Thread: Shim Washers for Realigning Bandsaw Wheels

I've bought 'Steel Spacing Washers' from an engineering supplies place before. They come in packs of 40 or 50 and are branded 'Champion'. The closest ones I have to what you require are 1/32" thick with an ID of 3/4" and an OD of 1-1/8". Would these work for you? If so let me know and I'll send you a supply.

Cheers,
David

Thanks David but the ID is too small...I'll try the bearing suppliers in the nearby Industrial Estate on Monday. The shaft is 20mm diam and the shims have to fit over the reduced shank shaft and the wheel bearing is a "smidgen" larger and fits snugly over on the reduced section.

Bandsaw Shim.PNG



I could always try the cheap way....Bunnings have 20mm id Galvanised washers for 69c. A couple of those with some sanding on the ID and faces may work.

Have a view of this before going too far https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

I was going to say the same....

The wheels on my bandsaw are miles away from being coplanar; probably 5mm out of alignment, and always have been right from new. It has no problems running blades down to 1/4", and I can easily adjust drift out by tweaking the top wheel. The situation may be different for VERY fine blades though.....I've never tried to run a 3mm blade on mine.

After watching that video I finally got the sh!ts with the Euro guides on my Scheppach Basato 4, and I'm talking to Carter to see if they have any bearing-style guides that can be retrofitted. It doesn't help that H&F seem to have quietly stopped selling the Basato 4, so I don't even have the option of replacing the original Euro guides (they haven't kept any spares for ages). Lesson learned - don't buy cheap Scheppach junk.

Originally Posted by skot

When I get the blade to track momentarily on the crown of the top wheel, the blade is running downhill from the crown on the bottom wheel tyre and therefore running off the wheel and visa versa for the other wheel

Please don't take offence for my asking a basic question, but when I first tried to use a 3mm blade it did exactly the same thing you described. I found it was caused by slightly to much blade tension. I was sure I had set it correctly by trying all the usual methods, but that sucker wanted less, once I realised that, I never had a problem again. Apology if I'm stating something that is bleeding obvious to you and has already been checked.

You may be right Madj, but as I now have the bandsaw in pieces, I may as well make sure the wheels are in alignment and also lessen the tension as well. Thanks for the input.

Moby,

Thanks for that link.......very informative.

I may just put the BS back together as before and try to adjust again.

Well, I put the BS together without any shims on the bottom wheel.

I backed off on the tension (thanks Madj, the tension problem was not on my radar) for the 3 mm blade and got it to stay tracking on the crown on the top wheel.

Mr Brush, I think you are so right about the guides as well......... the Euro roller bearings on my 17" BS are too big and cumbersome for such a narrow blade and may have to try the Carter small blade stabiliser that I saw on the youtube clip if it can be fitted onto my machine. Gregorys Machinery have them and they are only 10 mins away from me. I have dealt with them a lot and they have always been helpful.


Oh to have the space and spare cash to have a set up similar to the Carter demonstrator on Mobyturn's youtube clip....my existing 17" BS for resawing and a smaller BS for 3 - 6 mm blades. Changing blades and setting up is a PITA....he made it look so painless.

Yes, sometimes the simplest things are the problem, I'm pretty sure Gregorys Machinery have a few types (different mounts) to fit most bandsaws, I have a one on my Laguna BX. I am another that agree with him about co-planar, also his way of setting tension and blade tracking has worked 100% for me on almost every blade and cutting situation.

BTW it's MandJ

MandJ,

How is the Laguna BX going....looks like a nice unit.

A bit pricey but that may be in relation to the one I have now.......... 2nd hand Carbatec 17" that I picked up for $1000

Really like the BX, love the guides and I can do pretty quick blade changes now. Had to do a few simple things to get it the way I want but certainly worth it. I think one very useful features was foot break for almost instant blade stop. I added led lights inside the top cabinet to illuminate the blade tension indicator and blade tracking, didn't realise how useful that would be in practice, also have fitted Bandsaw startup inhibit that detects if the blade is de-tensioned or no/insufficient dust extraction, we (my Wife) can't start the BS until they are right, both are things that are so incredibility useful, and again, I would hate to do without them. There weren't a lot of good second hand stuff around at the time so we ate rations, lived in the dark, froze at night, lived in shoebox in middle of road and Wife walked 20 km to work every day until we payed for it