Grizzly G0555 Bandsaw Tracking Problems

I have owned a Grizzly G0555 bandsaw for about seven years. It has a riser block and uses 105" blades.

I have not been able to get the saw blades to track properly since I bought the saw. The only way I can get the blade centered on the upper wheel is if I tighten the tracking adjustment as far in as it will go. However, the blade seems to ride right on the front edge of the lower wheel no matter what I do.

I spent time last week trying to make sure the two wheels were coplaner. I had to shim the lower wheel out about 1/4 inch. But I was concerned about the lower wheel hanging off the shaft that far, so I removed one of the spacers so it's only shimmed out 1/8" now.

It seemed like it was tracking better till I put a new blade on this week. Now it wants to track on the front edge of BOTH wheels? I have the upper support bearing behind the blade adjusted as far forward as it will go and it's still 1/4" behind the blade.

I even tried to loosen the bolt going through the riser block to see if I could shift things, but it has pins that keep it from moving.

What am I doing wrong?

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband
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Hard to say. Is this with one particular blade or all? If one, what width?

Are the tires crowned (either natively or by conforming to a crown in the wheels) or flat?

Here's some discussion on the subject, including your particular saw. Not a lot of help but peraps it will give you some ideas.

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Reply to
dadiOH

It seems to occur with all blades, though I'm only on my third blade.

I mainly bought the saw for resawing, but I don't use it that often because I can never get it set up right. The drift seems to change over time and I have a lot of problems with bowed cuts. Changing the blade tension doesn't seem to have any effect on the bowing. The saw also seems to make a lot of weird noises in use. I don't know if it's bearings, the blade slipping on the belt, or what. If I take the blade off and run the motor it sounds quiet.

Until recently I only used 1/2" blades, about 3-4 teeth per inch. I just bought a 3/8" blade for green wood but it tracks the same way, maybe worse.

I haven't checked, but I believe the tires are crowned.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

Does the blade eventually move to the wrong position of right away? If the blade gets warm it stretches. When it stretches it tracks differently.

I had this problem with my previous band saws and eventually bit the bullet and bought a HD Laguna and tracking problems are a thing of the past.

Reply to
Leon

It tracks on the wheels that way from the moment I install the blade. It doesn't seem to change as I cut with it. It seems so close to the edge of the lower wheel that I am sometimes worried it will come off the wheel (it hasn't yet).

Unfortunately, a new saw will not be in my budget for a while.

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

Blades stretch _____________

Can you freehand a straight cut without bowing? If so, I'd say your fence needs to be adjusted for the blade's drift.

I do very little resawing but when I do I use a pivot block rather than a fencel less worry about drift and easy to compensate should it rear its ugly head. ____________

I'd want to find out the source. My cheapo 14" one makes a bunch of noise too, sounds - and shakes - like a freight train coming through. I suspect things would quiet down if I sprang for a link belt.

Reply to
dadiOH

What happens at the lower wheel when you adjust the upper wheel tilt so it centers on the top wheel?

Reply to
dadiOH

"dadiOH" wrote in news:m1misl$lt1$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

*snip*

The link belt helped on my Jet. It was worth the trip to Harbor Freight.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

HerHusband wrote in news:XnsA3C755B84535herhusband@213.239.209.88:

Have you run the saw without the riser? If those pins aren't just so, it's possible they're pulling the two halves out of alignment.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

Puckdropper wrote in news:543ed973$0$39585 $c3e8da3$ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:

Yeah, I think I'd second that suggestion. Beyond that, if the riser block is symmetric, I'd try turning it around 180 degrees and see if that changes anything.

I'd also suggest making sure the surfaces of the block, and the saw that it sits on, are clean, without anything trapped in the joint.

If all that is good, I might try taking the shims out from the lower wheel, and putting a very thin shim under the front of the riser block (to tilt the top wheel back a little, since it sounds like it's forward with respect to the lower wheel).

John

Reply to
John McCoy

In 2010 I bought a Grizzly G0555X and riser block and had the same issues with blade alignment as you. It turned out that, just as John McCoy mentioned, to be the riser block was installed 180 deg off.

Look at your riser, it should have an 'up arrow' on the BACK of the casting (the motor side). If the up arrow is on the front side, it's backwards and needs to be rotated 180 deg.

This picture shows the front side of the riser

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Reply to
Spalted Walt

I had to remove one of the pins on my Delta 14" w/riser block. It would not align until I did.

Some don't believe in coplanar. I do.

Make sure your tire has a crown in it. If not, the blade will not try to ride on it.

Other than that, I don't know without seeing it.

Reply to
woodchucker

I added the 6" riser to my GO555, but can't remember if I got lucky or followed the instructions, but the up arrow is on the back side. I have a woodslicer 1/2" resaw blade and it tracks and runs sweet. Also got a

3/8" blade from Highland. I did have to make a big adjustment on the tension for the 105" blade vs the 93-1/2" blade because of the 1/2" total difference.
Reply to
Doug Winterburn

Scuze me, the 3/8" blade is the one that came with the riser from Griz, the highland is a 3/16".

Reply to
Doug Winterburn

Adjusting the tracking knob moves the blade forward and backward on the upper wheel, but the blade stays in the same spot on the lower wheel. It rides right at the front edge of the lower wheel.

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

I will take a look, thanks.

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

Correction! That pic is actually the BACK side of the riser. The front side has

2 small threaded holes, the back side has the up arrow (just barely visable in the above link).
Reply to
Spalted Walt

Here is the link to the installation manual for the riser kit.

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While there's no mention of front or back, Figure 4 is a front view of the saw w/riser, the 2 threaded holes are clearly visible.

Reply to
Spalted Walt

Apologies if it has been asked and answered, I have sort of lost track, but is there a washer/shim on the top axle that could be removed to move the top wheel further back?

Also, are the wheels coplanar? And parallel horizontally? If either is "no', that would be my first step.

Reply to
dadiOH

DadiOH,

Unfortunately, no. I did pick up some machine shim washers and shimmed out the bottom wheel. That seemed to make everything coplaner, with proper tracking, until I changed blades. Now the blade is riding the front edge of the lower wheel again.

I tried to get the wheels coplaner last week, but am going to check again when I get the chance. Unfortunately, I may not be out in the shop for a week or two.

I forgot who asked, but I checked my riser block today and it is installed correctly (not backwards as suggested).

Thanks,

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

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