Hello Dave, Just got my Powermatic 14" CMS bandsaw I bought at the woodworking show in Novi, MI. on Dec. 12...........2 months, they were on back order. Dealer said he didn,t know. Oh, well, I did sell my old Sear`s
14" in the mean-time though.(1995 model) Bought 2 HTC 2000 mobile bases, they gave me show price $55 each, thought that was a good price till I checked Amazon.com....they have them for $49.99......oh, well, I walked out the door with them under my arm... Gonna start putting it together on Mon., got a few other thing to do first. Can I lift the head on the bottom part with 2 guys....don,t think I can do it by myself. Gonna build the mobile base n put the housing on, then the head part. Any comments welcome. Did you check your bandsaw wheels for co-planer before you installed the table top? You said yours runs like a sewing machine, hope mine works that way.....thanks.....George Berlinger
Put the base on the mobile base and back it up with an immovable object (like a wall ).
get a piece of 3/4" ply OR a couple of pieces of lumber about 6' long or longer for a shallower incline.
Place the ply or lumber between the floor and the top of the BS base.
Drag the BS up the ramp, being careful not to let it get away from you. I kept the BS vertical, dragging it on the leading edge of it's base, up the plywood. You don't want it leaning much, because it can get away from you. I'm pretty tall, but not overly strong, and for me it was the easiest way to do it. I've placed band saws on stands 3 times doing it this way and ONE with two guys. The two-guy method is a strain on the body.
COPLANER: The wheels will NOT be co-planer under load, and let me tell you, it doesn't MATTER! I followed Duginske's method of making them coplaner and it ran like sh*t, so just get the blade centered on the top wheel and you should see that it's within 1/6" or closer to being in the same relative position on the lower wheel, when under tension. The "co-planer" thing is really not applicable to this unit as even Keeter will acknowledge with his vast knowledge of other 14" BS's.
HAPPINESS: You are gonna LOVE it when you get the belt on and fire it up the first time. Wish I could see the look of contented bliss on your face! :)
LITTLE TIP: I put a red streamer on the carter tension knob to remind me that it is de-tensioned; the streamer rests on the table. The knob also sits near the table, but it is easy to miss, being black.
The metal bracket (straight black bracket) that holds the tubing onto the guide goes under the top shield attachment bolt. The instructions don't mention that. YOu might need to heat up the hose to get it to go over the nipples at the motor and nozzle.
Another tip I almost forgot. Guess at where the motor needs to be mounted and tighten it down without the belt. Roll the belt onto the pulleys. If it's too loose; readjust the position of the motor. If it's too tight, you won't be able to get the belt on. When the motor is adjusted properly, rolling the belt on should be just a little bit difficult; not super easy and not hard as hell. Trying to get the motor aligned with the tension from the belt is worse than a bear, as I found out. Check the manual for deflection spec on the belt. I forget what it is.
Again, George, I found it imminently easier to drag it up a ramp to the base by myself, than having another person and myself heft it up there. If you don't feel comfortable that you can control it while dragging it up a ramp, then by all means use a buddy to lift it into place instead. I'd hate to have you tell me you lost it, doing it my way.
the blade that comes with it is marginal at best, so get some nice blades to enjoy the quality of the saw.
Great tip! I've been trying to think of a way to remind myself to flip the quick tension lever before I use it -- I always forget when I want to make a "quick" cut on some scrap or something -- DOH!
Mike, yeah, with the Carter guides, you can mess up the blade faster than you can imagine! When the blade's loose, it will make one hell of a noise upon startup when the teeth scrape against all those metal thingies. :)
The 5/8 blade I use sometimes, isn't so bad, because even detensioned (by detensioned, I mean when you bring the lever down, but don't unscrew the adjuster), it still has enough tension on it to prevent it from whipping around. But my 3/16 blade is another story; when I bring the lever down, there's lots of slack in the blade.
I haven't been so fortunate to have problems with the thinner blades yet, I've mostly been using my 1/2" which is a tight fit on the tires to begin with so like your 5/8 there's already some tension even when de-tensioned. I'd be a little nervous with the results on my 3/16 blade ;)
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