Felder FB 600 set up question

[johnr]

Just got 220v in the garage and spent the day learning about the FB 660 which I purchased from a former FOG member.  It probably has < an hour of run time since new.

I installed a 3/4" Laguna Resaw King and am confused (normal state) about the blade position on the wheels.

The Felder manual says to rotate the top wheel and use the saw blade centering handwheel to center the blade on the wheels.  Well, it's centered on the top wheel (teeth are about 1/4" from edge of wheel) but the tips of the teeth are on the outside edge of the bottom wheel.  The blade is not obstructed by the upper/lower rear guide rollers.

Just wondering if the wheels, while parallel on not on the same vertical plane; and, if so, just how difficult would it be to loosen the bottom wheel and move it forward the required distance.

TIA

 

[jmarkflesher]

Not an expert but:      While slightly tensioned and blade on turn one wheel with your finger. If blade does not creep forward or back but they are not centered on both the top and bottom wheels you must put a straightedge that will span from the bottom of the bottom wheel and to the top of the top wheel. Holding the straightedge flat on the wheel that sticks out further should tell you how much to shim in or out, depending on which wheel you chose to adjust. Re center the blade and shim again if needed. Big mistake: Most people over tension their blade. MARK

 

[junk731]

John have you tried to run the blade under power yet? If under power doesn't center the blade then proceed to the next step. At this time I would also check to see if the back of the blade is 90 degrees to the tabletop.I also have the FB600 and the when I first got the saw 2 years ago I had to make a slight adjustment of the lower wheel to get the tracking right. If you look to the the motor side of the saw you will see the stub that the lower shaft is attached to, there are 4 bolts used to adjust the angle of the shaft that the wheel is mounted to that also will center the blade. You only have to adjust the top and bottom bolts. Make very small adjustments, an eighth of turn or a flat at a time in the same direction to both bolts and observe the alignment.It shouldn't take to many small adjustments until the blade centers on the wheel.

John

 

[johnr]

Thanks, guys...

I've run it for a few brief periods and the blade has not relocated itself on the bottom wheel and still is at the wheel's outer edge.

I'm a little reticent to try to adjust the bottom wheel until I think I've exhausted all other possible causes.  I did make a few cuts and the drift was very noticeable.  Perhaps the drift is partly due to the blade position on the wheels.  I have a Laguna Driftmaster and will install it today, temps permitting (working w/ cast iron in a 17 deg garage is little fun).

I'm thinking of making a call to Felder in the morning.

 

[junk731]

John your drift problem is most likely due to the blade not having enough tension. In my experience you will have to set the blade tension higher with the type of blade your trying to use. I'm currently running a silicone 3/4" blade and it needs a tension reading around 1". The tension gauge on the Felder FB600 aren't as accurate as a true bandsaw blade tension gauge. You might also want to check out some of the older posts in the Felder Owners Group. Please post any info from Felder.

John

 

[johnr]

Thanks.

I double checked tension.  The FB 600 scale is 20k for 3/4".  I used the Starrett 682EMZ and it was spot on at 20k w/ the scale.  I'll try a higher tension when I get the driftmaster installed and resolved the saw alignment issue.  Here are pix of the top/bottom wheels showing blade position relative to outboard edge of wheels.

Fearing a brain fart, I double checked that the upper and lower guides were disengaged and set back to limit.

Apparently, I can't link to pictures.

 

[johnr]

Addendum...

Using a Starrett Miter Saw Protractor, the band saw blade is perfectly plumb and square to the table. 

 

[tjt]

Avoiding drift is actually rather simple if you follow this little trick: Track the blade on the top wheel such that the bottom of the gullets are exactly center on the top wheel.

Hav a look on youtube, there's a 35 minute video there: "Band Saw Clinic with Alex Snodgrass" which will learn you a lot about the bandsaw.

After seeing that clip and no longer worrying about coplanarity of wheels and such, I get virtually drift free setup of my own saw at every blade change. I use my calipers, and set the bottom of the gullet 20mm from the edge of the tire as the wheel on my saw has a 40mm rubber tire. It means that my 1" lennox woodmaster will have the back side a little outside the wheel.

This way of doing it means I have the fence permanently parallell with the miter tracks, which is a convenience if you use jigs registering with them.

 

[tjt]

As Snodgrass says, coplanarity of the wheels is not really a good thing as it will not hold the blade properly positioned on the wheen when in use. Also to be remebered is that the guys that design and manufacture the saw has set it up the way it is for a reason. With perfecly coplanar wheels there is much less force holding the blade in position on the wheels.

The blade is positioned on the top wheen by adjusting the top wheel angle at the correct blade tension. If the blade is not positioned on the top wheen as I descrive, but with center of mass of the blade centered on the wheel with the teeth hanging over the edge, you will have crazy drift no matter what tension you put on your saw.

If you still get drift after setting the blade correctly, it most likely means the weld is angled or teeth are sharpened wrongly.

See if the Alex Snodgrass method of setting the blade works for you, it certainly removed a whole lot of mystery for me and simplified life with my bandsaw

(I once bought a resaw king blade that gave me crazy drift and bowed cuts. I returned it as it turned out the weld was angled, the blade wandered several mm back and forth when running. A Lennox woodmaster CT with thicker band which required more tensioning worked perfectly, and at less than half the cost of the resaw king)

 

[johnr]

Thanks for the feedback.  I'll watch the video again.

I tend to agree that the saw is probably set up as should be from Felder.  I talked with an admin person at Felder who asked me to email a description, but I've yet to hear back.

Hopefully, I'll have time to align the blade as you suggested and give it a try tomorrow.

 

[johnr]

Watched the Snodgrass video.  Very helpful; however, following his process, the saw still exhibited drift, but could be operator error.

Talked with Felder tech folks who weren't able to add much.

Installed the Laguna Driftmaster and am able to cut 3/16" slabs from a burl block.  So far, so good.

Thanks for all the input.