Band saw question

[Tom Lathrop]

Some bandsaws have flat wheels and some have crowned wheels. I presume to understand the theory of the crowned wheel.

One of my past saws, a Ryobi resaw, had flat wheels and ran a 3" wide blade. That makes sense too.

Of current saws, both an old 12" craftsman and an 18" Grizzly have crowns while my 16" Walker Turner has flat wheels.

The question is, why does the WT not have crowned wheels?

[merlinron]

i really don't think it matters much for a smaller bandsaw. theoreticly, the wheel should have some crown, but with the rubber tires and narrower blades the blade will track away from the higher side reguardless of whether the tire is crowned or not. it might be that a crowned tire gives a finer degree of tuning the track, though, which would make for a freer, smoother running saw.

[Billy Bones]

I have a 20" Rockwell Delta which has flat wheels and crowned tires (very expensive.)

[nedL]

My 16" bandsaw has flat wheels & tires & had been real finicky in tracking. This past weekend I gave in & tried putting some crown (about .025")on the tires with carefully placed layers of black electrical tape :D . It seems to have worked just fine, the trackeing is MUCH easier. smile.gif (Nothing but first class on a hundred year old saw you know ;) )

[emichaels]

I have 16" Delta typical bandsaw. When the tires wore out I removed them and ran steel wheels . It runs better. The saw kerfs are more accurate. I saw a lot of veneers so it shows up. My band saw mill which is a 1-1/2" wide blade under 1000 lbs tension is also on steel wheels . It makes a very nice cut.

[Tom Lathrop]

I have replaced the rubber tires on teh 12" and 18" saws with urethane tires from Timberwolf and like them better.

Since I have to do some welding on the upper Walker Turner 16" saw, I am considering grinding a small crown on both wheels while I'm at it. Will certainly put on urethane tires. I did often run the Ryobi resaw with blades as small as 3/8" but never tried reall thick wood with these so tracking was not a serious issue.

Do I understand that Michaels runs blades directly on the steel wheels? I would have thought this would greatly shorten blade life among other things like disturbing tooth set and possibly dulling one side.

[emichaels]

Originally posted by Tom Lathrop:

Do I understand that Michaels runs blades directly on the steel wheels? I would have thought this would greatly shorten blade life among other things like disturbing tooth set and possibly dulling one side.I have not seen quicker wear in fact I would say it is slower wear. There is no gumming or debrise for the blade to run on which constantly changes tension slighlty which leads to heat build up. Also the rubber or urethane tire seem to hold heat rather than dissapating it. Many bandsaw mills run steel wheels right from the factory. The tracking consistency is much better. You do of course need to be sure to back your blade correctly and never allow the teeth to contact the wheel. But that is simple enough.

[ 10-26-2005, 02:52 PM: Message edited by: emichaels ]

[Tom Lathrop]

Originally posted by emichaels:
You do of course need to be sure to back your blade correctly and never allow the teeth to contact the wheel. But that is simple enough.[/QB]Just so I/we understand you, can you describe this more fully? I have never heard of this before.

[emichaels]

Backing the blade is making sure that the wheels or guides BEHIND the blade's rear edge is in very close proximity to the blade, I set mine up touching the blade. Not to be confused with the side guides. I know it is dangerous practice but I set my blades up with the saw running so I can set everything very close to actually sawing conditions. I would not recommend this but I know others who do this also. I would not do this on a bandsaw mill though. There is no need because the blade tensions are very high.

[ 10-26-2005, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: emichaels ]