
reg_ellery@optusnet.com.au
 
Yeah, many of those things are shipped that way, with loose bearing retaining plates or nuts.
Most are out of adjustment in some way anyway. My steel cutting bandsaw did that for a long time until I finally just got out the directions and took the time to adjust the angle of the top wheel. Hasn't popped off since.

My wood cutting bandsaw had a similar problem to yours. I removed the bottom wheel for some reason and found the bearings all loose.
Not much quality control over there(Taiwan and PRC), and zero accountability anyway.
 
Keep in mind that having the blade jump off the wheel is also a protection from breaking it. I don't overtighten mine just to keep it from breaking. Yes it jumbs off if it binds up but it rarely breaks. At $25-30 for bimetal blades I would rather put one back on then buy a new one.
 
Thanks for the input Mike, I could not work out how to make any adjustment at the top wheel and just found the bottom by accident. I bought the saw at auction for $100 I did not get the instructions, but your right on the money I am one of those blokes that would not check the instructions until way too much swearing had been done.

B. Finnigan you have a valid point I have 2 spare blades and this one is old so I will see how it goes. I may be in for a little fine tuning yet. For the moment I am still happy to be able to cut more than an inch at a time. I was at the point where I needed 3 doctors, a guru and a gym instructor to remove the stress of cutting anything. However your right often these things are also safety factors. I don't look forward to spending money on broken blades.
 
Reg, believe me, jumping the pulley is not a normal built in safety feature.
It's strictly from poor adjustment of the top wheel(generally) from the factory if it's a horz/vert bandsaw.

I fixed mine some years ago after dealing with the 1" cut or less, then stop and fix for years and I haven't broken a blade since, in fact properly adjusted, it's way less likely to "grab" anything. It just keeps cutting.;)

I keep lots of tension on the blade when using it(I loosen it when it's idle) and lube with WD40 just to keep the blade cooler while cutting.
 
I didn't say it was a built in saftey feature. What I did say is that I choose to keep the belt slightly loose since it keeps my bandsaw from snapping blades. As soon as I tighten the tension up and it binds then I have a new blade to replace.
 
it also makes a difference what width blade you use. I use a 1/2" wide blade that is very tough. I tighten my HF vert/hor saw as much as I physically can. Blade stays on and I can really bear down on it hard.

I would not have these same results if I was using a 1/8" wide blade. Different animal altogether.
 
Daniel Koster said:
it also makes a difference what width blade you use. I use a 1/2" wide blade that is very tough. I tighten my HF vert/hor saw as much as I physically can. Blade stays on and I can really bear down on it hard.

I would not have these same results if I was using a 1/8" wide blade. Different animal altogether.
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im with you after i ajusted the top wheel i crank down hard on the saw and buzz right along
i have more problem nocking teeth off i think this last blade was chipped because of the joint thats where it started
 
B Finnigan said:
I didn't say it was a built in saftey feature. What I did say is that I choose to keep the belt slightly loose since it keeps my bandsaw from snapping blades. As soon as I tighten the tension up and it binds then I have a new blade to replace.
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Then you have a problem in the saw adjustment somewhere. It tells you to tighten up on the blade a lot before cutting, in the instructions. It also tells you to loosen the blade adjustment when not using as that's a main cause of blade failure, leaving it tightened when not in use.

If yours is breaking blades when you tighten, then the wheel(s), bearings are out of adjustment, or you are getting bad blades with crummy welds, or not loosening the blade tension after use.

A good blade will not break when it's tightened up on the saw, all other things being equal. It's supposed to be made for that.

Edited to add: You might try using a small pocket sharpening stone to slightly round the back of the blade(or at least knock the sharp corners off of it), and push it gently into the sides of the blade, being careful not to touch the saw edge. That can help with cuts too, allowing tighter radius cuts without problems, etc. It smooths the weld area on the sides, and the back rounding helps with radius cuts.

Just don't touch the saw teeth in any way with that stone, or hand.;)

I run mine on the fastest speed(200RPM) and that works the best for me, on both carbon and stainess steels. The two lower speeds never worked well at all for me.
 
Thanks for al the input and instructions. I did leave my blade tight to see how it went I cut a piece of 3/8 x 2 inch flat bar I made 6 cuts with no problem at all. I am still grinning. It is an old blade but I do use the 1/2 inch bi metal.

Thank you B FINNIGAN sorry I miss understood what you meant.
 
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