I just received a powermatic 14" bandsaw, with the riser block. The wheels were coplanar without the riser block but after installing it, they are parallel but the two planes are off by about 1/16".
This amount of misalignment seems pretty small to me but I don't have experience tuning a bandsaw, so what do you think? leave it as is or get it aligned properly?
Nick
I think that I would see the results first. check the saw in running mode, and if You can, use an old blade,or a cheap blade. You know whats wrong, and I don't think it would be hard to align, It seems that it is probably near or within tolerances
I would try to get them properly aligned. As I recall, the tires are actually crowned a bit, which means the blade isn't running correctly unless the wheels are co-planar.
I had the exact same issue with my Powermatic 14". Mine was even more misaligned. I went to a lot of trouble shimming it and fussing around with all that Gary Rogowski coplaner crap. It would not cut right. Finally after a lot of needless work and frustration I set it up just the way the manufacturer had it. I then simply tuned it as one would any band saw. THEN it worked great and still does. The saw has crowned wheels. Coplaner makes a big difference with flat wheels but is not that important within in reasonable limits with crowned wheels. Before messing around, set it up and tune it carefully. You may find that you have a decent saw that needs no more adaptations and will work better without them.
mcase,
I finally got the time to work on this. I finished putting it together over the weekend without shimming or anything else, and it seems to work just fine. Thanks for your input and perspective, unless it starts acting up later, I don't see the need to mess with it at this point.
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