I recently purchased an older Craftsman 12″ bandsaw. I was having no problems using it to cut curves. The other day I attempted to resaw a 6/4 board, since I needed some 1/2″ stock for a project. The board was about 25″ long and 5 inches wide, but by the time I got 2/3 of the way through it, the blade had drifted about a 1/4″ away from the fence.
I opened up the cover and I found that the tire on the upper wheel had come about halfway off the rim (see pictures). What can I do to fix this and to make the blade track straight?
Replies
The rubber in the tires ages (oxidizes) over time, and so they lose their elasticity. You should be able to get replacement polyurethane tires from Carter.
Do you have an online FWW subscription? There are some good articles on bandsaw tune-up, but you'll need an online subscription here to access them.
-Steve
New tires are a great suggestion.
I'd also verify that the wheels are co-planar, and that you have the wheel tracking set properly. That should make things run a whole lot more smoothly...
Tom's Workbench
http://tomsworkbench.com
The tires, as suggested, are probably deteriorating and should both be replaced. Slip the tire back into the groove and see how tight it is on the rim, a good tire is stretched tightly enough that it is a struggle to lift it over the rim. Tires for that small of a machine may only be available from Sears.
Don't glue the tire on it shouldn't be necessary and don't worry about the wheels being coplanar, that is not likely to be a problem.
Other than the tire needing replacing, your real problem with resawing is that you had the wrong blade for making that wide of a cut. Get as coarse a blade as possible for your saw, 3 teeth per inch if possible. One problem you may run into is that the best blades are really made for bigger machines and they will not last long before cracking from the stress of running on small diameter wheels.
John White
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