Delta 14" bandsaw blade alignment madness

I have a Delta 14" bandsaw (with riser block) that I use for resawing. I have not touched it in about a year :(, but recently bought some new

3/4" Timberwolf blades. Prior to putting the first one on, I checked the wheels for coplanar alignment, all looked fine. I installed the first blade, all looked good. I ran perhaps 1 hour total (5 mins at a time) resawing some hard maple. Perfect.

However, I picked up a fresh board to resaw today, and as the wood touched the blade, the blade ran "forward" (towards the wood) and climbed up onto the side of the lower wheel (the lip of the wheel), causing the blade to cut into the metal guide (ruining the blade, of course).

I have removed the blade, checked for coplanar alignment, and installed a fre$h blade. When I spin the wheel by hand in the REVERSE direction, all appears to be well. However, when I spin the wheel in the FORWARD direction, the blade seems to creep forward on_the_lower_wheel_only until it has climbed up on the lower wheel's aluminum lip.

I have no clue as to why this seems to be occurring in a single direction of rotation, and why it would begin happening "all of a sudden". There is no obvious changes to the saw, and I do de-tension (a specific count of turns) each night.

Any thoughts? Help!

Mike

Reply to
Mike Schoonmaker
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I know at one time Suffolk Machinery was recommending 3/4" bands for these little saws (maybe they still are) but you really shouldn't use a band that's over 1/2" wide. The Delta doesn't have the horsepower or wheel width for such a wide band. I've used a 3/4" band a couple times and it really bogs the motor. I prefer the 1/2" Woodslicer from Highland Hardware, but you'll want to get the tracking problem sorted before you try one because they're twice the price of the Timberwolf.

Do you have a narrower band you can try to see if that solves it?

Another thing I'd try is to make sure there's nothing embedded in either of the wheels that's messing up the tracking. The blade tracks on a crown, so debris can throw it off.

Good luck.

Reply to
Scott Post

Thanks Scott.

Strange enough that it was cutting perfectly (very happy with it, no bogging). Then, _something_ apparently has gone wrong. Just can't put my finger on it. Very frustrating!

Mike

Reply to
Mike Schoonmaker

Probably wore the tires out. Have you checked for crown and wear? Are the wheel bearings still good? Although they advertise that you can use 3/4" inch blades on the Delta saws, most, if not all, 14" bandsaws are not equipped for 3/4" blades. 1/2" is about the max practical width. Try the WoodSlicer from Highland Hardware. A nice, quiet, thin kerf resaw blade and it works fine on my 14" Delta. FWIW,

Greg G.

Reply to
Greg G.

Tires look excellent (replaced about a year ago, virtually no wear on them. I also tried inverting the tires just_in_case it made a difference - it did not.

The Suffolk blade is considered a "low tension" blade, so it _shouldn't_ be a problem on this saw. And, like I said, it WAS operating very well for about one hour's cutting time across 2-3 days (de-tensioned between uses).

I'm just beside myself as there's nothing that appears to have changed!

Mike

Reply to
Mike Schoonmaker

snipped-for-privacy@msn.com wrote>

It sounds to me like the adjuster that controls the blade tracking is set up wrong for this particular blade and/or has gotten a little out of whack since you used it previously. This is the thing with the thumb screw and wing nut that tilts the upper wheel, located near to the tensioner. Moving this even a little will greatly affect how and where the blade tracks on the wheel.

Reply to
Woodstock

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