Thread: My bandsaw is full of gremlins.

Check the setting on your guides. They may be exerting pressure at some point. Aside from the wheels the guides are the only things in contact with the blade.
I'd probably losen everything off and start from scratch.

I had a blade break on me. What I found was that my blade tended to shift backwards slightly during cutting so it ran hard against the thrust guides, overheated at the weld joint in the blade and bust.
What I do now is check regularly for the shift and readjust the guides.
Paul

Hi,

I think this list covers most of the probable causes:
Why Band Saw Machines Break Band Saw BladesBandSawBlog
Work through the list snd let us know how you go!

This site is a wealth of information.Love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kevin

Have you tried different TPI and speed and feed rate?

Yeah I did. At least once, I heard the blade start to go chunk-chunk-chunk so I took the wood away and the blade broke with no wood on the teeth at all.

The rear bearing has a groove in it. About the width of a blade. I don't remember it being that way when I bought it so that might have something to do with it.

By the way, what's the model/brand of your band saw?

It's a carbatec, 1/2 hp, 10" saw.

I would like more saw but that's all I could afford at the time.

Originally Posted by yeoman

The rear bearing has a groove in it. About the width of a blade. I don't remember it being that way when I bought it so that might have something to do with it.

That is not good. Does the thrust bearing spin freely? (From what you're saying I suspect it doesn't, but that it does have some movement...)

The thrust bearing should spin freely when the blade is pressed back against it (ie. when you're cutting) and if the blade falls into this slot it can jam, creating all sorts of problems. From serious tracking issues through to blade breakage.

Even if this is not the cause of your problem I heartily recommend that you replace it and save yourself some future head-aches.

Yes! what Skew said. Check also the opposing bearing, top or bottom. I suggest that you replace the back bearings and start your setup again. There is a problem with the tracking or tension or both!
IIRC this model has bolt on guides so also check that they have not shifted and are square to the blade.

Originally Posted by yeoman

It's a carbatec, 1/2 hp, 10" saw.

I would like more saw but that's all I could afford at the time.

As long as you're not needing more power, 1/2 hp would be fine. Hope that everything will go well with your band saw .

It has done me great service so far, for the most part, and with care has cut wood many people said it would be incapable of.

Hopefully, with the expert assistance here, it can be returned to full service.

I took apart the upper and lower blade guide assemblies. Woe were they!

All six bearings were seized solid. The rear bearings, top and bottom, had grooves worn in them

So, a trip to the local bearing supply shop was the solution. "I'd like some more of these that spin, please" said I to the vendor. I replaced all the bearings with shiny new spinning ones.

So hopefully now the problem is licked. That one anyway. Now I'm wondering if perhaps the wheels need a balance to reduce some vibration. Unloaded, the blade has about a 1.5 mm total side to side vibration (I'm guessing) and maybe the same front to back. Not 1.5 mm left and 1.5 mm right, mind you. Problem is, I have no idea where to put the little weights to try to fix it.

Gremlins.

Hey Yeoman, is there any side play in the wheel bearings??
CV Turner