14" delta bandsaw setup question

[rmuell01]

I've used this bandsaw a lot but I'm curious if I have it setup correctly.

the instructions say to keep the bearing ~ 1/16" from the blade. if this is true, what is the bearing for?

[Lew Hartswick]

When you feed the material into the blade it deflects back and the
bearing then suports from deflecting further.
...lew...

[mechanicalmagic]

No rubbing the bearing, when work is not pushing. AND keeps folks from adjusting the thing so the blade runs with great force on the bearing.

[rmuell01]

so the blade is supposed to make contact with the bearing when I'm cutting? but not when there isn't any force being applied.

[Tony Ennis]

That's how I run mine, except I have a hair's width between the blade and bearing when I'm not cutting anything.

[gnm109]

so the blade is supposed to make contact with the bearing when I'm cutting? but not when there isn't any force being applied.

That's right. I have a 1971 Rockwell-Delta 14" woodcutting saw (one speed) that I bought new. I run the blade about 1/32" away from the upper and lower bearings.

That's a great bandsaw by the way. I have the 6" riser kit on mine.

[rklopp]

By the way, what is the taper angle of the pin that is supposed to bridge the blade slot in the table of the ubiquitous Rockwell/Delt 14" saws? The pin on my saw is missing, but the hole is too chewed up to reliably measure. Given the chewing, maybe it's not even supposed to be tapered? I can't tell.

[portlandRon]

The tappered part of the pin is 1" long and is .327 at the end and .3415 at the head. If my math is correct that works out to about 1 degree tapper.

[whitis]

A common method of setting the clearance on all the blade guides is to use the width of a dollar bill.

[The Fixer]

Are you sure bout that width of a dollar bill thing? Seems that would be about 5" or so..... Just kidding I know u meant thickness.

That pin is probably a #4 taper pin, I checked one I have here and the numbers come up pretty close yours.

al

[gnm109]

I guess you could use a dollar bill if you had one handy. I just eyeball the guides so that they are just free of touching on each side on both upper and lower guide sets.

[rklopp]

The tappered part of the pin is 1" long and is .327 at the end and .3415 at the head. If my math is correct that works out to about 1 degree tapper.

Thanks, portlandRon. I wonder if it's supposed to correspond to a 1/4" per foot standard taper pin? RKlopp

[gnm109]

Thanks, portlandRon. I wonder if it's supposed to correspond to a 1/4" per foot standard taper pin? RKlopp

I always wondered about that little pin. If you look at it, you can hardly detect that it's tapered. It's got to be 1 degree or less. I have no idea whether that's a standard taper. Apparently it just keeps that slot in the table from moving. I use it to hang my dust collector hose on the saw if I'm doing a lot of cutting at one time.

[metalmagpie]

Are you sure bout that width of a dollar bill thing? Seems that would be about 5" or so..... Just kidding I know u meant thickness.

That pin is probably a #4 taper pin, I checked one I have here and the numbers come up pretty close yours.

al

I notice you're Canadian, thus can be forgiven, but a US bill is *exactly* 6" long. Very handy as a pocket ruler sometimes, in a pinch.

metalmagpie