I recently bought a Grizzly G0555X bandsaw. Since it was so cheap, I was able to use my savings to buy a riser block kit and Lenox Tri-master Versatile Carbide Tipped Blade. Many people will think this is overkill, but I just resawed a wet 11″+ diameter log of Bradford Pear on it yesterday with no problems.
My only real complaint is the noise. I think the bulk of it is coming from the bearing guides. It screams like a banshee and is nearly unbearable.
I would assume that Grizzly cheaped out on the bearings to cut costs. I will probably just replace them with very high quality bearings from an industrial supply house and see if that helps.
Does anyone have any experience with trying to dampen the noise of their bandsaw? Would it be worth just replacing them with Carter Bearing Guides?
Replies
The blade shouldn't actually touch the bearings if all is adjusted correctly. With the saw unplugged, turn the upper wheel by hand. If the blade touches the bearings you need to adjust them. When turning the blade by hand, your bandsaw should make very little if any noise.
That is very helpful. The manual says something to the effect of "slight" contact, but that is just about impossible to measure.Also, it occurred to me that these bearings are probably the same size as skateboard and rollerblade bearings. I had an old pair in the attic and it turns out to be true. So, replacements are as easy to come by as a local sporting goods store.
I have never resawed wet wood on my life. I resaw the thickness in dry however.
Seems like I read that "Cool block" style blocks are better for sawing wet wood because it scrapes off the gick rather than letting it jamb up the roller style guides.
I think you may be better off using a saw designed to resaw wet wood to the larger thicknesses
http://www.toolcenter.com/MINI-MILL.html
or
http://www.toolcenter.com/CHAIN_SAW_MILLS.html
Page down for pic
then when dried finish the job on your present saw.
You may be able to lube the bearings ( maybe not if they have metal sides )
http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=47778.10
Once I got some squealing while resawing. I thought it was the blade but it probably was the blade tension was not up enough. I am not a follower of the more tension is better school but in that case I had not tensioned as much as I intended.
Come to think of it you may be getting blade slip on your wheels from all the wet and that is your squeal even with proper blade tension.
Anyway here is a cut from a previous post ( was going to post link but it was one of my novels here so sparing you the rest )
High blade tension is not important though I agree with getting the beefiest frame you can find.
Here is another example of why I say tension no big deal. At least with these Laguna guides and their precision blade. Less than a week ago I had to reduce the thickness of a plank that was ~ eight inches wide, over two inches thick and six feet long. I had to take off about a quarter inch including the saw kerf. I scribed it, had to hand plane down to this later, tensioned the saw from slack and made the cut. I only was half considering the falling slab for veneer. I just wanted to get it cut before my partner went to sleep.
I ended up with a very neat cut, smooth, flat, to the same thickness using a resaw fence, no compensation for any drift problems. No test cut. Nice consistent piece of veneer left over.
Then I went to detention the band saw blade. I had not turned it all the way to my pencil mark. It was half way from totally slack to the mark. The blade in the saw is a tad over 1-1/8 " ( 30mm). ! ! ! ! This is on a small saw. The light on that side of the saw was dim and I had not gone as tight as normal. I don't tend to go all the way to the pencil mark these days but was surprised by how far away from it I had set the tension.
My pencil mark is a bit past half way but by no means max. I got a bit of squealing that I was not used to hearing. That may have been why. This was a particularly hard piece of bubinga. I say that because I hand planed the first side and it ate blades.
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 10/4/2009 3:32 pm by roc <!-- ROC2013 -->
Edited 10/4/2009 3:33 pm by roc
The intent was not to resaw wet wood on a regular basis. The log has been waiting to be cut for a while, but once we opened it up, the moisture content became apparent.I first cut up a log of cedar that was very dry and the squealing was prevalent from the beginning.I wonder about the blade tension as well. It is tensioned to the recommendation, but I don't have a way to measure it precisely. I can only use the spring scale and deflection tests.
>It is tensioned to the recommendation<I see. Sorry to be all zealous here. I just like my bandsaw very much and am so lucky to finally be set up to saw as I had envisioned. My favorite subject here on Knots.Try looking at the belt between the motor and the blade drive wheel. I have had mine " loosen " up surprisingly fast. I think the belt wore in to fit the pulleys. The motor mount didn't slip.Anyway good luckrocGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Here are a couple of articles that might help:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=24093
https://www.finewoodworking.com/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesPDF.aspx?id=2795
Note the slip of paper used to measure the clearance on the guide bearings. I've also seen suggestions of using a dollar bill for this purpose.
The screaching sounds more like drive belt slippage to me, unless one of the bearings is faulty or badly gummed up from the wet wood. Be sure to check the pulleys to be sure they are clean.
These are great things to have a look at. Thank you guys for all of the input.Roc, not only had the belt been slipping, at one point it even came off completely.The pulley grooves are pretty gummed up. I will try cleaning that out and see if it helps.--brian
Fixed.I cleaned the motor pulley with a toothbrush and a scotch pad and tensioned the belt.I adjusted the bearings so they would not spin when I turned the wheels by hand with no load against the blade. It turns out that the lower bearings were DOA. I didn't realize it until I started adjusting them and they wouldn't spin freely. They have some rust in them and have basically seized.Now it runs as quiet as my jointer. Thanks for all the help!--brian
I'm glad it turned out your bandsaw wasn't possessed by a band-she (sic). ;-)
I have a Grizzly 16" bandsaw that used to scream at startup. I narrowed it down to the motor shaft,where it comes thru the pillow block bearing. I sprayed it with Boeshield and the noise stopped. About 4 times a year I have to spray the shaft.
Try starting the saw without actually pushing a board thru. If there is no noise then it is not the guide bearings.If the saw is noisy without sawing, the guides and bearings are eliminated, try spraying the shaft as I did . If you don't have Boeshield, try wd 40 or litheum grease. I used Boeshield because it was on a shelf behind the saw ,and it worked.
mike
I'll give that a shot as well. I would really like to have it as quiet as possible. It is much more acceptable now.
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