ACM Star / Griggio SNA 600 bandsaw teardown

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Ttrees

Iroko loco!
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18 Nov 2012
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In me workshop
Hello folks
Recently my bandsaw started playing up again, and I've had enough of an untrustworthy machine.
I said I was going to do a proper thread on it, so this is only the very start of it.
This isin't intended to be your bog standard setup, this is for a problematic machine.

Time for a proper setup this time with no holes barred, dosen't matter what needs doing,
THIS MACHINE IS GETTING WHATEVER NEEDS DONE TO IT.

Got a new belt last week, so decided to do a bit of investigation.
The old one looks the same age as the machine, and Dom's video made me think about it.
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I noticed the pulley was off by about 5mm, measuring with a flat length of timber, sticking further away from the frame on the RHS.
Concerned about just shimming the flange mounted alloy motor with a single washer, and cracking it,
I made a wee aluminium plate for it, but am focusing on everything else first before I try and sink the motor into it, to account for the error,
I might scrap that idea yet, and may have to take a more drastic approach instead.
Did I forget to say I've got a grinder and a wee 50 euro Lidl welder?

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Had another look at my dressing job on the old tire which has been through the wars, as I had the wheel off anyways.
Decided this is "probably" a more reliable method of checking using the inner hub as a reference.
In my experience of dressing tires, you won't do as good of a job checking your progress with the wheels in the cabinet, there's just too many variables and your eyes probably will play tricks on you!
Probably dressed to account for the error, but that's only a half ar$ed job, when you have a machine that won't play nice!
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So forgetting about the motor and the tires for the minute, as the wheels is more of a concern at this stage.
Somethings not right which is evident with this planed up "gauge block"
as it's a snug fit on both sides of the wheel, so you would think that the shaft would be centered somewhat on the rear of the machines jacking housing.

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Obviously not the case though :(
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Now the 6 million dollar question is, where's the reference?
Time for a teardown in attempt to get a better idea.

This machine had a fall at one time, so there might be some other rabbit holes to explore regarding the carriage for the upper wheel.
More on that later maybe.

First job is leveling the machine with these trusty spirit levels NOT!
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The plumb bob was the only thing I could trust, and the non adjustable guidepost
is the only reference also.
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Leveled both ways, excuse the wonky line as I just bumped the thing taking the piccy,
and the battery was needing charging.
The plumb bob takes a while to settle down.
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Now that the machine was leveled, I could check the wheels for plumb.
You probably can't make it out as obviously as it is in real life, but the top wheel needs adjustment to the right
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As I was saying the machine had a fall and the threads are damaged on the cast iron carriage .
I added a nut in-between the casting and the frame on both sides,
I may have to make that nut on the right a bit slimmer, as the carriage has a good lot to move.


Hopefully I can adjust this without rabbit hole no.1
Something may need to be done about it yet.
Camera battery is charging now, so will see about this tonight if I have enough beans to get out there.

Hope y'all not sick of sega sagas, as there's plenty of things need doing.
Beware if you're a fan of pristine machinery, this one ain't getting no TLC !
(unless you can abbreviate those letters into something a bit more fitting)

I'll keep ye posted when I can

Tom
 
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Couldn't get the last photo of the carriage into my post,
This might explain things a bit better for ye.
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Back soon.....hopefully, there's plenty chance it may take a bit longer than expected though.
Tom
 
Good luck! Smart methodically patient diagnostics, really not my strong point, so interesting to watch..
 
I hope you're right on the smart part Jake!
Edit: seems not, the above method definitely is not the way to approach things!😭

Can't say I was all too patient yesterday working on this machine though, as I got very little achieved.

Thought I would have an ever so slightly easier time on some aspects
but some other challenges presented itself.
The objective yesterday was to adjust that upper wheel to the right,
The threads in the carriage casting are shot, but that seems not to matter much,
as I have added those yellow washers and nuts on the inside of the frame previously.
The blocks welded on the frame for this adjustment are also damaged,
pretty much gone on the right hand side.
Probably should have cut the bolt out with a grinder instead of unscrewing it out further damaging what little thread left, but with a nut on both sides of the frame shouldn't be necessary.
Needed to make another bolt up from some threadbar as it was completely fecked, thankfully had some threadbar knocking about, so welded a nut on the end, and slimmed/ground down the nut I added on the inside so could move that carriage a bit more if need be.

This presented itself with an issue...
As you can see I got the carriage moved to the right,
but now the tension screw is being hampered by the frame.
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The screw was fouling against the elongated hole in the frame, so tried to dismantle the rest of the carriage further by tapping out those split pins to remove the screw.
This turned out to be pretty much impossible, well the pin I wanted to remove
for the turnwheel was.
Might have been possible beforehand by making a tool for the job...
i.e, a hardened steel bolt or pin of the right size with a nice square shoulder ground, to enable me to center the slim part of it into the split pin, and the nice shoulder to push from the end....
and NOT wedge the split pin open further, to really make it stay put!
I spent ages to no avail, would have been soo much easier if I knew that.
Still a real tough job though.

Yes, I tried drilling to no avail, must be spring steel used for them, and by design, a good way to grab and snap drill bits.

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So finally accepting failure, I decided to forget about dismantling further
and mark the line.
Filing was next to impossible with it upright, pull your back out fling upwards,
as the carriage as in the way, (can't fit a barstewart file) so a very narrow or round file is the only thing that would fit.
Had a rethink and decided to see if I could fit a grinder in there.
Very tight fit but looks do-able, just about. (don't want to cut into the plastic wheel)

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Whilst trying to get a good photo leaning back in the auld farmhouse chair with lamp in hand,
Crack, and then I ended up on the floor :ROFLMAO:
Good job I've got an old mic stand for me camera!

Me auld workshop chair 😭
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Time for grinding soon, hopefully as simple as it sounds, i.e nothing going to fall out of the larger hole I;m going to make.
Will take a measurement of the location of this, just for curiosity sake.
Unsure now if it was the fall that wrecked the threads or someone tried to move it
without noticing the fouling issue happening, since its mainly the right bolt which was slightly problematic.

Tom
 
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Hello folks, best cover your eyes if your a machinery purist, as this thread is gonna get pretty nasty :eek:
Before cutting a wee sliver from the saw, I decided to measure for correlation,
I won't be surprised to find out it is exactly as specified, so unnecessary attacking of this machine has commenced
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At least it will improve with this shops dust extraction (long handled paint brush:p)
I can weld it later on if it proves bothersome.
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I went back and revisited the plumb line as I wasn't happy with the fuzzy builders line, went searching for a woven line with no luck, thankfully some fishing line was at hand and that did the job well.

From this pic of the turnwheel it was clear something was not quite right.
No fouling of the shaft on the cabinet, so what was going on?

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For some reason the carriage was skewing, so I put a timber shim to try and straighten it up, but that didn't help matters as it was still off, at least now I could be sure.
Something was banjaxed within the innards, and needed to be removed.
Some bits of metal also became apparent whilst wriggling it about.

Only a pair of split pins to remove the turn wheel and lift the rest of the carriage assembly casting out, should be an easy job, right?
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Easy enough job for one of the split pins, and Not bloody so for the one on the turnwheel.
With a few steel nails, I hammered and hammered and bloomin hammered for a few hours,
came in for a cuppa a few times and hammered again, it wasn't going nowhere :mad:
I made custom punches and those got stuck too,
yes I tried drilling it out, which became another thing to really get stuck in the pin, and loose all hope whatsoever of getting that pin out.

Drastic measures had to be taken to remove the carriage!
It obviously got damaged at the same time as when the table took a hit and snapped the trunion mounting threads.
The mans face whom I bought the saw off was priceless, when I removed that g-clamp holding onto that huge table, I nearly went down but held on and thankfully didn't drop it, I don't know which of us got a bigger fright:D

Cover your eyes folks
With no other option left, a hacksaw was used to cut me lovely plastic wheel off:(
Which meant that I could finally remove the carriage and see what was wrong.

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With the carriage removed from the machine, now I could give that pin a daecent wallop!....but not budging whatsoever, same deal again.
Made up a washer to replace the broken one, and considered making a cut and bending it into position, but that lazy susan bearing was toast, so felt that didn't make any sense.

Finally admitted defeat, and attacked the ferrule thing with the grinder, and bent if off the shaft, which snapped it, and now I could have another round with the'ammer
as the shaft was now free from the carriage.
Same deal with more hammering and getting nowhere, so the shaft needed grinding on both sides and after an hour or two, that dreaded pin was free at last.

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Next step was fixing it all again, but I have no time to post that.
I'm nearly back to where I started on this :D
 
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A sure testament to the quality castings on this machine all this was,
glad nothing bad happened whilst hammering that pin whilst the carriage was still in the machine.
I've had vices not as tough.
Seems someone was at this before, and that also explains why the thread is damaged on the right side of the saw frame, (hence those nuts I added)
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With that outta the way, time for a bit o'welding :)
That wee beauty from Lidl has saved my bacon more times that I can remember.
Seen on the "Lidl middle shelves thread" here, that it's goin for £40 and on the shelves this week!!!

My entire welding setup, simples
Seems that many woodworkers are weary of welding and think it's some kind of black art, even to do simple stuff like this, have at it is what I say!
grind it back if you mess it up and have another go.
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One side welded, note no gloves or some kind of suit needed, as I'm not inside a boiler welding upside down.

Get the rod hot with the scrap bit and it's easier.
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Didn't get it quite nice aesthetically, as you can see here, it needs to be ground back if you want to fill that wee bit.
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Have at it with the grinder until nice and clean
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Build it up until its a big blob, and grind it off on the bench grinder
The goggles never came off me 'ead , as slag can spatter when hot.
Also heed that grinding hot metal is slightly more prone to causing a fire,
You wouldn't want to have a bottle of petrol lying around.
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And a tiny bit of filing by hand afterwards, good as new...well almost.
Its not a motor shaft, so that'll do for me.
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Next that collar/ferrule thing needs doing
It was a bit of faffing about with this, as the thing was twisted after being tore apart
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Cut a good chamfer on both to get a good weld
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Blasted through it, should have switched it to the lower setting.
More powerful than it looks is the wee Parkside!
Nae bother, just a tiny touch to make the holes meet up again
Should have taken a photo here of getting the twist out, basically getting a nail in the narrow end to spread it out, so it fit onto the shaft.
Whacked the other end to get a tight fit, a wee tack during the process.

Got the holes drilled out and a few more belts to get it rounder.
 
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A bit of filing and the collar is sorted.
Cleaned up the hacksaw marks on the turnwheel and
had a wee look around for the rest, delighted to find some angle iron:D
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Just what I needed, really need to get to the folks and get some more metal.
Will have another bash at this later, and get back working on the saw.
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On another note, I didn't think there was actually a tensioner spring in this saw, I was surprised to find it as there's no mention of it on any forum.
I thought it had compression failure when I first saw it,
Luckily there was a ACM bandsaw channel started up, and I spotted the spring is the same from the factory, so very pleased about finding that, as I have trolled through a heckuva lot of pages about these bandsaws.

I've been wondering if there's something else missing from this machine, so have asked a fella called Phillip at ACM UK to see if he can find some information on this machine.
He has told me the Star/SNA line is dropped, and it seems now its the LT series which is in its place, so am guessing like the heavier SNAC line (extra 40mm added to the wheel size)

Back in a day or two with some more updates

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Hello again, pretty much finished fixing the handle and quite eager to getting back onto the troubleshooting,
I did say I to Phillip at ACM UK that I was going to email him the next day to see if I was missing anything, and whatnot :rolleyes:
but thought afterwards I'd only be confusing matters without a handle and possible parts I had already, hope he isn't miffed.
Haven't ventured into my box of bits and bobs, but I think I may have a bearing which might do the job of the other damaged one, could be at the folks though.

Steel in the workshop is in short supply, but managed to find some wee bits to get the job done.
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Hope I don't bore you folks with bit of my welding shenanigans:p

A few tacks to start off with
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Ready to grind some of the back out, hadn't much of the grinding disc left to reach into there, so wasn't too clean, won't bother showing you that messy bit.
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Alternating between to counter warpage and nearly finished with that
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Ended up too tight a fit, so needed to grind the sides a bit, short pulses of the wheel in a vertical fashion not to grind a lenghtwise slot, bit of marker for checking with the file to see where I was at
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Better too tight than too loose, steel was a bit thick anyway, a good fit in the end.
Ready for a few tacks on the next parts
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Had a bit of a nightmare getting these welded, seems that collar was some sort of strange alloy, combined with damp rods, and what must have been farmers milking machines starting, one step forward, two steps back.
Got the rods dry the next day and got them welded, seems that alloy got harder to weld for some reason?
Plenty of grinding back and starting again.
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Ended up warping the collar out of round doing this, but got them welded in the end...
Not the best welds in the world, but more than strong enough.
Could have done with some fancy rods for this craic
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I was thinking my wee 40 pound Lidl welder had had it, and was needing to do something new to me, was a bit worried about the next bit making sh1te of the handle...
 
All electrical things onto the bench
First tack went brilliantly, was very relieved as wasn't sure if the strange alloy would like being dipped in a bucket of water, phew!
Never done that before, so wasn't sure how dry the steel needed to be, best to dry it off with the heat gun.

Nice big button to switch off whilst the wheel was on fire needing to dunk it in the bucket very quickly
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No time to get the camera out for a dunkin doughnut shot
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After a bit of grinding, it as nice to relax with the file, although proved a fair bit of work
to remove a goofy big McDonald's logo that I had unintentionally created :ROFLMAO:

Looks alright now, it'll probably look better with a lick of paint
Black or green though?
The black might mask the wee bit of melted plastic, fine sandpaper doesn't seem to smooth it unfortunately, nothing a bit of sawdust won't hide.

Must clean the workshop after this mess.
Have to make a pin and a washer before I get back to Phil

Thinking I might grind a bit of spring steel for the pin, and see how that goes
All that work over a blooming damaged split pin:mad:
I hope my VFD is alright with all of the pounding I was doing on the machine trying to get it out.😰
I'll be weary of them things anymore!
Wish me luck
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Hello again
Before I get ahead of myself I thought I'd post some progress on how things are coming along.
I was concerned about the sequence of the components for the tensioning system, so I emailed ACM UK, hich got me in contact with Phil and Lee two very helpful blokes,
and sent them a few pictures to see what sequence of parts orientation looked correct to them, or if they had a manual.
They got straight back to me, and gave me a diagram from the manual and the price for the very reasonable replacement washers and bearings.

Indeed my guess had been right, as the parts were not in the correct order.
I said I'd see how I got along regarding needing the bearing as there was some damage on the shaft that needed sorting first.

So I spent a long time studying some of the old Centauro and other old machines,
to see if there was any difference in design, as something needed to be done to fix the
deformed and scored welded washer which captures the spring.
... Eventually came to the conclusion that I should Centaurolize the part.
This led me to upgrade the washers also.
So had a rummage and found some suitable steel, which was too hard to drill,
the next option was to reluctantly use stainless, so made up some nice washers
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Which shows the damage to the welded washer, which was next on the list..
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Some damage to the shaft also needed repair work done, so better to do a big upgrade
since I was at it..
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So layered the welds on and then to figure out how to grind it...
This was a first trial and error attempt at it, which was improved on,
It took some figuring out what works and what doesn't.
I tired working the face of the shaft using the edge of the wheel which scratches the shaft, (hence the tape) but also creates a slope on the face as the 4" disc does not have enough depth of cut as the grinder flange/nut will bottom out.
I'd reckon a bigger disc would be too flappy and scratch the shaft,
so that method doesn't work for facing things like below

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It turns out using the face of the disc gives a much better result,


A wee bit of filing afterwards, and some self adhesive abrasive for marking high spots to get the fit good
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So with that finished time to have a look at the rest of the machine
As said earlier, the threads on the tension carriage mount were damaged on the machine, I decided to investigate further, and it seems like I might have sourced
why the machine had all this funky stuff going on
It seemed like there was a bit of misalignment on this old machine

Since the threads were damaged on the right hand side, I decided to see if I could level
the holes.
I should add that I reverted to using the column to level up the machine before doing this
I will add some pictures later of that...

Anyway, after a bit of filing, it was obvious that the welder needed to be used again
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Leaving just enough to get a series of small files through, as I don't have a 90 degree drill attachment to fit into the cabinet.
Turns out I was miles ooff and needed to figure a way of ensuring the hole was in the correct location, so another crack at the welder
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Thinking that I was sorted with the block on its own I proceeded to plough on,
When infact I should have used a nut on the end and scored around it...
You live you learn
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If I'd done that from the get go, I would have got a much better hole tapped
as it was a bit skewed, and the threads didn't come out all that great.
Still, at least the carriage mounting was aligned, and nuts could be used like with the left hand side already.
SAM_4499.JPG


Delighted to get a few bits of the machine back together again
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Plummed the wheels afterwards, and stuck a blade on after that.
Success, the tensioning system is lovely and smooth now compared to how it was before.

Spent some time looking for components for the Bowden tension cable display which went ping, and also the magnet for the cable I must have put somewhere...
Would have been much faster to replace them from the start, instead of pulling the place apart.:dunno:

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Another wee few jobs to do, hopefully won't be too long away until I can get back to using it.
Those tires likely need to be addressed first.
That's it for now

Tom
 
Just thought I'd take a few more snaps whilst I was checking some more stuff.
Thought I'd take some snaps of leveling the machine, since I wasn't finished with the plumb bob.
This block is much better and about the perfect size for checking against a line.
I was using a wee block before this and standing it on edge thinking it would avoid any
undulations or knocks.
This is much more difficult, hard to see, and knocks the line, which is quite annoying with the fishing line I'm using.
SAM_4513.JPG

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Eager to try the new belt out, I installed it, knowing it wasn't aligned with the wheel, just to see what difference there was.
Turned out there was a lot of vibration from the motor after a quick test, and after which I tried it without any belt to see if moving the motor had knocked it from the sweet spot.

(There is witness print from painting around the motor and I measured the tension bolt before any of this, so thought little of that causing issues.)
Turns out that few seconds of running with the pulley not in line, whilst having a new belt was just the thing to wear out the bearings.
Hopefully I can get them locally.

Anyway going back to the real issues of getting the alignment correct.

Having the top wheel now solid with very little of movement whatsoever concerning
self adjustment to the lower wheel, the plumb bob was used again to check the to wheels were in line.
Turns out it wasn't off more than 1mm with this line, if off atall... great I thought.
Checked the 9 o'clock position afterwards, and they didn't line up at all.
Well sh1te on it anyways.

Would have been interested to see what the blade ran like under power with the wheels like this, seemed not half bad hand turning it.

So seems like I might be as well checking what the difference will be if I align the lower wheel to the pulley, and use the old streched belt again to check that vibration out again, and rule something out.

Another possible issue that might be down the road, is a clunk or thud in that top wheel is present with no blade installed.
Shouldn't be the bearings as they are new enough and SKF ones.
There's no visual un-concentric wobble, looking head on, and maybe the teeniest bit of a bounce when looking at the wheel on edge.
It must be a hole that wandered off 90 in relation to the face is my guess.
Hopefully wont be an issue when the time comes to use it.

That's for afterwards though, as getting the motor sorted and doing some tests
afterwards might prove to be a rabbit hole

At least one question I had about the alignment of pulley to hub is answered.
Vaguely recalling skim reading about offset pulleys and amp draw before...
Well, It just dang well needs to be if you have a new belt and no tensioner pulley,
or it will likely make your bearings toast.

That motor I reckon looks like it needs aligning, hopefully I can get it coplanar and also in line with the wheels by shimming it, instead of using an angle grinder in anger!
More measurements needs to be taken first though.


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Changing out the bearings in this ABB motor, a toggle bolt head was just the right size for pressing out the shaft from the fan, to allow the rotor to drop out.
A bit different to the other motors I have.
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There's a rim on the inside of the hub which seems a stress point to me, so I made a ring for it
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Not quite the same thickness as the rim, but with a good lick of paint should be close.
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Back at this craic for another round of setting up.
I spent an age figuring out what to do to find the solution, and in the back of my mind thinking of one of the first bandsaw setting up videos I'd ever watched, Marc Spagnuolo AKA the wood whisperer was the only one I'd seen who mentioned using a straight edge with shims or risers to clear the frame.
There must be something to this I thought, so I tinkered away at it for a while.

The solution was simple, just a single block taped to a straight edge.
SAM_4630.JPG

SAM_4633.JPG

Simple as this alignment tool is... I was in for some schooling how to use it.
What I didn't expect when adjusting the lower wheel east/west jacking bolts, is that the top wheel moves and must be checked for co-planar and in line with the frame.
That means clamping it if intending to do adjustment is pointless.
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Still quite a stretch to measure and would be made easy with some rare earth magnets.
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I made a video describing it, but it could do with some editing as
there's some bits missing, which if one has a bad floor and the machine is a bit tippy, leveling it might be quite a challenge!
Took me some time to defeatedly get over myself and just move the thing out from the wall to have a proper look at it.
Still took a long time to take the next step, but ever so glad I made this set of four blocks, I don't know if I would have got there without these wee magnetic beauties!
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Here is the wee video I made, which might clear things up.
 

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So quite relieved to see that I didn't need to do anything radical to the motor mounting, I was starting to assemble the machine again.

What I didn't expect was with the guidepost being out by a heck of a lot now.
Whatever about making a wee plate or something to scoot the guide one way or the other, but not being in line with the thrust guide now meant that I had more work in store for me.
as there is no adjustment for tilt of the thrust guide assembly.

That might explain the holes in the carriage casting?
Time to get stuck in and the fun was had with melt throughs, upside down welding was easy, good to learn and effective!
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So stacked the welds up to give a bit more room for error if fixing or whatever.
Failed the first time round, so had another go and this time seems successful.
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A bit of luck using a slightly more trusty bubble and a good square and binned the other ones..
Oh and a lot of blisters :)

Started with the dowel on its own making witness marks,
Its got a good lead on the end, and undersized by a bit and handy for getting the holes good enough to do some twisty sanding, thump the shaft in and have a look for witness marks from that.
A lamp which can be moved over and under the machine is near essential to get a good look (and an eyeful of filings)

Without having a decent level I can trust, I suppose some tubing that would fit snugly on the guidepost with something on the end might have been better way for getting alignment,
If I had any.
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Delighted to get this done, guidepost seems true from what the string says...
might have been a bit keen to clean it up and paint it.
Will see tomorrow
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Keen to get on with the next part, tire dressing.
Seems from my findings that I could get better results now, with the knowledge of what I gained using the stick.

Tom
 
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Whilst a bit of slightly anxious testing the guidepost to see if it lined up with the blade, pleased to see that it seems spot on for the thrust guide, but inconclusive so far as to the side rollers, as there was too much slop in the adjustable mechanism which was likely missing something,
I slightly recall a bit of a "twill do" at the time, as I had a lot of things that as more important to sort out.
There was a bit of pipe and some washers that looked scrounged from a shed, clearly something missing.
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My winter supply of 8mm steel plate!
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Really solid now, hope that is the case for when the guides and cover are on, not that I even use the side rollers, but maybe will seek for some replacements someday.
The old ones were damaged, fixed with some weld and now a bit sloppy, equaling pinchy like what looks to be the case on some machines.
(there's a self lubricating bronze bush on these guides which likely didn't fair well to someone learning to weld):p

The Centauro's have a gib that likely keeps tension on the flat part of the round bar to stop the guides from twisting, that could be an option if really bothered.
The side of the blade guard is sprung on most Italian machines, which moves things about when adjusting height.
Guessing this plate will help a fair bit, as there was much slop.

I'm more eager to see how it works now, and the test of the rollers,
even though the top wheel is adjustable to account for this,
I'd rather try and make the blade truly plum, where it matters
and adjust the top wheel to account for tire wear instead of a post that might not be spot on.

Having a closer look into the post and all that jazz, now that its true
concerning the thrust guide orientation,
I have the choice to adjust for tire wear by scooting the wheel out if the edge is rounded.

SAM_4754.JPG


That's two things to paint, so I'll leave be yet
dare I say that's all, and if it isn't...
Hopefully it will be accessories rather than nessecaties
 
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Oh man, I've left this thread for too long.
Forgive me if I've jumbled these next few postings as it's been a while.
Suppose I'll start off with sorting the tires out
Very pleased with my results and have documented on YT




Kinda a bit much to photograph, basically the block has got a rebate to hold the plane iron,
(a parallel one I might add)
The block is cut square on both ends, and clamped to the frame,
noting the lip is providing support and a fulcrum for advancement of the cutter block.
The wheels are adjusted using a beam to be square to the block.


bandsaw dressing snapshot .jpg

dressing bandsaw tires  .jpg


Tried using some gorilla gunk to fill the voids,
this didn't work so well, but might have done something, should'a used contact adhesive for the job, well I should'a have made a patch to begin with, lesson learned.


SAM_5072.JPG

Dressed most of that off after
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SAM_5095.JPG

Now have a nice crisp edge for the most part, and I have experiments to do regarding this, and other stuff.
There's a lot of info missing regarding bandsaw setup, and I am keen to iron out a few things which are unanswered questions and mere speculation.
I'll get back to that in a bit, but first getting some stuff outta the way.

A big long gap is present here, as I found out my bearing spacer was worn,
and it took a lot of engineering bodgery to make these parts (printer rollers) to a tolerable standard.

Thanks to Jack Forsberg's videos, I was inspired to try turning these on a mandrel.
First off flattening he face for drilling
SAM_6194.JPG


Developed an indexing jig for drilling these on centre, this video might be the most comprehensive should one not venture onto the metalwork forum
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...ce-for-boring-what-angle-to-make-jaws.135568/
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...threaded-hole-aligning-clocking-a-tap.137213/






SAM_5844.JPG


Getting the fit of these spacers right, 32.4mm was where it seemed about right to me, with my bodgery, definitively no more than 0.1mm greater can fit.
Sorry I tried to get this absolute, but couldn't get better results than a variance of 0.1mm.
SAM_5677.JPG


SAM_6088.JPG
Back to the lathe for final dimensioning and 5 degree bevels to only make contact with inner race
SAM_6198.JPG
 
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I really tried to get these perfect, but things that look alright by eye, have a heck of a lot of difference when spinning on the mandrel.
I've gone through two of these printer rollers, attempting to learn how to use the indexing jig
slight changes to using it since, and some other things needing ironing out like using a bottle jack rather than a scissor jack at the least.
It is rather interesting, as the principal/methodology of an indexing table can be utilized without the jig, and using the wall or whatever, I just like jigs.

Tried to find a funny photo of all of these failed attempts, but have too many files and cannot find them.
SAM_5683.JPG

SAM_5706.JPG


With the hole drilled good enough, and par fairly well fitting, and finally bevelled

SAM_6075.JPG


Now back to where I left off, and have taken another video with things as they should be.

I've since got a more accurate beam for the job.
Very interesting to make note of the differences an upper wheel bearing spacer makes!
Nothing else changed since, so unless one want's to speculate it was all down to the beam
being not as good as the new one, is up to you.

I think you might agree that there's a notable difference,
well I think you definitely would if you'd felt how much slop was apparent with wheel and shaft removed.
It was like a gearstick, and solid now.
SAM_5324.JPG


Here's what the machine was running like before making a spacer


And here's how it as of yesterday


So for all those bandsaw fanatics, some of which still think there's no datum point on the bandsaw,
should be interested in the next part, which I have been questioning and looking for answers since last year.
I think it is possible to get the machine running even better than this, using the plumbob
and yet to discover the possible importance of a hard edge,
(I've not bevelled the edge on the top wheel, as this is of interest.)


Might as well "back myself up" with my theory in which the upper wheel is the datum,
not the guidepost or anything else.
I can post some photos of bore wear on others machines later if ye like.
Thankfully my machine had none of that, but I've seen this happen to a few Centauro's and I'm guessing that these aren't machines suited to not being setup somewhat adequately compared.

Just noting that I spotted this General international machinery video on YT,
and is the only alignment tool/jig for the bandsaw I've ever seen.

Maybe Spagnuolo had seen this video before as he mentioned something along the lines of this principal on one of his first videos, and that I where I got the idea to use the beam because it made sense.

Screenshot-2022-5-26 How It's Made Band Saws.png


Screenshot-2022-5-26 How It's Made Band Saws(1).png


Worth a watch, should one want to see how the pro's use contact adhesive for installing new tires.
Having only used the stuff recently, it's certainly food for thought, as I didn't know how to use it properly and got failures on my boots.
Note glue applied and dried on cast wheel, and re applied again the same time as the rubber, let to dry before touching as it instantly bonds when dry to touch.
Not a user friendly adhesive to use for the job at all.

Back to my experiment again, as it makes sense... doesn't it?

Will the saw be able to be set up even better than it is now with some upper wheel depth adjustment,
or does a hard constant edge have much importance, and is more of a factor in this?


Maybe it's both, lol
Keen to see

SAM_6210.JPG

SAM_6212.JPG

SAM_6213.JPG


Will report back with my findings, just wanted to post before getting done for some fun speculating in what will make the difference.😀

All the best
Tom
 
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Time for an update, had a mess around with the wheel depth and set the top wheel to it's maximum depth.
The results didn't differ, well not by anything noticeable that I could tell.
Fair enough though, the adjustment wasn't massive in below photo, (the plumbline is making contact with the top wheel bolt)

I was hoping to tout the benefits of the Italian machine here, but this particular adjustment for wear is more practical should the upper tire have edge damage and not the other way round.

Still possible to make this adjustment have merit, but I don't want to dress the upper tires edge so deeply, well not for the moment anyway.
SAM_6224.JPG

SAM_6233.JPG

This is as close as I can set the thrust guide without contact ATM

SAM_6237.JPG


That's a Shinwa rule and very thin, and is about the tolerance I've gotten so far.
SAM_6240.JPG

So I tried dressing the edge of the upper tire, and found no difference really,


Interesting to note, an error is much more apparent on camera, so I must watch my video to spot if there are any irregularities.

I'm guessing at this stage that it's not too bad, and if it has some variance of bevel depth into the wheel, it will likely be so small that it
wont make much difference, since I didn't note any differences pre bevel dressing.
vlcsnap-2022-07-06-04h39m54s238.png

Might be a bit soon to say that the bevel means nothing, but I am drawn to progress to other matters, as I heard an old familiar noise which I hadn't heard since assembly.
A single knock, which in my mind, is the sound of the wheel changing position.
I was kinda expecting this, and now have lost whatever confidence I had left in the lower wheel bearing spacer.
(I didn't wish to change it out to soon, for interests sake)
Eager to see if this will sort everything out, as it sure made a massive difference with the upper wheel.
Very possible that this could be the cherry on top.
Hoping so, if not I will likely be sticking with things as they are, should things not change much.
It's no bother to dress the upper wheels tire edge in future, say for cutting tenons, as I know that the wheel is as deep as it will go,
meaning a trial and error basis will likely be fairly practical, should I deem that to be a good idea rather than changing the lower tire,
That would pain me at the moment, as the dressing achieved very nice results regarding absent flutter factor.
I cannot set my side rollers close to show, but you can see in the video that they got a bit sloppy after welding, and I sure don't want a pinch.
I don't utilize them anyway as I have this machine for doing rips and resawing.
Be interesting to note a difference, should that spacer be worn.
Will have to post another video should it sort that last bit of fore and aft movement out.
All the best
Tom
 
Well I had a go at removing the wheel, shaft and bearing(s) but failed on the last bit.
Those bearings were in the bore tight, no amount of taps would get them out, I even tried both bearings,
not a budge out of them.
I must have used the pullers on the old ones, as that would make sense why a pair were damaged.
So apologies for not documenting this, but I ain't gonna ruin my newish SKF bearings, nor the wheel.
The wheel and shaft seems a lot more solid, which certainly wasn't the case with the top wheel,
so I decided to stop while I was ahead, as it was some sweaty business, I'm soaked
yucky.gif

Think I'll need penetrating fluid to remove them, so not going there, those bearings had no movement in the wheel,
and were still tight to the circlips.
Assembled and tested again to see if I shot myself in the foot, luckily no damage was apparent.
Don't think I have any reason now not to assemble the machine, as I know where the wheel is.
Have some more messing about to get done before "dynamic testing" as Kelly might say.
Going to leave things as is for now, and keep an eye on things.
Thinking it might not be such a good idea to dress the upper wheel edge any further,
well until I see how that lower tire fairs out anyway, as it is rather thin by now,
Yes I could try tracking the blade so it's fully on the top wheel, but that's not really thinking ahead for a scrimper on a shoestring like myself.
Suppose that's the price I paid for attaining knowledge, and shouldn't happen to the next person should they stumble on my
obsessive bandsaw postings.
Should the tire last, it will surely be testament to the vulcanized flavour, and likely save someone a few quid.
Definitely worth some more documentation, should I find some more excuses to post.
smile.gif

I look forward to doing some cuts to see how things go,
should I be able to achieve decent grip of the blade now, and not have it partial to walking into the thrust guide,
which I believe it should be, as it was running well before things started becoming noisy.
I don't think there's anything I haven't addressed, bar a new v belt which I must buy soon.
Seems the belt which came with my machine isn't the right size, and the newer one (same brand and size I bought
doesn't fit, it's quite surprising how much an old belt can stretch and still not seem that much different whatsoever!
Will hopefully get one next week.
Hope you found this of interest, will keep ye posted.
All the best
Tom
 
Forgot to add I was working on improving the trunnion, as I was waiting for belts for me pillar drill.
I thought it a good opportunity as the previous go at fixing in the background,
wasn't the most rigid in regards to table drift.
The threaded boss in the trunnion casting was partly missing, and I just wanted something better than a clamp that wouldn't come loose.
This was when my angle grinder let out the magic pixie smoke.

Like my apron?
SAM_5003.JPG

Didn't put much thought into this, you might notice the longer than unnecessary slot length
SAM_5025.JPG


Didn't have much supplies, so salvaged from the original fix.
This took a warp which took plenty of belts to get OK hence the big calipers,
SAM_5037.JPG


Would'a made a nicer looking handle if I had a grinder, it's a bit fugly lookin
SAM_5026.JPG

SAM_5047.JPG


The bolt needs a bearing or boss as the threads will get mashed otherwise
SAM_6247.JPG


Some bodging on the bench grinder worked out pretty good, and I didn't even have to make the vice closer or use more nuts!
SAM_6258.JPG

Bit of patient filing
SAM_6262.JPG

Marking out the wider slot around the boss with everything set up, table propped incrementally
so it will be 90 to the back of the blade at whatever angle

SAM_6279.JPG


Needed a washer and this thick one, needed to be bored out and got an opportunity to
use this jig again, it is indeed the dogs dangle berries
SAM_6300.JPG
 
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