I picked up my Rikon 10-345 bandsaw today from woodcraft and got her all set up. The guides up and down are easier to set up than most have posted previously.
The upper wheel, like others have stated, does have some play in it when you try and rock the wheel by holding at 3 and 9oclock when tensioned. This does not appear (so far) to effect cutting performance.
My only concern so far is excessive vibration. (appears to be excessive, but this is my first bandsaw so I have no comparison).
Does anyone else who owns this NEW model experience this? Do you have a fix? (other than returning it!).
I found that the upper wheel rocked back and forth when actually running with a narrower blade, 1/2" and smaller. That in itself will make the saw vibrate.
Mine runs real smooth, I initially had some problems with the tensioner and tracking. Make sure the top bolt for the spindle is adjusted correctly so you get proper tension. Also I noticed one cheap blade I had you could see it waver in its distance from the rear quide bearing. There is also a tension adjustment for the belt if you haven't checked that. Broke my foot the day I got mine so I'm just getting back to it.
I have the "old" model, and mine vibrates more than I'd like too. My guess is that the wheels aren't balanced as well as they could be.. Again, it's just a guess.
My older 14" Delta ran a lot better. Zero vibration. But, since I knew I was getting a low end BS with Rikon in exchange for greater cutting capacity, I decided I could live with it. I'd be interested if anyone has any fixes to reduce vibration as well.
I am just back from my bandsaw buying expedition. I went to a number of shops that were selling cheap Taiwanese saws of different brands. Demanded they be turned on so I could see them running. Most of these saws were shaking so bad - well, I am lost for a comparison. "oh, it's the uneven floor" - yeah, right. I then went to visit the one place that sells Jet as well as Sicar and Socomec from Italy and various other Taiwanese saws. I got them to start up the 18"Jet
- and even though it was also sitting on an uneven concrete floor, on a pallet, it ran about 5 times smoother. So that's what I bought. I had one put on my trailer and took it for the 5 hour drive home. Unloaded, de-crated, put it on the uneven concrete floor in my shop and turned it on - virtually no vibration at all. It seems to matter how the guides are set up, I can get the saw to vibrate by pulling the blade 1mm out of alignment with the guides - but if they're set right it runs very smoothly. Unlike the other Taiwanese saws I saw (this one is made in Taiwan as well, to Jet specs) it doesn't stop running within seconds of turning the power off, either. I can watch the weld flash by 2-3 times before it stops turning - this says something to me about quality of bearings and wheel balancing. Nothing like the Italian saw I used in a woodwork seminar situation once, when I turned the thing off and a couple of minutes later I just about stuck my hand into the blade that was still running at high speed :-( ... that's the kind of saw I would _really_ like to own. But I think, at the moment, that this one will do most everything I am likely to ask of it. Definitely a MUCH higher production standard than any of the cheaper saws I looked at.
Incidentally the 3/4", 5tpi blade on the saw seems utter crap. I tried ripping a 6x2 and I had to push it through at a snails pace just like the 2x1 I tried for comparison. Not that the 1.5 hp motor missed a beat, the blade just couldn't cut any faster.
As for a fix: first I suggest trying blade alignment, and maybe use a dremel to clean up the weld on the blade if necessary. If that doesn't do the trick, take the blade off and see if the wheels are actually balanced - if the same spot returns to the bottom each time you spin the wheel you have a [fixable]problem. If that's not it either, weeeeellllll, I know what I'd do.
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