Adjusting bearings on Hafco bandsaws

**barri** · 18th October 2019, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by barri

I was thinking blue tape but will try sticky tape if the gap is too big. I believe blue tape is about 0.1mm which sounds about right

Just tried the tape method and it works really well. Place one layer of blue tape around the blade and adjust bearings to just touch the tape so that when you rotate the top wheel they move when on the tape and don't when not on the tape. Thanks for the tip Mr. Potts but they could have made this a lot easier by having the guard above the bearings not covering them. Definitely a design fault but other than that the saw works well

**Chris Parks** · 18th October 2019, 02:08 PM

I haven't got that saw but my method is to look at the blade and as soon as it deflects because the bearing has pushed it then back off a bit. The clearance is not that critical, if the blade has enough tension on it then the bearings can be done away with on bigger saws, I have never tried that on smaller ones but using thinner blades it would most probably work. After backing off the bearing so the blade returns to its position just spin the bearing to see if it is free of the blade.

**RossM** · 18th October 2019, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

The clearance is not that critical, if the blade has enough tension on it then the bearings can be done away with on bigger saws, I have never tried that on smaller ones but using thinner blades it would most probably work. After backing off the bearing so the blade returns to its position just spin the bearing to see if it is free of the blade.

THIS!

I have the BP-310 and was spending an inordinate amount of time adjusting guides to get as close as possible to the blade, but without the bearings spinning. Once adjusted the damn thing would not cut straight no matter what other adjustments I tried(tracking, swiveling the table, resetting the guides etc) . In frustration, I backed the thrust bearings off - a lot - and voila, straight cuts with NO drift!! Now I don't spend much time with thrust bearing adjustments & it all work really well.

**barri** · 18th October 2019, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by RossM

THIS!

I backed the thrust bearings off - a lot - and voila, straight cuts with NO drift!! Now I don't spend much time with thrust bearing adjustments & it all work really well.

That doesn't make sense as I'm getting straight cuts with the thrust bearing close to the blade as recommended. Maybe tracking and/or tension needs adjusting but if it gives you the desired results then that's OK.

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