PM 141 Acting Weird Lately - Ideas

[Brent Ring]

Hi All,

Long time since I posted last, been out of the shop a little, coaching a little club hockey, and being a grandpa! Back in the shop, and started working on my 1973 PM 141 bandsaw. Normally I keep a 1/2" 3 T blade on it. All of the sudden, it started making noise, and I shut it off and looked. The blade had come partially out of tension, and the bottom tire was all wrapped around the inside portion of the lower wheel axle. Got the tire off, cleaned everything up, put a new lower tire on, and put the blade back on. It did it again within about 5 minutes. I ordered new blue urethane tires, put them on, and it did it again. Cleaned it all up, put a new 1/4" blade on, and it did it again. Arrgh!!!

This last time, I noticed that the tension was not where I left it when I put it back together. It lowered and reduced tension. I suspect that whats causing the blade to catch the tire and cause it to bind up behind the wheel. I had partially glued the bottom tire on last time(hairspray), so the tire did not come off completely, which was good.

I am a bit lost as to what would cause that to happen. I bought the saw used about 8 years ago and it has run top notch until now.

Any thoughts on how to get this back running reliably?

Brent

[mark kosse]

Howdy Brent, are you saying hairspray was your adhesive for the tire? I'm guessing if you contact cement the tire on, problem will be solved.

[Chris Hachet]

I would agree with Mark...

[Randall J Cox]

Have you checked your tension spring - could it be broken?

[Doug Ladendorf]

I have a 141 just two years older than yours. Wonderful saw. The wheels are not crowned so I don't know that the urethane tires are right for that saw. Typically you would install rubber tires and crown them a-la: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz04k-GMF38

Was the original tire that came off rubber or urethane?

Doug

[Van Huskey]

The wheels are not crowned so I don't know that the urethane tires are right for that saw. Typically you would install rubber tires and crown them a-la: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz04k-GMF38

Was the original tire that came off rubber or urethane?

Doug

The originals were rubber as they were for all 141/143 saws. They do make replacement urethane tires now for some of the crowned tire saws but not sure if they actually have a crown built into them but urethane seems too soft for that purpose. The OP did not say if he ordered tires specifically made for the 141 or not, if not it is almost certainly the issue, if they are urethane tires for the 141 it still may be the issue.

My guess is the old tires were shot and the new tires don't work for the application. WMPrice sells correct rubber tires for the 141 on eBay, Bobby at Woodworkers Toolworks most likely does too.

[Doug Ladendorf]

Agree. I wasn't particularly clear in that last sentence. I was asking if the tire that came off in the beginning of the story above was also urethane, replaced at some earlier time. Rubber tires are the way to go.

[Brent Ring]

Thanks for the responses. Rubber tires were the originals. I had urethanes on for over 5 years before this problem came up. I am thinking the tension spring is the problem. I have a bad habit of leaving the saw blade under tension. The 2 sets of urethanes that I have ordered are supposedly for the PM141, according to the advertisement. One set was orange and the other blue.

My thought is to replace the spring and see what happens.

Unless someone has some more compelling advice.

[mark kosse]

Well Brent, I'm not saying it's not the spring but I've had lots of 141's, 81's, 28-200/350's that have never had the tension removed in their long life. Maybe try re gluing too. It would be a cheaper first step. Family Dollar sells a squeeze tube of contact cement for 1.50 and it's plenty to do those tires.

[Brent Ring]

I just took off the original tension spring. Not broken. With out any tension, it measures 2.75". I checked the wheels and there does not seem to be any play in them at all. My thought was maybe a bearing had worn. When it was running, it would make a noise, that made me think a bearing could be bad. Still looking for ideas.

[Brent Ring]

The tires I have on currently are these - [COLOR=#333333][FONT=&quot]

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[Brent Ring]

BLUE MAX ULTRA DUTY URETHANE BAND SAW TIRE SET FOR POWERMATIC MODEL 141 - From Ebay

[Joe Kaufman]

Are both male and female threads for the tensioning rod in good shape, not worn or damaged?

[Joe Kaufman]

Lock the tension adjustment with a washer and nut after it is set. See if that corrects the problem.

[Brent Ring]

I will give that a shots and get back to you!