Realigning a rebuild bandsaws' wheels?

[Doc Nickel]

A little slow today?

-Not slow, just being a bit of a smartass.

Does that clear things up or do I need to draw a picture?

-Oh, I love drawing pictures. Can you do a duck?

Thanks for the suggestions, gents! For the moment I'm just going to pick up some aluminum flatbar in the morning, and mill a couple slots for clearance around the frame. I'm assuming it would move less from potentially released tensions than it would from being welded on in several places. The process is fairly straightforward according to the YT videos, as long as one can accurately span the wheels.

Doc.

[BobinOK]

I would think wood blocks, maybe from a 4x4 would be accurate enough to get the wheels in alignment. One item that really helped when I was setting up my saw was a straight piece of blade used to adjust the bearing guides. It eliminates the twist in the blade which makes it difficult to get the guides set properly.

Wellsaw is a good company and you will find parts are still available. I have a very early 58B that after a little tune up cuts perfectly even with the 1/2 inch blade. This is it cutting through an 8 inch chunk of steel for a friend.

[rkepler]

-Not slow, just being a bit of a smartass.

^more

-Oh, I love drawing pictures. Can you do a duck?

Nope, just anthropomorphic animals but it seems you have enough of those already.

Thanks for the suggestions, gents! For the moment I'm just going to pick up some aluminum flatbar in the morning, and mill a couple slots for clearance around the frame. I'm assuming it would move less from potentially released tensions than it would from being welded on in several places. The process is fairly straightforward according to the YT videos, as long as one can accurately span the wheels.

I think you'd do a lot better with hot rolled steel than with any aluminum. Aluminum always seemed to me to by under some stress. Maybe something like a 6061-T6 would be less stressed from the heat treat.

[BCRider]

Bob makes an excellent point above. A suitable size piece of plywood with the notches cut out would work just fine.

[ulav8r]

Remove the blade guides and install a blade. Spin the wheels by hand to check alignment when you think it might be close. A straight edge across each wheel (winding sticks) can show if alignment is close in one plane. Place the straight edges across each wheel as close to the points where the blade approaches and leaves the wheel.

[rjs44032]

Hi Doc,

If it were me I might try to attach a simple carpenter's or pen type laser apparatus to the pulley that would project a beam across the wall or over a corner of the room while rotating it. Then move the apparatus to the other pulley and compare the beams. You should be able to get co-planar pretty close with that comparison. Then fine tune with levels if necessary. Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Bob