setting up a bandsaw

[roofman]

Anyone have any pointers regarding setting up the roller guides on one of these bad boys...blade has a nasty habit of coming off wheels when cutting

 

[dobbslc]

Make sure the blade is tight and I think I remember having some kind of tracking adjustment on mine, are the wheels flagged?

 

[roofman]

Make sure the blade is tight and I think I remember having some kind of tracking adjustment on mine, are the wheels flagged?

Flagged??

 

[Richard.]

Setting these things up can be a right ol chore.
When it cuts does it cut true cos that’s half the battle won if it does.
The blade coming off is all down to the tracking of the non driven wheel.

You need to adjust the grub screws here to make the wheel toe in or out and once set up right the blade should track its way up to the wheel lips. Too much and it will try to climb on the lips and snap
It’s not easy to explain but I did exactly the same thing to mine a few years ago simply trial and error.

 

[Gragson]

I dicked around for an age with tracking, guides etc to the book on a different one because I had convinced myself that the blade was ok. Bit the bullet in the end and bought a quality new and setup, cut straight as straight away.

 

[dobbslc]

Flagged??

Flanged!
Maybe the spell check thought I was being rude....

 

[WorkshopChris]

Have a look at the pdf in post 5 in this link.
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/bandsaw-help-blade-wont-cut-square.64080/#post-820190

 

[dobbslc]

I dicked around for an age with tracking, guides etc to the book on a different one because I had convinced myself that the blade was ok. Bit the bullet in the end and bought a quality new and setup, cut straight as straight away.

Same here, mine had a wood blade fitted and when I put a new metal blade on it took only a bit of farting around to sort it out.

 

[roofman]

Spent 3 hours earlier and got nowhere trying to sort it...these posts and 15 mins on youtube and i know were i am failing,cheers lads @richard i should of knew that sunken grub screw was a major player in the tracking..thanks fella

 

[slimjim]

Make sure the bushing that the wheels rotate in are lubed, if they start to seize it throws the band off.

 

[frank horton]

always buy good blades........I use TUFF SAW"s..somewhere in Wales I think.....highly recomended on the forum...
their Cobalt blades are just great.......and hardley any more than the standard HSS........
less money than the cxxp that machine mart sells.......that where I used to get mine from as they wre local....

 

[Tinbasherdan]

have a warco badged one the same i borrowed, its an absolute pig to change the blade and even worse to set back up again brian, so youre not alone

 

[kcchan]

I’ve found mine an absolute pig to track.

 

[Richard.]

Mine was a fiddle to set up and get to cut square which was expected cos I built it from a box of rusty bits.
However I only ever had to do this once. It’s been through a good handful of blades and they go on easy enough and it’s cut to very good tolerance every time. I’ve not had to mess with it since I originally set it up.

 

[roofman]

Well i have cracked the "code"...reading all the advice here and plenty of youtube links ive got the machine cutting surprisingly very square horizontal and vertical i will try and find the link on the tube that made it really easy to set up one of these generic 6x4 type bandsaws..thanks to all
EDIT...just found it

 

[dcocks]

I hated mine so much I sold it

 

[Richard.]

Ha. I can’t fault mine.
It’s made me more money than any other piece of equipment I own.
Whether it’s a turning, welding, grinding or fitting job I can guarantee I’ll need something cutting and that 6x4 I built has been absolutely spot on to the day.

 

[dobbslc]

Yep mine is just great for chopping up lumps of metal and getting it square!
No more hacksawing!
Here's mine, paid £17.50 for it off ebay, it even came with a new unfitted NVR / stop switch
Before,

After,

 

[roofman]

Yep mine is just great for chopping up lumps of metal and getting it square!
No more hacksawing!
Here's mine, paid £17.50 for it off ebay, it even came with a new unfitted NVR / stop switch
Before,
View attachment 158853
After,
View attachment 158852

Love your mounting idea mate...

 

[Paul.]

I wouldn't be without mine either, its done an unbelievable amount of work over the last 15 years or so, first thing I did was dump the tin legs and make a decent trolley frame for it, all cut up on the bandsaw of course...