Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Band saw Wheels Alignment Question

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio TX
    Posts
    380

    Question Band saw Wheels Alignment Question

    Ok, so one of my first shop projects when I get to AZ will be to tune and Mod my Craftsman 22401 Steel framed band saw. In prep for the move, I took 20 minutes and moved the task light to the front of the saw, but I have many other plans as well . I plan to use it for ripping in place of the tables saw for safety reasons since my older 2 kids are getting more interested in helping me in the shop, so I plan to make a larger table for it as well as remove the bottom base and build my own a little lower than the one it came with. Although I'm 6'2", I have done some rips on it when rebuilding the stairs in my house and felt it was a bit higher than I would like. Ill probably distance somewhere in the middle of its current height and my tablesaw height, taking into account the table I build will likely be between 1 and 1 1/2 inches thick. (I don't resaw alot and this has an 8 1/4 inch capacity so I feel the loss of cutting height wont be a problem at all for me, and when it becomes one, Ill get a bigger saw ). Ill also be ditching the ghetto fence, and with the bigger table either building one, or putting a table saw fence on it...the only band saw fence Ive seen that looks like it will doi what I want it to is Laguna's new driftmaster...but for that price I could get a Unifence and still have enough left over for dinner and a movie )

    Anyways, on to the question with the doors off, the wheels sit back in the cabinet about 1/4 inch, so using a straight edge to align them aint quite going to happen. My plan was to take a box level and use double stick tape to put equal sized pieces of wood at the top and bottom to clear the lips of the cabinet. I haven't found anything specifically adrdessing this in alignment, everything Ive seen seems to be geared towards C frame Band saws. Thoughts? Ideas?
    That which does not kill you will likely raise your insurance premiums.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
    Posts
    11,247
    Hi, the wood block idea is fine, perhaps a c clamp would hold the level to the bottom wheel only.

    Then measure your gaps at the top wheel using a block of the same size.

    (or reverse the process depending upon which wheel you are going to move).

    Regards, Rod.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Carol Stream Illinois
    Posts
    593
    Chuck,

    What I would do is get a length of elastic cord and tie the ends together, stretch it over the top and bottom wheels, instant straight edge on both sides of the wheels. I learned this method at the race track when aligning the tires on my race bike, simple, cheap and accurate.

    Heather
    Any thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
    Most powertools have sharp teeth.
    People are made of meat.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    NE Connecticut
    Posts
    695

    Good straightedge for this type of job?

    Can you folks tell me what kind of straightedge you use for this type of work? The longest I have is 24". I've seen levels used in magazines but I haven't had good luck with them being really straight (mine are mostly borg cheapos, though).


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio TX
    Posts
    380
    Quote Originally Posted by Heather Thompson View Post
    Chuck,

    What I would do is get a length of elastic cord and tie the ends together, stretch it over the top and bottom wheels, instant straight edge on both sides of the wheels. I learned this method at the race track when aligning the tires on my race bike, simple, cheap and accurate.

    Heather
    Hey heather, that would work great for a C frame, but my problem is the lips of the Steel Frame, the wheels are inside of it so the stretch cord wouldnt be straight...a normal straight edge pushed against the frame would not come in contact with the wheels.
    That which does not kill you will likely raise your insurance premiums.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
    Posts
    11,247
    Band saw wheel alignment isn't performed to the hundreth of a millimeter.

    A level, or a straight piece of wood is accurate enough.

    For a bandsaw I use a piece of aluminum flat bar, it's light and plenty straight enough.

    Remember, after you get them co-planar, you're going to adjust the blade tracking and take them out of coplanar, so don't sweat the extreme accuracy angle.

    Regards, Rod.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio TX
    Posts
    380
    I agree Rod, I have used it set up from the factory so far and it hasnt been terrible. I just want to get it tuned pretty good, hence my idea of taping wood blocks on the end of a Box Level


    Quote Originally Posted by Rod Sheridan View Post
    Band saw wheel alignment isn't performed to the hundreth of a millimeter.

    A level, or a straight piece of wood is accurate enough.

    For a bandsaw I use a piece of aluminum flat bar, it's light and plenty straight enough.

    Remember, after you get them co-planar, you're going to adjust the blade tracking and take them out of coplanar, so don't sweat the extreme accuracy angle.

    Regards, Rod.
    That which does not kill you will likely raise your insurance premiums.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    822
    Chuck,

    Taping wood blocks to a straightedge is the standard approach. Don't overthink it, within 1/8" should be fine.

    Pete

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Doylestown, PA
    Posts
    7,551

    My solution

    I had a similar problem with checking wheel alignment. I used a piece of 1/4" plywood a little longer than the distance from the top of the top wheel to the bottom of the bottom wheel. I used a factory edge and cut away whatever prevented the straight edge from touching the wheels. Simple and seemed to work fine

    HTH

    Curt

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Southern NH
    Posts
    219
    My solution was to edge joint a 2x4 and cut notches out where it would hit the frame. Since the 2x4 can warp over time, I pass it over the jointer before I use it each time.

    David

    Also, I check the co-planarity only after tensioning and tracking my widest blade
    Last edited by David Romano; 07-31-2008 at 12:27 PM. Reason: additional info

Similar Threads

  1. Table saw blade alignment - Lo-tech / Hi-tech
    By Nissim Avrahami in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 07-10-2008, 4:35 PM
  2. Update on TS alignment question
    By Jason Morgan in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 02-15-2006, 2:08 PM
  3. Question about TS fence and blade alignment
    By Jason Morgan in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 02-15-2006, 9:49 AM
  4. Contractor Saw splitter alignment? (long with pics)
    By Ronnie Ferrell in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 02-02-2006, 2:53 PM
  5. Lathe and bowl question
    By Jason Wulff in forum Turner's Forum
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 01-06-2006, 2:09 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •