Bandsaw

[Albohunt]

Hello all. New user here still trying to work out how to use this forum.
I need a bit of help with my bandsaw. 
14" Walker Turner possibly from the 1960's. I rescued this from behind an old shed so it was in pretty poor abandoned condition. Does anyone know where the blade should track on the wheels. It had a 3/4" blade when I got it and I have since purchased a new one. I have been told that the blade should track with the teeth forward of the wheel just kissing the bottom of the gullet. 4tpi. Is this correct? There is no crown on the wheels and the tyres are very old and hard. I have had to shift the bottom wheel out with shims just to get the blade to stay on. Of course now the cast iron doors wont close properly because the blade is to far forward. Which makes me question original advice about where the blade should be on the wheel. There have been a myriad of issues with this saw and this is not the least of them. I am flummoxed and and suggestions about blade positioning would be appreciated. Thanks

[MT Woodworker]

I have had tires on my wheels and had the blade track on the crown of the wheel.

[MstrCarpenter]

Welcome! You'll get lots of great advice here. Perhaps a Moderator will send you a PM (private message) on how to show your "User Name".
I've always tracked my blades pretty much in the center of the wheel whether they're crowned or not. This means you probably didn't need to shim your lower wheel out. The guides are only for guiding the blade while cutting, so move all of them away from the blade while tracking. Tracking is accomplished by adjusting the lower half of the upper wheel forward or back. When you get the saw blade tracking correctly, then you can move the guides to keep it there while cutting. With crowned tires or wheels you can track slightly forward or back to compensate for blade drift. (Again, this should be done without touching the guides.) Considering the condition you got it, you probably need a new blade. (rusty badsaw blades break)

A Moderator might move this to "Woodworking Power Tools", which is where you can do a search for bandsaw blade tracking. There's a lot of Craftsmen (Sorry; craftspersons) here that know a lot more about setting up the machines than I do. So if anyone, including me, offers advice that you're not sure is correct, just ask here.

And again, Welcome to Woodnet.

[fredhargis]

The advice you got (teeth forward of the wheel) is the same method used to trck my 16" Mini-Max. My saw doesn't have crowned tires and I believe it is the way you track these kind of saws. Keeping the teeth off the tires make them last longer. This is fairly hard to do with the thinnest blades, but 3/8" up it's not a problem (at least not on my saw). But it sounds like your saw needs new ones anyway. I have a suggestion, visit and join VintageMachinery.com. This is a forum dedicated to old 'arn...specifically made-in-USA stuff. Despite having some quirky forum rules, they have a following of super-knowledgeable members that can helps with your saw. They may also have a pdf of the owner's manual. Some members here belong to that forum as well and they may have some more to add.

[Bob Vaughan]

owwm.org is the sister site and where most people post about problems and solution with the old woodworking machines.
Go to their search box and enter the words:  crown + walker.
https://www.owwm.org/search.php?st=0&sk=...r&start=15
Get some popcorn.

[iclark]

Welcome to Woodnet.

As MstrCarpenter suggested, the thread has been moved to the Power Tools area where it may get more views and responses.

I do not understand MstrCarpenter's comment about your user name.
It shows up fine for me.

The tracking of BS blades on tires that do not have crowns is an area that I never had to understand (thankfully).

There are some techniques to revive (at least temporarily) the elasticity of rubber BS tires but I cannot recall the chemicals required at the moment.

Hopefully, someone with more experience with that will be along soon.

One thing to check with the blade off is how much play there is in the bearings for the upper and lower wheels. If one of them has gotten too worn, the blade may tilt out of plane when the blade is tensioned.

[Kudzu]

OK, I figured you have a lot of contradicting answers by now so I didn't wade in initially.

Sounds like you need to replace the tires from what you have said. I think you are going to chase you tail till you do.

The tires should have a slight crown in them.  Bands/belts/sawblades want to run uphill and will try to center themselves on the crown. If you look at any old flat belt pulleys they will have slight crown in them. It is just physics.
I am not a fan of urethane tires but they do come with a crown on them.  I prefer rubber tires but do you have to grand/sand a crown on them after installing them.

Once you get the tires installed I adjust the blade to run in the center on wheel and I have no problem with mine tracking. Assuming the wheels are pretty closely aligned.

Some European saws run with the blade on the edge, I don't understand how they set up their wheels or tires but this is not a European saw so it doesn't matter what they do.

[KyleD]

"It had a 3/4" blade when I got it and I have since purchased a new one"

 Keep in mind a 3/4" 4 tip blade is mainly for straight ripping thick wood. It will not leave a smooth surface and will not cut very tight curves. You may also consider getting a 3/6" or 1/4" inch wide ten or six TPI for general cutting straight and curves. I am partial to the 3/16" 10TPI- I started using this size when cutting bandsaw boxes and it can cut a circle about the same diameter as a quarter and leaves a fairly smooth surface.

[Mike in kc]

Buy some new tires, and a narrow (1/4") blade for "normal" use of your saw.  

AS for tracking, as you adjust tracking, moving the blades natural "running" position across the wheel/tire, you'll find that the angle of the track to cut a straight line across the table will change from left to right.   You want to adjust the blades position (tracking) so that your saw cut is parallel with the miter slot, that is, straight across the table.   This is a must if you plan on doing any re-sawing of solid wood panels with your 3/4" blade.

[aquaticjim]

Walker Turner had a few different bandsaws over the years.  Go to VintageMachinery.org, find your model and download the manual.  Follow the factory recommendations for tracking.