MM Bandsaw Blade Wobble

[Steve Milito]

First a gloat, I just picked up a MM bandsaw. It is a delayed Christmas present.

Now the issue. I just spend hours cleaning it up, and setting it up. I installed the 1" blade that they sent with the saw. I got it tracking so that the teeth are just hanging off both wheels. Seems to track well.
The guides are set up so that the rear guides are about 1/16" behind the blade. Everything seems to work well when I spin the wheels by hand.
Yet, when I power it up the blade moves back and forth, to the point that the upper rear guide spins. You can see jump back and forth. What causes this? How do I fix it?

[Tom Veatch]

... I installed the 1" blade that they sent with the saw. I got it tracking so that the teeth are just hanging off both wheels. ...

If I'm reading that correctly, I'm visualizing the blade running right on or hanging over the edge of the wheel. Don't know about the MM, but wheels on my Jet are slightly crowned and the blade is intended to run at or near the center of the wheel. Perhaps that's the problem.

[Steve Milito]

If I'm reading that correctly, I'm visualizing the blade running right on or hanging over the edge of the wheel. Don't know about the MM, but wheels on my Jet are slightly crowned and the blade is intended to run at or near the center of the wheel. Perhaps that's the problem.

MM wheels are flat. I've set the blade as recommended in the manual.

[Jim O'Dell]

So the blade wobbles back toward the thrust bearing, touching it at times making the bearing spin? If that is right, then I'd say it's a blade problem. Only other thing I can think of is a wheel that is moving, but I'd think you'd notice that spinning them by hand as well. Do you have another blade to try? That would be the first thing I'd try. And congrats on the alleged new MM bandsaw. Without pictures, we're just talking about imagined problems, you know that don't you??? Jim.

[Jeff Miller]

If I'm reading that correctly, I'm visualizing the blade running right on or hanging over the edge of the wheel. Don't know about the MM, but wheels on my Jet are slightly crowned and the blade is intended to run at or near the center of the wheel. Perhaps that's the problem.

I'd say Tom's right and the Manual is wrong!

It doesn't matter if the wheels are flat or crowned,I do not think it will hurt to try it in the center of the wheels.


JEFF

[Jim O'Dell]

No, all MM bandsaws are designed with flat tires and the teeth almost to the bottom of the gullet should ride off the edge of the tire. Small blades can be/should be tracked in the center of the tire.
With crowned tires, the teeth are slightly above the tire, so never touch it. On flat tires, the teeth would dig into the tire, shortening it's life. Follow the manual on this one. Better yet, download the user written manual that is available. It reads a whole lot better! Jim.

[Jeff Miller]

No, all MM bandsaws are designed with flat tires and the teeth almost to the bottom of the gullet should ride off the edge of the tire. Small blades can be/should be tracked in the center of the tire.
With crowned tires, the teeth are slightly above the tire, so never touch it. On flat tires, the teeth would dig into the tire, shortening it's life. Follow the manual on this one. Better yet, download the user written manual that is available. It reads a whole lot better! Jim.

I stand corrected and apologize, thank you for jumping in with that advice Jim

Learn something new everyday




JEFF

[Steve Milito]

So the blade wobbles back toward the thrust bearing, touching it at times making the bearing spin? If that is right, then I'd say it's a blade problem. Only other thing I can think of is a wheel that is moving, but I'd think you'd notice that spinning them by hand as well. Do you have another blade to try? That would be the first thing I'd try. And congrats on the alleged new MM bandsaw. Without pictures, we're just talking about imagined problems, you know that don't you??? Jim.

Hope this helps to see the alleged problem.

[Brian MacDonald]

I'd say take the blade off and look at the weld. The first blade for my MM16 did the same thing. I found that the blade wasn't straight...a misalignment during welding. I replaced it with a woodslicer and everything's fine. I kept the old blade for cutting scrap....

[Tony Franzen]

Try another blade I also think it was missalinged during the welding. That hapens somtimes so try to change that. Ive traded in the blades that i bought that was like this and got new ones that are Better.

[Jim Becker]

Suspect the blade first... When a blade goes back and forth like that, it could very well be that the loop isn't a "perfect" loop...

[Jim O'Dell]

Hope this helps to see the alleged problem.

Awww man, that's nice!! My E16 only dreams of growin' up to a fine young bandsaw like that one day.
Like the others said, put a straight edge across the weld on the blade, along the back edge. I bet it will show a gap. Jim.

[Jim Becker]

Hope this helps to see the alleged problem.

Nice angle on that shot, too...looks like a sky-scraper! LOL

[Steve Milito]

I took the 1" blade off and inspected it. The weld looks fine. I put it up against a straight edge and it still looks good. I'm not sure what's going on, I'll call MM on Monday. I put a 1/2" blade on. It runs a lot better. I still see a little back and forth shimmering, I don't know how much is normal. Clearly the 1" blade was not running right, as the movement was ~ 1/4".
I can't set the upper guides because they run into the bottom of the blade guard, a problem that did't exist with the 1" blade. It looks like the guides are at the bottom of the bracket; I'll have to look at them later today. Any hints?

I was somewhat concerned because the thing was shipped on it's side, motor down. There was a small amount of motor damage because the base broke loose of the pallet bottom. I can't see any damage to frame, and I checked it with a straight edge.

[Steve Milito]

Nice angle on that shot, too...looks like a sky-scraper! LOL

I just grabbed my camera with a wide angle lens and snapped a few shots. I didn't want to belabor it by setting up tripod, lighting, composition, etc.