Resaw issues

I just bought a used Grizzly G9963 27" resaw with a G1094 feeder. (the big one that takes a 3" blade)

this was discontinued by Grizzly several years ago, and I have a hypothesis as to why...

The nearly 28" wheels are FLAT. they use no tires, and they're dead flat.

I have read several articles related to industrial resaw setup, and notice that some wheels come from the manufacturer this way, and also that it is common practice to re-crown wheels to a specific value dependent on application.
are these a stock "FLAT" wheel designed to run that way?
or (more likely) are they intended to be crowned by the end user based on his application (prior to use)?
if this is the case, it may explain why Balolia chose to discontinue this model!

This particular saw I bought was mistreated and abused, much worse than I expected.
I spent tonight grinding the hideous stick-welds out of the upper "arbor bracket holder" which forced the upper wheel FAR from coplaner with the bottom, caused a collision with the guard at about 11" cutting height and also forced the poor 2" CT band that came with it, to ride with it's teeth on the lower wheel (good way to remove set, eh!) This was prohibiting any "IN/OUT" adjustment of the upper wheel...
I now have adjustment back, but I'm not sure about the order to set this up?

Can anyone offer any advice or point me in the right direction?
I assume I need to tension the blade with the guides removed first, then get the wheels coplaner, yet clearing everywhere while keeping the drive belts in check, but I've never worked on a saw like this, only 14"-20" lgarden variety bandsaws, and they all had tires and were reasonably tuned to start with...
any advice on setting this up and tuning it would be most appreciated.
thanks,
Kyle

MT

Every bandsaw I have is crowned, with or without tires. It could be they have worn out flat which does happen. I have re crowned steel wheels by hand on the machine, just slow going. Personally I would dump the Grizzly and run. There is a lot of good iron out there.

Kyle

The owners manual actually states that the wheels are intended to be FLAT, again, Grizzly discontinued this model several years ago.
lots of problems with blades not tracking perhaps?
I'm leaning towards the notion that these wheels may have been a stock item that was intended to be CROWNED by the end user (sawmills, etc...)
I can't dump this saw just yet, my only option is to get it running, complete some door orders, and then perhaps look for a Baker, Stenner, etc...

How do you go about crowning your wheels? and next, how do you re-balance the wheels once they've been crowned?

JeffD

I know not all saws have crowned tires so that's not so unusual. I didn't know you could run without tires though? I thought only metal cutting bandsaws worked without tires? Did you confirm that they are supposed to be that way?

I would put a call in to Grizzly tech support. They have a pretty good reputation so you may get some help. I know they're not the best machines out there, but assuming the PO didn't screw things up too bad you should be able to get some use out of it.

good luck,
JeffD

MT

Are you having tracking issues or cutting issues? Back all the guides off, get a new good blade properly welded from a reputable source even if it is steel. I don't know the setup on the grizzly but most old big bandsaws the wheels are actually slightly offset with I think the top out further than the bottom yet in the same plane, check alignment with a straight edge. The other thing is resaw blades need a lot of tension and if you under tension tracking becomes an issue. If you have a local Lennox rep he will have a tension meter and might help you get a feeling for how tight to crank it, we bought our own. The teeth of the blade need to be off the front of the wheel usually to the back of the gullet or you will kill your set immediately. I personally start by slight tension and slow revolutions by hand then increase tension and adjust tracking accordingly till you reach full tension. The guides are not what keeps the blade tracking, if the blade runs off with the guides backed out you have a problem. We recrowned our Baker with a combination of a course band sander and flat file. Lastly I don't know if that bandsaw will allow it but you might get a lot better results from a narrower blade say 1-1/4", worth a try.

james ferguson

I have a similer saw, (kufo) probly made in the same plant and it works o k but not great. You must have about .003 crown in the wheels to track properly. You can achieve this on the machine with it running, not the safest thing you will ever do. First check the square of the wheels to the face as accurately as possiably first. Use a side grinder with a flap wheel, a ziconia z 36 grit will work. it will help to color the surface of the wheels with a die stain or purple pvc pipe cleaner so you can see where you are cutting. 3 in. blades are hard to come by but the Lenox 2 in. blades work very well, so the crown apex needs to be at center of the blades you run. so with a 2" blade tracking properly with the tips extended aprox .2" to .3" past the edge of the wheel the apex would be aprox .85" from the face of the wheels. Also the tension on the blades has to be enough to strech the blades enough to fit the crown (25,000 lb per sq in min. or about 1500 lbs. for a 2" blade, in other words a lot more than you might think.