Installing a 6 inch riser block on a Powermatic 14 inch bandsaw

[daillest]

Hello I have a question about installing a 6 inch riser block on a Powermatic 14 inch bandsaw Pwbs-14. The riser block has a little bit a play in it so the head of the bandsaw can go a couple degrees in either direction. I called Powermatic support and he said just push it to the right and that should line up OK. When he said push it to the right I assume he meant when facing the band saw as if you where going to be makig a cut. It can also go forward and back a little. Hew told me not to over analyze it
 The blade seems to be somewhat square to the table but the block itself looks missregistered. Has anybody installed one of these before and have any tips? I want to make sure the block is setup right before I complete the rest of the setup. Thanks 

[R Clark]

I have a Delta and I installed the riser block in it.

I didn't pay so much attention to the the block itself when compared to the mating pieces.  Rather, I worked to make sure the wheels were as coplanar as possible and then that the blade tracked correctly.  Of course, I did those checks after the block was in and tightened.

I'm going out to the shop after a bit and I'll look to see how well mine lines up.  It's been 8-9 years since I installed the block and I haven't paid attention to it since then.

[jteneyck]

Don't worry about how the riser block looks, just make sure the wheels are co planer. And make sure to tighten the bolt really really tight once you are happy with the alignment.

John

Sorry, forgot to mention that the edge of the wheels should be as plumb as you can get them, too.

[R Clark]

I just came in from the shop after looking at mine again. I am convinced that the appearance of the block makes not a whit's worth of difference in performance.  As long as the faces on the mating ends are parallel to each other and the bolt between the upper and lower frames is tight, the edges you show in your picture do not affect the geometry of the upper and lower wheels.

As long as the upper and lower wheels are coplanar, all should be good.  You'll have to go through the tuning drill to make sure you're set with the saw as a whole.  It looks like you're well on your way there.

[Steve N]

Don't have the PM version, but all of the standard wheeled 14" are clones of the original Delta. I have a POS HF 14" and I put the riser on mine, had a small degree of slop as you are seeing, so I did what others are saying, and looked only at the wheels being co-planer, and it works fine.

[Bob10]

Just saw this saw listed on CL I am thinking the block doesn't have to be all that special 

[JGrout]

I have seen them made out of hardwood so I agree they do not have to be special 


Joe

[daillest]

Thanks guys. The rise block seems ok. The blade seems to be moving a little wavy near the guide bearings but seems like it is tracking ok along the wheel itself. I am going to play around with it more tomorrow maybe try a different blade and see if it does the same thing. From what I read this model the wheels are not suppose to be coplanar. I may have to call PM again tomorrow to see what the say if they are opened.

[R Clark]

Call PM and see what they say.

If you're tracking well on the wheels, you might just call it good.  There were times when I tuned my saw in the past and it seemed difficult to get the wheels lines up.  I stopped when the blade tracked good on the center of the wheels.

Not sure what you mean by "wavy" movement.  Flutter in the blade may be a function of tension in the blade; adjust either a bit looser or tighter to see if it corrects.

[Steve N]

When I read that I imagined mis-aligned blade guides. Depending on how far off center they are it can look like a snake going through.

OP is the wiggle right where the blade guide adjustments are? Make sure they are entering at close to exact amounts from each side. If they are off it will physically shove the blade left or right. You want the gaps on the sides of the blade to be about the thickness of a dollar bill. It's tight, without being clamped. And make sure your teeth are in front of the guides, if not it will wiggle right up to when your blade either goes dull, or breaks. If the guides are good, it's probably just blade tension, usually not enough. Sometimes the indicators aren't so good, they say 3/8" blade if you have a 3/8" on it, but you need to crank up to 1/2" to have correct tension. Experience will guide you on that.


Charles gonna tell you about your saw?? Maybe





Here Alan actually shows how to set up a PM bandsaw blade, just not sure it's your BS.