New Bandsaw vibrating....

[Allen Grenz]

To keep this short. I have a new Grizzly G0514X2 19" saw...

First, what should be acceptable vibration for this machine? I guess I was expecting something close to my cabinet saw..

Vibration at the table measures .020" running a new 3/4" Timberwolf blade and about .010" running a new 3/8" TW blade..

Without a blade, just spinning the lower wheel the table will move around .005-.006".

Running just the motor and drive pulley with both wheels removed I get .002" movement or a little less...

Everything on the saw has runout.. so I can't tell what's what.. even the small drive pulley has slight run out... I did the spin and mark the bottom regime to the bottom wheel to try to determine balance.. but this is such a crude method who knows what the results mean..

After it first shaking like a wet dog duck hunting in January I took it off the flimsy HTC base and fabricated a much sturdier one with heavy duty casters and heavy duty rubber footed 1/2" shank levelers. Plus the saw is now bolted solid to the new base...


Any Ideas. I've spent 2 full days messing with this thing... Admittedly this is my first largish bandsaw.. So I would love some help fixing this darned thing.....

Thanks for any help or suggestion,...,

Al

[Phil Thien]

Do you have the original blade that came w/ the saw? It would be nice to eliminate the TW blades as contributors.

[Kirk Poore]

Wheels might be unbalanced, particularly the top one.

Kirk

[Charles Coolidge]

My G0514X2B will start and run with a nickel balanced on the table, I was impressed with how balanced it was. I have mine bolted to a 1.75" thick 24" x 36" maple base with 4 of the Grizzly 3" machine pads, its solid. I had it originally on the extra heavy duty Shop Fox mobile base and it was unstable, a finger could get it rocking back and forth with modest effort.

b31.jpg

[Bill Huber]

Does the drive belt have a set in it, that will cause some vibration. When I got my little 14" Jet it had vibration in it like mad. I pulled the belt off and saw it had a set in it, it was summer and I set it out on the patio in the sun for an hour or so and then put it back on and the vibration was gone.

With the blade off, spin the top wheel and let it stop, when it stops mark the lowest point on the wheel and then spin it again and see if it stops at the same place. If the wheel is balanced it will stop at different places, do this 3 or 4 times.

Do the same with the bottom wheel with the drive belt off and see how it stops.

With something to hole spin the wheels and see if they are out of round or the tires are not right.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I would also contact Grizzly support on Monday.

Eliminating the set in the belt would be the first thing to do.

Reinstalling an original blade to eliminate the TW blades another THOUGH I doubt 2 TW blades would have problems but it is something that is quickly and easily eliminated.

Question? Is the base in contact with the floor in all 4 corners of the base? In other words, can you rock the bandsaw without it running?

[Allen Grenz]

Phil, I ran it with the original and its the same thing... shake rattle and roll... well not roll, but the other two..lol

Charles, I think my current base is pretty solid now compared to the HTC base.. I have the heavy duty Shopfox base on my cabinet saw and I would say the one I built is leaps and bounds better than that.. I like the way you mounted your saw. If I didn't need the ability to move it once and awhile I'd copy it.. But I don't think that's my current issue...

Bill, I changed out the belt this morning as I was thinking the same thing... I also did spin and mark the wheels.. at least 20 times for both wheels.. The top appears to be balanced... The bottom indicated about 20% more marks in one area.. Free spinning the wheels on the saw with a dial indicator I have a little run out on both wheels as well as the drive pulley on the motor shaft.. Not a lot though..

After dinner I went out to the shop with some fridge magnets.. After placing them in different areas around the lower wheel. I got it to where it would pass the nickel test (barey) about .003" as measured at the same place on the table... without the magnets it measures.. .012".. The added weight did correspond somewhat to the what the marks indicated... At least I can cut now... But I wonder if this is just masking another problem of concentricity or if the lower wheel is truly this unbalanced.

[Allen Grenz]

Ken, I missed you.. We must have been typing at the same time..

As I responded to Bill, I did change out the belt with a new NAPA industrial belt.. No difference.. Nobody in town had link belt or that's what I'd have put on there..

The Grizzy blade is the same deal.. But as indicated I have significant vibration without a blade so that pretty much eliminates the blade and upper wheel although running with a blade does amplify the problem..

The base I built is made out of 1 1/4" steel tubing bolted to the saw with casters on outriggers to the sides of the saw.. also I have big lever pads wich I lower to lift the caster off the ground.. The saw is dead level and pretty solid... The only movement allowed appears to be frame flex when I push on th top of the saw.. it certainly is not wobbling..

Keep it coming guys, I appreciate the brainstorming.... I will call Grizz Monday and I'm sure they'll take care of me.. I would just like to nail it down before I have to spend hours on the phone.. I kinda wish I would have gotten one of the heavier saws they sell.. I can kinda see now why some of them are 2-240lbs heavier..

[David Kumm]

It doesn't take much if the upper wheel is out of balance. I threw a weight of my old Oliver 217 and it vibrated on start up even though it weighs over 1600 lbs and the wheel is aluminum. Dave

[Tai Fu]

Or maybe the saw needs to run in a bit... I had the same problem with my bandsaw but eventually the vibration died down. It could also be a tracking issue too, see if there's any irregularity in the tire crown.

[Richard Coers]

It doesn't take much if the upper wheel is out of balance. I threw a weight of my old Oliver 217 and it vibrated on start up even though it weighs over 1600 lbs and the wheel is aluminum. Dave

Point is, it's a new saw. If it doesn't take much, maybe the factory could have done it?

[David Kumm]

I doubt that every saw is tested under tension, with both wheels running. Dave

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Does it vibrate with the blade off, just the motor running the lower wheel?

[Mike Heidrick]

How are you measuring the vibration? What is the reference point?

[Charles Coolidge]

I wonder if Tai is on to something i.e. breaking in the saw. I'm half tempted to let my saw run for an hour or two tomorrow. Update to my above post. My saw its basically brand new, total cut time on the saw is probably less than 2 minutes. I fired it up today to cut a block of wood after it sat for 2-3 weeks, like an idiot I had forgotten to release the blade tension so its been under tension all this time. Well it vibrated more than it had before, prior it was very smooth. So maybe it settled on the leveling pads and needs adjustment or more likely the tire go pinched sitting under tension or whatever. I'll let it run for an hour or so tomorrow and see if it returns to smooth.

That front pin is a wedge, bang it in too far or not far enough and the table will be out of whack because well you are driving a wedge into it something is going to give. You want to put a straight edge on the table and tap it in just far enough but not too far. I have a 24" Starrett rule I can watch the table flatten itself out nicely as I tap in the pin, most of the table is .000 to .001 flat, there's a couple of spots where I can measure .002 to .003 that's pretty flat overall.