Rikon 14" Bandsaw Setup

[Dewayne Reding]

Just got it assembled. Thought I would practice setup with the original blade before I screw up one of my good ones. I'l have a few questions this weekend, and here are a couple.

I loosened the blade tension adjustment knob at the top of the saw. The assembly screwed completely out of the tensioner assembly. Wouldn't go back in until I removed the wheel so I could get my hands on it. Is it the purpose of the double nuts to make this not happen? Or do they have some other function? On my saw, the two nuts are jammed directly against each other, with nothing in between. It doesn't look correct, according to the parts schematic, but thought I would ask first.

Also, any tips for blade guide bearing adjustment would be appreciated. Instructions say 1/32" side clearance. Any handy tips to accomplish that, or is feeler guage precision necessary? I haven't done any searches yet, I was kind of looking for issues specific to this saw, if any.

[nick brigg]

for the guides, i like spacing the side guides a paper's width from the blade and the rear guide a business card's width so that the blade is free to run but as soon as work engages it, the guides do their thing.

and be sure to put the side guides just behind the gullet of the teeth, or you'll either get sparkie sparkie or just a blade with all the set taken out.

[Ken Massingale]

Give Rod or John at Rikon a call, both are serious about supporting the customers.
As far as I know the double nuts are to limit the tension on the top end, I don't see anything to keep us from screwing the rod out. I do the guides as Nick said.

[glenn bradley]

I do what nick does as far as guide adjustment. For the tension adjustment, isn't there a quick release on this saw? That would preclude ever having to wind the adjustment out far enough to remove it. I second a call to Rikon for clarification.

[Dewayne Reding]

I'll call Monday if I have any further problems. I think perhaps my blade might be just a bit on the long side, which puts me toward the edge of the saws adjustment range before the adjuster threads all the way out. Pure speculation though. I haven't measured and it could just be me no doubt.

Update: I installed my Woodslicer 1/2" resaw blade. Immediately realized how bad the factory equipped blade is. It's a different saw now. I don't have to jack with adjustments in search of a decent cut. Runs quite and makes smooth, consistent thickness veneer cuts. My Timberwolf blades haven't arrived yet. I think I will be happier with the saw once I have all of my new blade selection in hand. I am surprised an $800 bandsaw came with such a low end blade. I tried to cut pine, oak and plywood and it was rough. Even my Craftman/Orion gear came factory equipped with Lietz blades. I've received some PMs, so I know I'm not the only one that wonders why.

Only issue I can see at the moment, is that I can't get the blade to ride centered on both wheels. Don't know if that's a big deal or not, since it cuts fine. Making progress in any case.

[Ken Massingale]

I'll call Monday if I have any further problems. I think perhaps my blade might be just a bit on the long side, which puts me toward the edge of the saws adjustment range before the adjuster threads all the way out. Pure speculation though. I haven't measured and it could just be me no doubt.

Update: I installed my Woodslicer 1/2" resaw blade. Immediately realized how bad the factory equipped blade is. It's a different saw now. I don't have to jack with adjustments in search of a decent cut. Runs quite and makes smooth, consistent thickness veneer cuts. My Timberwolf blades haven't arrived yet. I think I will be happier with the saw once I have all of my new blade selection in hand. I am surprised an $800 bandsaw came with such a low end blade. I tried to cut pine, oak and plywood and it was rough. Even my Craftman/Orion gear came factory equipped with Lietz blades. I've received some PMs, so I know I'm not the only one that wonders why.

Only issue I can see at the moment, is that I can't get the blade to ride centered on both wheels. Don't know if that's a big deal or not, since it cuts fine. Making progress in any case.

Get ready for those TW blades to be real long. I'm having to run a 3/16" PS Wood TW blade at past the 3/4" setting and it's still not as tight as I'd like. I could adjust the locknuts but since this is the last TW I'll buy I'll just not do that.

[George Summers]

Get ready for those TW blades to be real long. I'm having to run a 3/16" PS Wood TW blade at past the 3/4" setting and it's still not as tight as I'd like. I could adjust the locknuts but since this is the last TW I'll buy I'll just not do that.

I don't understand that. Suffolk (TW) has always sent me the length that I ordered. Did you order the proper length and did you double check it to see if there may have been a mistake in filling the order?

George

[Dewayne Reding]

I don't understand that. Suffolk (TW) has always sent me the length that I ordered. Did you order the proper length and did you double check it to see if there may have been a mistake in filling the order?

George

More than one person has said exactly what Ken states. The saleswoman from Suffolk said she was unaware of any problem. I informed her there was a thread or two here on the subject. She said she would tell the VP of Suffolk and he would promptly check into it.

[Al Weber]

I had problems with TW blades from Suffolk for my 18" Rikon last winter. I was unable to tension them sufficiently. John at Rikon confirmed that Suffolk had been cutting the blades long (about 1/2" if I remember correctly). I needed to adjust the top adjustment settings to be able to properly tension the blades. I had earlier problems with a set of Lenox blades being too short and was unable to get them onto the wheels at all without adjustment. Suffolk may be unaware of an issue but it exists.

[George Summers]

Just a question for those that have had problems with Suffolk's blades being too long. Do you order by saw brand and size or by blade length? I have always ordered by specific blade length (I don't even mention the saw brand) and never had a problem.

George

[Joe Spear]

I went over to the Woburn Rikon parts place last Thursday and talked to John. He said the problem with some Timberwolf blades was in how they cut the band stock. Apparently Timberwolf doesn't like to cut it in the middle of a tooth, so when they get to the proper length (111" in the case of the Rikon saw), if that spot hits the middle of the tooth, they move down to the gullet to cut it. He said that can make it as much as 5/8" too long.

I think it would depend on the piece of stock they were cutting. Depending on where the end of the roll was in relation to the first tooth, the 111" mark might go past the last tooth, or it might hit the middle of it. Then some of the blades might be exactly 111", and some might be too long.

John showed how easy it was to fix the problem. You just screw the stop nuts down the top wheel raising and lowering shaft. Also, a 110" blade would probably fit, since the problem with the too-long blades is that they top out against the wheel cover before they tension the blade enough. The top wheel may lowered enough so that a little shorter blade would fit. That's what I do with my Grizzly 1019Z. With the riser block. it is supposed to take a 106" blade, but I can use a 105" with no trouble.

[Michael McCoy]

Just a question for those that have had problems with Suffolk's blades being too long. Do you order by saw brand and size or by blade length? I have always ordered by specific blade length (I don't even mention the saw brand) and never had a problem.

George

As mentioned previously, the blades I got that were to long were 1/4" blades. I ordered by size (111") but they also list the make of saw I have.

[Dewayne Reding]

Received my TW blades from Suffolk today. They fit just perfectly. Tension set exactly on the Rikon 3/4" setting for the 3/4" resaw blade. Actually fit just a little better than the Woodslicer brand blades. Don't now for sure if it had anything to do with me mentioning the length issue, but I would think it advisable for Rikon owners to request blades be held to 111". SMC members save me potential grief once again.