DIYbanter - View Single Post - Carolina Bandsaw (HD10?) measurment needed

(Harry McDaniel) wrote in message . com...
Thanks for the measurements and ideas Wayne and John. Since you both
said the arm measures 10 5/16" hole-to-hole, that must be the correct
size (unless my saw is not really a HD10 and the other models use a
different size arm). Mine is a tiny bit shorter--10" +/- 1/16", but
that difference does not explain the problems I am having with
alignment. The alignment issue that you corrected on your saw, Wayne,
does not seem to be a problem on mine. My blade follows a square
nicely as I raise and lower the saw head. Here are the symptoms that
led me to think that the arm was too short, perhaps someone else can
see another explanation:

1--With my saw adjusted to the best of my understanding, the blade
does not complete the cut (pass beyond the plane of the saw bed)
unless I set the saw head to pivot beyond the horizontal position
AND/OR I set the lower blade guide at an angle (by tilting it in it's
adjustment slots on the saw frame) to force the blade to make a
little deeper cut.

When I bought the saw, it was set so that the head was angled down at
the end of the cut (i.e. the main square tube of the frame was not
parallel with the floor; the motor end was higher than the other end).
This did not look right to me. All of the Carolina (and Ramco)
Bandsaws that I have seen in pictures seem to end the cut with the
square tube parallel to the floor, so I made adjustments in the blade
guides until it could almost complete the cut "properly". Am I off
track with this idea? Surely the lower blade guide should not be set
at an angle; if it was supposed to be extended that far then I think
the slots would have simply been cut further down.

By extending the support arm (mentioned in my original question) and
raising the high side of the saw, I would lower the blade slightly.

2--When I raised the saw head to a vertical position, the gear case
bumped the nut that was welded to the base to hold the tension spring,
preventing the saw from pivoting to a full upright position. Surely
that is not intended in the design of the saw. A longer support arm
would put the gear case further from that nut. I have cut off that
nut and I am working on a new spring attachment which will provide
more even tension as the saw head descends, but that is another whole
post in itself . . . .

3--The deepest cut my saw will make is 7.75". Isn't it supposed to
cut 8.5" deep. A longer support arm would help with that.

4--Looking from the end of my saw, the saw head is at a 41 degree
angle from the table. I thought it should be at a 45 degree angle,
but I have no real reason to expect that. Wayne said his is at a 43
degree angle, so I guess mine may be off by a little.

Here is something else that confuses me which may or may not be
related to my alignment problems: The wheels of my saw are not in the
same plane. They have different flange depths, which the parts
suppler, American Fab, told me is OK, but it doesn't make sense to me.
The drive wheel's flange (the part that the back of the blade can
bump against) is 1.5" from the saw frame (measuring from the flange to
the surface of the 1/4" thick plate that holds the wheel mechanism).
The non-drive wheel's flange is 2" from the saw frame. If this is
truely the way that this saw was designed, then this just seems like a
poor design to me.

Any words of wisdom about these alignment issues will be appreciated.

--Harry

Harry,
I recently bought an old Carolina HD10 and am trying to set it up like
you are. I'm a little concerned that the frame just isn't stiff
enough. I'm thinking of welding gussets on the back of the plates.

However, my bandsaw goes 3/8" past the table when horizontal. I think
your problem must be alignment but perhaps it is that the saw was just
made high. One possible fix would be to put a 5/16" plate on top of
the work surface. You would lose 5/16 of travel, is that a problem?
First thing I would do is play with the blade guides: they move in
out up and down. You should be able to move the blade around. Then
you'll probably have to adjust the tracking. BTW, both of my drive
wheels are over 2" from the 1/4" plate so you may want to look at your
gearbox so see if someone shimmed it or something.

BTW, I paid american fab $10 for a manual and it isn't worth much.

I put a coolant system on mine but it drips a lot off the tail end.
I'm working on a recovery system for to go under the corner but keep
thinking there must be a more elegant way.

Finally, I started a Yahoo group called "bandsaw" if someone wants to
post some photos. I'm new to this group so I hope it's not bad form
to mention Yahoo groups.

Cheers,
Jerry

I'm also putt