Can anyone give me feedback on this bandsaw... do you have one?

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by lewisboats, Jan 29, 2015.

  1. DCockey
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    DCockey Senior Member

    My experience is with a Delta 14" bandsaw with cast iron frame. I have not heard previously of anyone needing to reinforce the frame. I used mine for years with the factory blade slot insert though I did swap several years ago to a plastic "zero clearance" insert. Major difference I found was small slices no longer get stuck in the slot around the blade.

    One modification I made early on was to replace the metal guide blocks with "Cool blocks" which are made from graphite impregnated phenolic laminate. http://www.olsonsaw.net/cb500.html The major advantage I found with the cool blocks is that they don't harm the teeth if I forget to reset the guides when switching from a wide blade to a narrow blade.

    Blade tension with these saws is controversial with claims made that the tension needs to be much greater than obtained with the stock spring from Delta. The counter argument is that the saws have worked fine for decades with the stock tension if it has been aligned, and the increased tension can cause premature wear on the tires and bearings. (I don't know how the Grizzley compares to the Delta).
     
  2. viking north
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    viking north VINLAND

    Steve, that Grizzley casting and possibly whole saw is the same clone that Delta, General Overseas, Busy Bee, and about 20 other brand names now use. Again being made in either China or Taiwan . The earlier castings used by Atlas, Rockwell, Rockwell Delta, Sears, and again about 10 more North American Companies were totally made in the U.S. or Canada and are the older cast iron very high quality units that PAR were referring to. The Grizzley you purchased is of good quality with Grizzley keeping a closer eye on quality control. You should find it's operation a ok without any modifications however as PAR stressed the key is proper set up. Some years ago I worked part time as a woodworker /carpenter Instructor for about 5 years at a government Trade School and as part of the course the students were required to dis assemble and re assemble (properly set up)the machinery with the band saw requiring the most attention to proper step procedure. Somewhere I think I still have the instructions and over the next few days I will attempt to dig them out. If not a search on the net should give you what you need if not already supplied with your assembly package. Again the key is following the steps in proper order and with patience. Once properly set up you should rarely break or have a blade jump the wheels. ---
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2015
  3. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    This is made in Taiwan... or so says the site and the box. It has roller guides but only singles. I can get Carter doubles for around $180 if I feel that they are necessary. I'll start with what I've got and upgrade if I feel the need. Since boat building generally is to the 1/8th of an inch... I expect this will do me fine until I feel the uncontrollable need to spend more money on a niggle. I'm not daunted by the assembly... I'm an industrial mechanic right now so it shouldn't be a problem... I just thought it ironic that the saw blade was installed but there were several packages of nuts, bolts and screws along with other smaller parts in the packaging that needed to be installed. The very last thing I would think would be on the installation schedule would be the blade. My biggest impediment will be the weather. I don't like the cold very much and it is cold now, plus I have caught something so I feel like crap. I've also worked every day of the last 27 days and don't really feel like doing anything but sleeping. Still... I shall endeavor to press on and do something this weekend.
     
  4. viking north
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    viking north VINLAND

    I've always found Taiwanese to be of better quality verses China with Japanese of course being tops of the Asian manufacturers. Your saw most likely has bearing guides to control the in/out blade position with steel slider guide blocks either side. One quick inexpensive improvement you can make is to replace these steel guides with fiber or plastic. These are great blade savers by reducing heat buildup. All in all this is not a bad tool choice, keep it tuned up and it should serve you well -- Get well, spring is just around the corner for you around two corners for me :) while into it for our far North American Southern friends :D
     
  5. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Ditto the get well and it was 76 today and will be 80 tomorrow for the Daytona 500 (an hour due east for me).
     
  6. viking north
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    viking north VINLAND

    Seems strange not to be there at this time of year. Other than the past few years we have regularly been to Daytona 2 to 3 months each year for 15 plus years. Great while it lasted :D
     
  7. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    You'll make it down again, Nancy can't resist me . . . ;)
     
  8. viking north
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    viking north VINLAND

    Now you be careful young feller, the G in the name "The Nancy G" indicates her second name is Gail :D See how important a friend you are that I should warn you such :p
     
  9. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Yeah, stuck my foot in that one, good thing she doesn't read these posts very often. I think we both got luckier than our looks deserve . . . :)
     
  10. lewisboats
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    OK... so I put it together this morning. It took me about 2 hours just to assemble the saw part. I haven't attached it to the base yet nor have I built the rolling sub base, nor have I even tuned it properly. It doesn't even have the blade in it anymore because I had to take it out to fit the riser on. That was an interesting interlude. First off, it is held on with one bolt and a couple of pins to locate/keep in position. The original bolt was whatever takes a 15/16" wrench.. but the longer replacement bolt was metric(with two different wrench sizes!). Something you really want to find out when you are trying to balance one heavy piece of metal on top of another heavy piece of metal on a small surface area, while attempting to thread a nut on a bolt! I finally put everything back down and got one of my bar clamps to hold things together while I worked on the bolt. They recommend you have two people when doing this... good advice! The extension table... what a bluedy nightmare!. You need a 6 year old's hands to get the damn thing together properly. I ended up having to lay it on the ground, rotate it up to clear the table, then I was able to get the cap screws to thread in properly. Wrenching a 1/4 turn at a time with 30 mm cap screws will give you carpal tunnel... there is just no room to do things properly. Once that was over with though... the other stuff went pretty OK. I did end up dinging the cover for the motor a bit... and when I went to remove it I sheared one of the screws off (cheap screw). I'll have to drill it out and put put a slightly larger one in there.... or not. A little duct tape is really all that is necessary to keep it from pivoting inwards on the other two screws and dinging against the fan. I shlepped all the cardboard that had been accumulating in the garage over to the local branch of the pizza chain that I have one of my jobs with and availed myself of their cardboard dumpster. Tomorrow I'll tackle the rolling base and mount the saw base to it. I'll get the kid to come over and help me with lifting it onto the bottom assembly next weekend or if he has a day off during the week.
     
  11. lewisboats
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Actually the saw came with roller bearing guides... and I can order the double roller bearing guides that come with the next higher grade saw. That is 2 rollers per side, top and bottom.
     
  12. viking north
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    viking north VINLAND

    Good Stuff ---Geo.
     
  13. lewisboats
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Spent my morning today building this:

    [​IMG]

    I was going to do it yesterday but people showed up.

    Those wheel plates are 1/4" thick Stainless with heavy duty locking swivel casters, all attached with 5/16" stainless bolts. The platform is 2x10 doug fir, doubled up. I'll use 2x4s to surround the bottom of the base to keep it from shifting around. I set it up so I'll be pushing against the long axis of the wheels when I use the saw, and that is about 40" from front to back. The wood base is 27" square and the wheel plates project 6 1/2" on each side so the caster swivels can clear the base.
     
  14. lewisboats
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Next up is an A frame with a come along to lift it up onto the base. I'll make a pair of them (take apart) so when the time comes to flip the boat, I'll have them already done up. Picture 2 huge saw horses (using 8' 2x4s as legs and a 2x6 as the cross) with the A's splayed out and trapping the cross piece at the top. Straighten them up and the cross piece comes loose so you can store them flat.
     

  15. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Finally got it mounted today. What a Cluster... I get this catalog in the mail from HF... 2 ton engine crane (cherry picker) for $179. I can afford that says I! So after work and walking the dogs this AM, off I go to the HF store. $250 and over an hour later I arrive home with the goodies. Next is about 1.25 hours putting it together and an hour trying to figure out how to get the saw onto the platform. I built the platform just that little bit too wide to get it between the Vee legs of the Picker. I ended up calling my son and getting him to come over and help. My final attempt before calling him had the saw bolted to the base and lashed to the CP's hook, then tilted back so I could put the platform under one edge of the base. This is where the kid came in. I needed him to brace the platform (even with locking casters, it was too light to stay in one place) and let me lever the saw/base up onto it. It actually only took about 45 seconds to get it done, so I was on the right track finally. Of course... with the saw/base/platform together it is about 5" higher than without the platform so the table is about mid chest high for me. I'll have to make a 5" platform to stand on if I find it uncomfortable at this height. I'm too tired and my shoes are off so I'll post a pic tomorrow.
     
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