Use and Care Manual

BL
ADE TRACKING ADJUSTMENTS
Ideally, the blade should stay relatively centered on both the
upper and lower wheels.
Due to natural variations in castings, blade thickness or density
and tire wear, absolute perfect centering alignment is rarely
attainable. A slight misalignment of the blade on the wheels is
inevitable and as long as it is kept to a minimum (following the
steps listed below) will not hinder the performance of the saw.
This misalignment is controlled and kept to a minimum primari-
ly by adjusting the tilt angle of the upper wheel.
When adjusting blade tracking to center the blade on the
wheels and assuming that perfect centering is not attainable, it
is preferable to have the blade slightly off-center towards the front of the wheels rather than towards the rear because the
teeth on most band saw blades have alternating hook (one inner, one outer) – therefore if the blade is centered too far
back on the wheel (or if the blade tension is too tight), inner hooked teeth will dig into the wheel tire and cause prema-
ture wear of the tire.
Nonetheless, to avoid having the blade come off of the wheels on it’s own during operation, the front edge of the blades
teeth should never be any closer than 3 mm (1/8”) from the front edge of the wheel
.
3 MM - 1/8"
1. Open the upper wheel cover door then rotate the wheel
slowly forward by hand and check (through the window
of the upper wheel ) the position of the blade on the
wheel. The blade should remain as centered as possible on
the wheel as it turns .
2. If the blade tracking must be adjusted, loosen the locking
lever on the tracking adjustment knob , then turn the
knob:
- Clockwise if the blade moves toward the front of
the wheel. This tilts the top of the wheel to the back and
moves the blade toward the center.
- Counter-clockwise if the blade moves toward the back
edge. This tilts the top of the wheel to the front and
moves the blade toward the center.
Note: Turn the tracking knob in 1/2 turn increments, re-check and
adjust again as needed.
3. With the tracking set, tighten the locking lever to secure
the tracking adjustment knob in place.
BLADE CLEARANCE
Note: As previously stated, when performing blade installation, removal, tensionning or tracking, maximum clearance
between the blade and both upper and lower bearing assemblies is required to minimize friction, which would be
damaging to the blade. Refer back to page 17 and follow the instructions for “BLADE CLEARANCE” before performing
blade tracking adjustments.
Note: The upper and lower wheels are factory set to allow for easy and
optimal blade tracking adjustments using the primary blade tracking
adjustment knob, which adjusts the angle of tilt of the upper w
heel.In
extremely rare cases, if acceptable blade tracking cannot be attained
through the primary adjustment it may eventually become necessary to
make minor adjustments to the angle of tilt of the lower wheel. The four
bolts may be adjusted in or out to tilt the lower wheel up/down or
left/right as needed.
CW if blade
moves to
FRONT
CCW if blade
moves to
BACK
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