Thread: Adjusting bearings on Hafco bandsaws

Hi Barri,

I also own a BP-310, or it may be the BP-360 I can't remember exactly off the top of my head. Adjusting the bearings is one of the worst aspects of the saw. They are difficult to access but even worse in my opinion is they don't stay put but move over time as the mechanism is not very robust.

Not sure what can be done to remedy it sorry.

Cheers Jarrod

Hi Barri
I had the same problem on my Sherwood, complicated by an uncooperative back, so (with a little help) I made my own bearing guides and adjustment mechanism.
To date I am VERY pleased with my setup.
A few photos around the bearings/guides area might help.
If it's anything like mine I can send you some pics showing what I did.
cheers
Keith

Yes Jarrod, its is the worst part of what otherwise is a pretty good saw. I wanted the BP-310 (12") as it provides a perfect balance, size and power, between the more professional 14" saws and the hobby 10" saws. Timbecon's model is exactly the same except for the colour scheme but Machinery Warehouse is lot closer to home and they are both about the same price. I've had no trouble cutting anything curved or straight and overall I'm pretty happy with my purchase but when I changed to a thinner blade I realized that the bearing adjustment is bloody difficult. Getting the bearings just behind the gullets was easy, getting the bearings close to the side of the blade was just OK but you need to look closely through a tiny gap in the blade guard but it is a hit and miss procedure. To be able to use feeler gauges would help a lot but that gap is not in line with the blade. The thrust bearing was very difficult as you can't see the gap. I tried a torch which helped a bit but it was a matter of trial and error. Yes I have got them adjusted properly now with the saw running smoothly but what an ordeal.

Here's one tip I learnt when installing thin blades. I got the blade around the top wheel OK but it kept coming off when I moved to the bottom wheel so I hand clamped the blade around the top wheel and that worked perfectly. I hope someone can give me a good tip on adjusting those f@#$$ing bearings

Originally Posted by verawood

A few photos around the bearings/guides area might help.

keith, If your Sherwood is a recent purchase then its probably exactly the same.

You can see the thrust bearing is almost hidden and the blade guard almost hides the gap between the bearings and blade so the guard actually covers the bearings. Most of the other brands have the guard above the bearings making it easier to adjust. The bottom bearings are worse

Bearings.JPG

I put a piece of masking tape around my blade, run rear thrust bearing up to the back and lock off, then adjust the left and right bearings the same way, hand rotate the blade and check as it comes around. All good, remove tape.
Yes they are fiddly.

Originally Posted by Potts

I put a piece of masking tape around my blade, run rear thrust bearing up to the back and lock off, then adjust the left and right bearings the same way, hand rotate the blade and check as it comes around. All good, remove tape.
Yes they are fiddly.

That's a brilliant idea. Exactly what I was after. I assume this applies to the top and bottom guides. Anyway I'll try it and report back

BTW How many times did you wrap the masking tape around the blade? I'm assuming one

Hi Barri

My saw was Timbecon's previous range, unfortunately no similarity.
Good luck with your quest.
cheers
Keith

with the upper guides, get out a hacksaw and remove part of the blade guard (about 50mm) so you can see the gap on the upper bearings.

As for the lower bearings, remove the throat plate and look down to see what is happening, rather than try to look at it from the front. the method of rotating the lower wheel to see if the bearings are moving, then back off is pretty much the best I've found. What I actually do is move the inner bearing up till its touching the blade, have it finger tight then rotate the wheel letting the blade weld knock it away a few times, till the bearing stops rotating (it should then be a minimum distance). Then lock it down. Repeat for outer bearing.

Best

Originally Posted by barri

That's a brilliant idea. Exactly what I was after. I assume this applies to the top and bottom guides. Anyway I'll try it and report back

BTW How many times did you wrap the masking tape around the blade? I'm assuming one

I was told this trick a few years back but when I tried it with the masking tape I had available it was tad too thick and left too much of a gap so I use ordinary sticky tape. I use only one layer.

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

one layer only, works for me.

Originally Posted by T91

with the upper guides, get out a hacksaw and remove part of the blade guard (about 50mm) so you can see the gap on the upper bearings.

I thought about that considering that part of the guard is irrelevant from a safety point of view but my bandsaw is less than a week old so I'm reluctant to modify it at this stage but this does seem like a sensible thing to do.

I was reluctant, till about the 2nd blade change. None of the other 5 bandsaws i maintain have a guard that obscures the guides, and I did not need it for any purpose, so I hack-sawed it off even with the top of the guide mounting block

not wishing to hijack this thread, but if I can ask keith (verawood) to post or send me pics of his guide adjustments, I hopefully could incorporate it into my Sherwood BS (or at least get an idea)
Eric