Large BS users: How do you stabilize the saw?

[Susumu Mori]

Hi all,

I have a question for users of >400lb bandsaws.
Bandsaws are top heavy. No question about it. When the huge wheels turn, some vibration is inevitable.
I wonder if you do anything special to anchor the saw to the floor to minimize the vibration.
My 20-inch saw has two rubber feet and two wheels. It is reasonably stable but if I push the top part of the saw, it wobbles. I can't figure out what exactly gives the room for the wobble but I suspect the shaft of the wheels is the culprit because it is not secured to the body in any way.

So, I guess my question is, if any of you use wood, rubber, or any materials underneath the saw to dampen the vibration successfully. My saw pass the nickel test, so it's not that the saw is suffering from excessive vibration but, of course, the less is the better, when it comes to noise and vibration. I'm asking to users of large saws because my 14-inch saw doesn't have noise and vibration to talk about.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks,

[jack forsberg]

400lbs is very light for a large saw!!!!!! my 16" bursgreen is 900lbs and the wadkin DR is 1800lbs. band saws are bottom heavy with the motor and table down low not top heavy IMO. Vibration is caused by unbalanced wheels and untrue rubber tires . and some saw like my wadkin DR run high speed at 7800 sfpm (SURFACE FEET PER MINUTE)both mine can cut with coins balanced on the table if the bearings are good in the machine and motor, and pulleys and belts are tuned and of good quality / the wheels should be dynamically balanced (I use motorcycle tires wights) and the rubber trued concentric by milling in a number of way with a crown on the tire for the blade to track well. of all the 5 band saws over 400 lbs in the shop this is what i do to tune them.

my 30"wadkin tuned up that is running at 2 times the speed of most saws but not all

[Matt Day]

My 20" Powermatic weighs 1000# and is on a mobile base, and I pass the nickel test easily simply because of the weight.

You might have something else going on as Jack said.

[Myk Rian]

I deleted my original response after re-reading your question.
Is it possible the rubber feet are the culprit?

[Susumu Mori]

Jack, I'm totally impressed.
OK, this is what a well-tuned (and heavy) BS can do. There seems a room for improvement in my BS.
With just the motor, my BS is supremely quiet and no vibration.
If I connect the bottom wheel, the sound level goes up considerably and I can feel slight vibration. I think the noise is mainly from the multi-V groove belt and there is nothing I can do (can't I?). For the vibration, I'll try the balancing with tire weights. I read an article about how to find a heavy side of a wheel by observing the position where a free wheel stops. Is it how you do the balancing?

[Rod Sheridan]

I suspect that unless you're using rigid wheels like steel wheels, the wheels and the rubber feet are compressing when you push on the saw, which causes it to wobble.

Now, that has nothing to do with wobbling when running, if it's doing that it's an out of balance issue agravated by the compressible wheels/feet.

Regards, Rod.

[Myk Rian]

I read an article about how to find a heavy side of a wheel by observing the position where a free wheel stops. Is it how you do the balancing?

Yes. I used paper clips opposite the heavy side to balance a wheel.

1203091728[1].jpg

[Mikail Khan]

Before you balance use a straight edge to ensure that the pulleys are aligned reasonably well.

MK

[Susumu Mori]

I see. That makes sense, Rod.
It is not really wobbling during the saw is running but I thought the small amount of the vibration was caused by the feet.
So, I should shoot for the source of the vibration before thinking about the feet.

[Susumu Mori]

This is a great idea, Myk.

[Edward Oleen]

... and some saw like my wadkin DR run high speed at 7800 sfpm (SURFACE FEET PER MINUTE)
my 30"wadkin tuned up that is running at 2 times the speed of most saws but not all

Why do I doubt that you mean 7800 SFPM????? I mean, does the saw some how know that you just swapped your1/2" blade for a 1" blade, and, to maintain the same SWFP, cut the rpms in half to maintain the same SFPM???

I don't think so...

I think you might mean that the drive wheel turns at 7800 RPM, which would be twice a motor speed of 3400 RPM. Remember: the surface area (as in SFPM) is the product of the width times the length, and with band saw blades the width varies - in my case, with the 14" DeWalt, my "smallest" blade is 1/8", and my "biggest" is 3/4", which is a 6:1 SFPM difference...

[Keith Weber]

Edward,

Wow! I think that you're a little confused, mate! SFPM has nothing to do with surface area. It's got everything to do with the linear feet that the blade is traveling in a minute. It doesn't make a difference if you're using a 1/2" blade, or a 1" blade. SFPM is used to give the speed of the outside of a wheel. It is a more meaningful measure than RPM for things that cut or grind on the outside of a wheel. A 4" diameter grinding wheel will have half the SFPM of an 8" diameter grinding wheel for a given RPM. On a bandsaw, the wheels are a fixed diameter, so the SFPM will only change if you change the RPMs of the wheels (via either a faster motor, or a larger motor pulley.

Keith

[Max Neu]

bandsaw.jpgMy 24" Laguna was vibrating quite a bit,but I noticed if I used the mobile dolly and took the weight off the end,the vibration went away.So I bought these pads http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ,it now runs very smoothly.

[Myk Rian]

Edward. Everything you said is wrong. This is blade speed, not surface area.

[Prashun Patel]

I built a mobile base for my 19" saw. The 2x3 tube steel base is wider than the base and serves as a (however mild) outrigger.

I have seen also that some have lanyards from the top of the saw to the ceiling. I suppose for a strictly stationary saw, that would be good. I prefer the mobility - even at the expense of a slightly increased footprint.