Band Saw Blade Slipping Off

'Yippy Ti Yi Yo'

Align the drive wheels.

Give more details.

Reduce slippage.

Hi this is for test purpose

You are not the first. This process needs to run without anything going wrong. And lot of things can go wrong: to name some and the list is not complete. The loop with this type saw is always forced when pieces are to cut, longer than the diameter of the saw band wheel. This has to be compensated with several aligning rollers, that need adjustment: 1.following the pressure related to the cutting speed 2.following the aging of the band, tend to become "lame" and builds up a short and long side. 3.following the type of cut and tooth. 4.stuck material in the tooth propfile. 5. cooling side and efficiency 6. tooth damage and dullness. To be honest, we replaced it for lack of production standards - deviation - costs on the long run, yes with a circular one again. We still use it for thick parts when we can take our time to cut slower. For pipes you'll also need to make a good match between the teeth size and the diameter and thickness of the wall of your pipe. Unless your machine is that sophisticated that it always adjusts pressure or cutting advance related to the place it cuts in the pipe you'll need to live with the limitations.

Hi

I've had problems where the side guide rollers are too tight and crush the back of the blade, this results in a cone shape blade. The side rollers should just slip when rotated by hand.

Tony

I think that you gave a very good answer. I especially like your pointing out about the set being important. Have seen many saws where they do not adjust the rear guide or have almost cut it in half from pushing too hard. They generally push harder and harder not realizing that they have already removed the set and that is the real reason the blade isn't cutting well.

One additional thing to look out for would be if one of your wheels has slipped on the shaft. Had a wheel get a little loose and walk. Had to drop a plumb line (after replacing the tapered shaft collar holding the wheel in place) and align the outer faces so they were in the same vertical plane.

Also found that sometimes people would order too long a blade and you couldn't snug it up enough and it would slip. Also some operators would use too much lubricant and it would build up on the wheels along with the metal chips causing slip and/or uneven surfaces on the tire. Operators must take the time to scrap off any built up by rotating the wheel by hand and using a putty knife or scraper. Also have seen where all the adhesive or the rubber tire was not completely cleaned off and the replacement tire did not sit square in the wheel.

The last thing I would add would be making such that at least two teeth are always cutting (in the case of a tube or pipe that would be two teeth in each wall, top and bottom, especially if carbide teeth, to reduce the shock as teeth clear the work and re-enter.

I had to laugh when you mentioned coolant. I keep 5 gallon jugs of coolant mixed and ready to use. Somewhere around 16-20oz water soluble to 5 gallons water. One of the welding students grabbed the 5 gallon jug marked "Concentrate" and dumped it into the saw. The next day I a had a repair order for the saw. The complaint was the blade kept stopping. Turns out the coolant got onto the variable speed drive belt and it was slipping. I had to drain the sump and replace the variable speed and timing style drive belts along with degreasing the pulleys.

Ah the good times.

Sounds like your drive wheels are worn out. check diameters at the root vs edge. they should be withn .010 or so.

Check alignment of the two wheels with a straight edge. there is usually an adjustment for the drive wheel. works best if slightly convex between the two wheels.

Check the bearings on the drive & idling wheels.

A good blade, proper tension, guides & feed pressure are essential for producing maximum blade life and steady production.

Another bandsaw blade setup procedure:

-Disconnect power.

-Check that the tires on the bandsaw wheels are in good condition. There should be no cuts and the tires should have a slight crown. On higher speed machines the tires may need to be glued on and trued.

-Install a new blade.

-Back all guide blocks and guide rollers away from the blade. This allows tracking and squaring to take place without interference. If solid guide blocks are used, they should be removed and face-groung to square at this point.

-Adjust tracking and square the bed to the blade. Re-check blade tension.

-Adjust the back bearings up to, but barely touching the back of the blade.

-Adjust guide blocks or side bearings up to blade without moving or deflecting the blade in any way. These guides should leave as little space as possible without restricting the blade. The blade should move freely without rotating the guide bearings. It's also important that the side guides are adjusted forward up to, but not forward of the gullet of the blade. This gives maximum support at the cutting point.

-Re-connect power and test your setup.

NOTE: The back and side guides are in place only to prevent 'walking' of the blade and are often set to where they are forcing the blade into some position other than a straight line. This is usually the problem.

Have a good day.