Bandsaw help

[wings]

OK I'll cut to the chase and ask a question that has probably been answered a 1000 times before. I have a Ridgid 14" bandsaw that the wheels are not coplanar. The bottom drive wheel is behind (closer to the frame) than the tracking upper wheel. The LOWER wheel almost looks slightly tilted toward the frame at the top. The upper wheel can be adjusted to get the blade in the center of the wheel, but this puts the blade to the extreme outside of the lower wheel.
Question, how the heck does one adjust the wheels on a ridgid 14" bandsaw to make them coplanar? This is making me absolutely insane. By the way, asking Ridgid for help is like asking.....lets just say forget it.

[Brian in Dawson Creek]

You may need something like this scroll down to band saw parts and accessories and hit coplanar kit … this is a Canadian site that I use but surely this kit must be readily available you in your area.

Brian

http://www.tufftooth.com/

[scmhogg]

You may need to use shims. There is a lot of good stuff and advice at Iturra Designs. Sorry, I can't find a link.

Steve

[ironhat]

Steve's right. Iturra doen't have a website so you have to call Lou at 1-888-722-7078. BTW, his catalog reads like a book. You could also try the Ridgid forums, here. Other owners are bound to have had the same issue. I was blessed with my biggest issue being the massive out-of-balance of the top wheel. I corrected it by drilling. After seeing how much I eventually had to remove I now wish that I had epoxied some weights to it instead.

[Uncle Cracker]

You may need to use shims. There is a lot of good stuff and advice at Iturra Designs. Sorry, I can't find a link.

Iturra does not yet have a website. Call them at 1-888-722-7078. Ask for a catalog. Theirs is like a master's course in bandsaw tweaking.

[wings]

Thanks guys- A little more issue

I did order the ituura catalog already and did see the shim kit. The biggest issue with trying to make the wheels coplanar is that the lower wheel is tilted slightly back toward the frame. I'll try and clarify: The top wheel being positioned straight up and down has both the top and bottom edges of the wheel coplanar with the BOTTOM ONLY of the lower wheel. The top of the lower wheel is tilted slightly back toward the frame. If I shim the top wheel the prooblem is augmented. If I shim the bottom wheel the tilt still exist.

Any suggestions on how to determine if the Chinese drilled the arbor hole straight through the wheel hub. My thought is that the lower wheel's arbor hole is not drilled correctly through the hub and has a tilt bias.
Thanks for everyones help.

Wings

[LarryG]

See my replies to you in your other thread.

BTW, and recognizing that you're new here ... it's not necessary to start a new thread when you have a follow-up question or need to post additional information about something that's already under discussion. This fragments the discussion and will make it harder for everyone to follow, and/or to know in which thread to reply. Instead, just add your own new reply and that will bump it back up the ladder and everyone will see it and continue to add their own new replies.

NBD, just a suggestion for easier housekeeping.

[ironhat]

Now I see what you're saying, wings, and if I had that situation I would call Ridgid customer service before I did anything more. They probably have had this complaint before and have a fix - maybe at their own expense. It's worth a try. THe phone numer should be on their website.

[mpc]

How weirdly is the Ridgid bandsaw built? Most have:
* lower wheel mounted to a stubby metal shaft. This shaft has a threaded nut or other mechanism to control how far the wheel sits from the back wall of the saw case. The wheel generally has to come off though to see/access this nut.

* On the outside of the back wall, the shaft is "pinched" by 4 screws with jam/locknuts. Use these to tilt that end of the shaft up/down and left/right to get the lower wheel perfectly straight. THEN adjust the nut (which means loosening these 4 screws a little) to get the wheel co-planer with the upper wheel when the upper wheel's tracking control has the wheel straight up and down.

Sometimes shims are needed if the shaft doesn't adjust in-out (no nut).

That's what I've seen on most bandsaws anyway; I'm not familiar with the Ridgid. It's an iterative process with those 4 little screws & jam nuts. Be careful with the big nut too; you can't tighten it down as it just pulls the shaft through the 4 little screws, creating gouges if the 4 screws are tight. I loosen them exactly 1 full turn, move the nut (and shaft) in/out, and then re-tighten the screws 1 full turn. This returns them pretty much in the right position to hold the wheel straight.

A long wood stick, with 4 dowel posts (or just long screws) makes a good tool to check for coplaner: just make sure the posts are exactly the same length... I just hold mine up to the BT3's fence rail and make sure all 4 just touch.

mpc