My bandsaw has ball bearings for both the upper and lower blade supports.Yesterday I was cutting some pine and I was using a half inch blade, half way through a shallow curved cut there was a loud bang and I hit the off switch. On inspection one of the lower bearings the right hand one as you look at the machine was missing. After hunting around on the floor I found the bearing and the attachment screw. The bearing was seized solid, I also checked the other bearing and that was very stiff to turn. What caused the bearing to part company, well my guess is, the right hand one is turning anti clockwise and when the blade made contact with the seized bearing the rotation of the inner race undid the attachment screw and then the whole thing parted company. I check these bearings regularly but I had been cutting some Tuffnol a few days before and both bearings had thick deposits. The flying bearing had a lot of energy because I later discovered that it somehow had broken the lower door locking device.
I suspect the bearing attachment screw was not tight ( not easy to get at on my machine ( APTC AWSBS) but it is my fault. I did free up the 2 bearings but I have ordered a new set. Thinking about this the bearing could have hit me and possibly made a hole. So check your bearings are free with the correct clearance and are secured correctly.
I suspect the bearing attachment screw was not tight ( not easy to get at on my machine ( APTC AWSBS) but it is my fault. I did free up the 2 bearings but I have ordered a new set. Thinking about this the bearing could have hit me and possibly made a hole. So check your bearings are free with the correct clearance and are secured correctly.
