# Bandsaws and Bourbon!



## rocky1 (Jun 9, 2016)

Well, I got fed up with trying to find a used bandsaw with all the features I wanted, if it had everything I wanted, they wanted new price, and I had to go after it. Of course all of them were barely used, in excellent shape, and a 100+ miles away. When they want $450, the saw is sitting in the middle of a commercial shop and claims to be barely used, and I got to drive a hundred plus miles to look at it, to decide if I want it, knowing I don't have a warranty on it. - vs. - go to Grizzly.com plunk $524 for saw and shipping to my door, with warranty... Not a tough choice to make honestly.

Anything cheaper had smaller motor, smaller table, no rip fence, no warranty, and they still wanted almost as much for them, and I had to go after them . Found a couple deals on 20 inch saws, but then I had to run 220 to wherever I want to use it, and they were a little out of my budget at the moment, so...

Last week I bit the bullet and ordered up the Grizz Go555P, delivery was scheduled for Wednesday, UPS called Monday questioning residential or business address, gal sounded reeeeeeeally cute too! (_Truck driver confirmed my suspicions that she was!!_) Told her it was business address, had a whole fleet of forklifts, setting it off wasn't going to be a problem, with or without liftgate. Got back to the shop at 4:45, no bandsaw.

Had been a long HOT day, and my coworker's Yeti was about out of ice, but the beer was still cold so we decided to rescue them from that insidious cooler warming disease that affects beers. About a 6 pack in, each, we heard semi slowing on the highway, looked out and sure enough UPS was pulling in, I went and grabbed a forklift, had him unloaded and ready to roll in a minute or so. Coworker ran up here to the house and helped me set the saw off my truck, but I didn't have time to assemble it last night, as my folks were coming up for supper.

Tonight I tore into it and put it all together. Instructions were way over-blown; if they'd just sort the nuts and bolts, bag them separately, and label them, you could throw the assembly instructions away, up to adjustments necessary. Visited with rip a little about the saw the other night, he advised help was a good plan, as it was a tad heavy to put atop the stand when assembling it, but help wasn't around, so I just did it. Wasn't that bad, but at 6 ft. 265 lbs., and totin bee hives around daily, wrestling 700 lb. drums of honey, and such for a living, I deal with goodies that heavy pretty frequently. If you got an office job, don't go to the gym, and seldom pick up anything heavier than the garbage to take to the curb... You probably don't want to go there!! Call someone to come help.

Got the saw up there and bolted down. Blade was running to one side of the throat plate, remembered Ben had that problem, couldn't remember what everyone told him, but everything on the guides looked adjustable so I figured it wasn't a problem. Spun my wheels checking for center alignment, looked OK, dialed it in to perfection.

And, then the fun began!!!

Had tightened the blade up, but it still seemed awful loose for some reason, kept cranking, ran out of threads, and it still seemed a little loose. I'm talking, beyond the prescribed adjustment for 3/4" blade, with a 3/8" blade, and still a little loose. Couldn't adjust no more, so I figured I'd try it. Set my blade guides, centered the blade in the throat plate, adjusted guides to clear the teeth, set the support bearings, everything looked great! Hit the switch and I had strange ticking noises. NOT IMPRESSED!! Box was a little damaged, only damage I could find on the saw was the grill on the end cover on the motor is bent about a 1/4" or so, so I didn't think anything of it, and went ahead and put it all together, and now it has funny noises inside.

I know it says you aren't supposed to, but I opened the covers with it running to try and find the noise, part of it was blade guides running oddly to deep after having been properly adjusted, so I backed them off and reset them. Fired it back up and it's ticking worse, so I open the top cover to check center alignment on wheel and it's a little off. Dial it in perfectly, turn loose of the knob and it starts walking to the front of the tire a little, so I tweak it back the other way a hair, and it runs clear to the back of the wheel, and then the most minute of adjustment sent it shooting off the front of the wheel, about 6 inches in front of me.

Yeah, I'm OK... Because I was trying to dial it in and because I'm a little leery of such things, I was kinda standing to the rear of the saw looking around the corner at the wheel.

Shut it down, popped the bottom cover and only slightly tweaked the blade. Backed tension off, put the blade back on, readjusted tension, again I'm bottoming out on adjustment and the blade seems loose. Recentered the blade on the wheels spinning by hand, reset my guides since none of that was cooperating trying to slide the blade back on; put it all back together, and tried it again.

Now I got ticking AND some serious scrubbing of plastic! Shut it down and looked it all over, only plastic is of course the channel the blade runs in on the left side of the machine, so I get my flashlight, check again, and sure enough the blade is hitting the plastic at the top, an inch or so from the end.






Tried loosening the screw on the top of the plastic channel there; it doesn't move at all. So I look things over, thinking goodies have maybe moved when the pallet got banged around, and find the two lateral adjustment screws behind the top wheel.



 

Looked like maybe they did move a little so I loosen them and try to slide things over to clear this problem, and they just aren't moving real good, apply a little more pressure in a different fashion, and the top half of the saw moved. Not from the base up, the top half of the saw itself. Wherein knowing absolutely nothing about this saw, something screamed "THAT AIN'T RIGHT!!"

Start looking things over and there is a small gap where the top and bottom halves of the saw bolt together, so I try pulling on it, and sure as bat guana, it isn't tight. And, it's not moving just a little, and the blade is still under full tension! Throw the quick release on tension, and IT REALLY MOVES now! So I start digging in the tool box, no room to tighten that one with crescent wrench, you can get it in there, but you can't turn it when you do, and that bolt requires a 24 mm socket to tighten. Y'all got any idea how big a 24 mm socket is? Most metric socket sets stop way before that! But living 18 miles out in the country, working on trucks, tractors, and machinery occasionally, and having an aversion to not having the tool I need, when I need it, I did in fact have 2 of them. Found the deep well first, slap on the swivel joint because the head of the ratchet won't go in the hole, turn it a little, get the socket and swivel joint hung up in there, had a helluva time getting it out. Went and dug in the impact sockets and found a short socket.

I'm guessing I got a thread and a half out of the nut, pretty easy!!



 


Went back to lateral adjustment on the top case half, reset it, blade is now perfectly centered in the plastic channel. Reset tension on the blade again, (_it was actually tight at the 3/8" mark on the gauge now, in fact I had to back it off just a hair_), adjusted center alignment on the wheel, of course all of that changed blade position, so I had to reset all my guides, and reset the support bearings again.

Cleaned the cosmoline (_they call it anti-rust_) off the table, PB Blaster and a couple shop towels, took it right off. Moved on to installation of the rip fence, get the first half on, figured lock washers on the allen screws on the back side. Oh NO... bolts on the front side get flat washers and lock washers. Discovered this after the front side was installed. Get first screw in the backside without a problem, go to install the second one and lost it off the allen wrench inside the tube. No problem pull the end cap and slide it out, piece of cake! Oh NO... the end cap will not come out! So I grab my trusty little magnet which won't go in the hole, snag the screw as it slides by, get it lined up and in.

Sounds great now! No ticking, no scrubbing, cuts wood really good! I locked the shop came inside and fixed myself one very large Honey Bourbon and Iced Tea!!









And, I may need another to calm my nerves!!

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 1 | Great Post 6


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## ripjack13 (Jun 9, 2016)

Good grief Rocky, what a fiasco. mine ran good right outa the box. That bolt that keeps the two halves together is where the riser comes into use. Did you get one? 
I'll have to check out that killer bee...I love some good bourbon....


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## rocky1 (Jun 9, 2016)

Yeah, I'm not sure what all went on there. Almost suspect it got bumped pretty good and the top half shifted a little, causing the bolt to move and loosen everything up rip. Corner of the box was ripped, little sliver of pallet stuck in the Styrofoam packing, styrofoam stuck on the cord pretty good, and the cover on the motor tweaked a little, was all the damage there was, all of which was on the bottom of the saw. Really wasn't any rhyme or reason to it. Gap wasn't really anything that looked out of place when I put it together; didn't look out of place until it wiggled. But, a lot of things weren't making sense, until it moved either. I just wasn't sure what all was going on. Was following instructions sorta, got to adjusting it all out and it really was all going good up to that point. Had the bolt been tight it would have been a piece of cake! Was no doubt, a little frustrating having to reset it all 3 - 4 times, however I did get edumacated on dialing a bandsaw in, for sure!

Ordered the saw through Sears, they were advertising a sale on tools, and that was in there as being on sale. Was hoping to get discount on Grizzly's side on the Polar Bear, and a little off on the Sears side, but it wound being just the Grizzly discount. Got $4.95 in Shop Your Way points from Sears!! Yee Haa!! But, I've still got to order the riser and guide from Grizzly, and contemplating the rolling base; Sears doesn't show much if any of the accessories, all they list is the saws, and if you dig and dig and dig, you can find blades through Sears.

The Killer Bee is good stuff!! I believe the wife found that at the Wally World bottle shop. I personally am not a big fan of Honey Bourbons because they're typically way tooooo sweeeet, remind me of Southern Comfort, which reminds me of cough medicine. But this is actually pretty good. Smooth, not real sweet, you can m ix it with some good ole southern sweet tea, and it just kinda disappears. If you like bourbon, you can mix A LOT of it with sweet tea, and you don't get syrupee, you get bourbon flavor in your sweet tea. Wife picked up a bottle just because it was "Killer Bee", which she does things like that occasionally, pretty bottle, catchy name or something, she'll bring me some home to try and empty the bottle so she can keep it. Had to get more of this one! Has become tough to come by down here, last time she hit a bottle shop with some in it, she bought 4 bottles to keep me in stock! Gotta love a woman like that!! If you can find it, I think you'll be impressed. Typically I'm a Wild Turkey fan, can drink a lot of bourbons and Irish whiskey, but I do discriminate on occasion, as with the Southern Comfort, but this stuff is honestly a quality bourbon.


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## ripjack13 (Jun 9, 2016)

I am certainly going to look for it. I like Bulleit bourbon, and Jim Beam Black.

Didja get to cut with it yet?


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## rocky1 (Jun 10, 2016)

Found a scrap to play with a little after I got it all together, simply had to after all that, and it is S-W-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-T!!!!! I was amazed at how clean it cut pieces down to so thin they were almost transparent. Granted it was a piece of spruce 1x2, so not real tough, but the saw really does cut nice.

First thoughts looking it all over:

-- Rip Fence could maybe sit a little tighter on the table, not sure why it needs to sit 3/8" above the table. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing it, but if a guy wanted to rip 1/4" material for flat work, it sits too high. 

-- And, I foresee the rear mount on the fence getting notched out for the miter gauge, allowing an inch plus more travel rear of the blade. I really don't understand why that isn't notched at the factory.

Was going to adjust the fence to zero, so measurements were accurate on the fence itself, bolted it on, slid the fence over tight against the blade to adjust it, and it couldn't have been anymore perfect! I was dead on the 0 mark. But then I set the miter gauge in there, and it was kind of a let down that you only have 1 1/2" - 2" of travel rearward on the miter gauge, and you run into the fence mount. Dremel and a cutting wheel will fix that pretty easily, and with a little file work it'll look factory when I get done with it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Jun 10, 2016)

Hold up there Rock, what do you mean the miter gauge runs into the fence mount? mine slides right over it. lemme get some pics to see if we both have the same one first....
be right back...


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## ripjack13 (Jun 10, 2016)

That's mine...is yours the same mounting set up? if so, then there should be adjustment in the bolt holes....

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Jun 10, 2016)

Also, something I need to change out is the little paddle screw to tighten the cool block bracket...My miter hits it if it is low enough....


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## ripjack13 (Jun 10, 2016)

oh...and don't forget the brush inside the door....



 

Mine's looking a little worn, probably should replace it soon....

Reactions: Like 1


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## rocky1 (Jun 11, 2016)

Say by God... your right! Two sets of holes there and in all my aggravation and frustration I mounted it in the top holes rather than the bottom holes. (_Didn't install the fence 'til last thing, after all the above was figured out._) Moving the fence to bottom holes will cure both issues with the fence! Want to say the bottom holes didn't look tapped on the outside, but looking underneath they obviously are. Had a tough time starting the bolts on the top ones in fact, right side especially, may be excess paint set up and hardened in them. Have to dig the tap and die set out and clean threads up.

Thanks Marc!!

No didn't forget the brush, didn't get there yet, but I didn't forget. What kind of brush did you use? Looks like a sawed off nylon parts cleaning brush?? 

Harbor freight should have those by the buckets, and I need to run to town and pick up a few cheap bandsaw blades to get by until the Carbide Tipped blade arrives next week. Found a piece of Spalted Red Oak with a bit of a bend and a knot in it that looked like it would produce some really interesting blanks, and it instead pretty much wiped the cheap factory blade out! But not before it knocked out a hundred or so pen/call/whatever blanks out. (_Have another 15 - 20 with centers drilled soakin up Cactus Juice._)

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## woodtickgreg (Jun 11, 2016)

Very cool Rock, glad your getting it all sorted out and having some fun with it.


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## ripjack13 (Jun 11, 2016)

Good to hear Rocky! I've had good luck with Olsen blades.
A nylon parts cleaning brush is what I used.


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## rocky1 (Jun 11, 2016)

Yeah, I was having a blast until that last piece Greg. It was sawing beautifully until I grabbed that one and it just absolutely refused to do anything right. Blade may still cut straighter grained stuff, but that one it would not do anything with.

Harbor Freight shows a Supercut carbon steel - $11.99 - 14 TPI -- Big sale this weekend, that could be costly however!!
Lowes shows an assortment of Bosch Blades - $15.99 for Bi-metal -- $9.99 for Carbon Steel 1/8" to 1/2" wide, all 14 TPI
Homo-Depot doesn't show a 93 1/2" at all

But that's according to their websites, have to go see what they have in-store. Be a little slow ripping stuff, but they should cut smooth anyhow!


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## woodtickgreg (Jun 12, 2016)

Mike praises the super cuts.


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## rocky1 (Jun 12, 2016)

I saw one of his post earlier Greg, and started to order them from Amazon too. Then an ad popped up for them at Harbor Freight, and we've got a store in town, and they're $2 cheaper there than the store on Amazon was. And, there is always something else there I need to look at!! Especially when they're having...

A 3 day sale!!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ripjack13 (Jun 12, 2016)

I didn't know they had good blades.....


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## woodtickgreg (Jun 12, 2016)

ripjack13 said:


> I didn't know they had good blades.....


Just a few super cuts, and the usual chinese garbage.

Reactions: Like 1


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## rocky1 (Jun 12, 2016)

I'm guessing for $10, they ain't real good blades, but I'll take Mike's word for it. Homo-Depot isn't showing any, and quit shopping there when they started openly supporting the gay rights agenda. Reviews aren't stellar on the Bosch blades offered at Lowes, in fact that's kind of a fiasco there. Look at 93.5 inch bandsaw blades, it reverts to reviews on 14 inch bandsaw of some nature, then shows pictures of a handheld bandsaw, so you really aren't sure what you're looking at reviews on. Part of them say they're easy to put together, part of them say they have plenty of power to do the job they want to do, part of them say they're exceptional blades, part of them say they were dull after one job, and part of them say they don't cut metal worth a damn... I'm so confused!!!



Didn't make it to town today, gotta go get the work truck serviced, get a haircut, and run a few other errands in the next day or two, so I'll probably swing by then and pick them up.


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## Palaswood (Oct 10, 2016)

Hows the saw performing so far @rocky1 ? I'm looking to get a 14" bandsaw
Is the 6" resaw capacity good enough?


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## Tony (Oct 10, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> Hows the saw performing so far @rocky1 ? I'm looking to get a 14" bandsaw
> Is the 6" resaw capacity good enough?



I can tell you I've got an old Rockwell 14" that is a workhorse, I love it. The resaw capacity is my only issue with it. In reality it's about 5-1/2" and if you're cutting bowl blanks, etc. it can be frustrating. Tony


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## Palaswood (Oct 10, 2016)

So I just realized that a riser block can be added to get another 6 inches of resaw making it a full 12 inch resaw capacity! The blocks kids are 100 (back ordered on rockler for the Jet, but Grizzly has theirs for 85 bucks).

I may go with the Grizzly, they have a cool 30th anniversary 14" bandsaw in Black and Gold that looks very cool. $634 shipped to my door, and I gotta say, unless something blows my socks off before payday Friday, im pulling the trigger on it.


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## Tony (Oct 10, 2016)

I've heard mixed reviews about adding a riser block, maybe others can weigh in? Tony


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## Sprung (Oct 10, 2016)

Tony said:


> I've heard mixed reviews about adding a riser block, maybe others can weigh in? Tony



I couldn't imagine owning my saw without it having a riser block! I have an old (built in 1946) Delta 14". Had the riser block already installed when I bought it. So nice to have. I obviously didn't have to do the install of it, and I've heard that sometimes it can be tricky to make sure everything is aligned again afterwards, but it would be so worth it.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Oct 10, 2016)

Absolutely love it Joseph! No complaints what so ever. Rip fence is adjustable so it can be as accurate as you want to make it, and it has a big magnified sight glass to make reading measurements easier. I've worn out a couple blades thus far, and while they're sharp, it's tough to bog it down. Plenty of power to do the job! Dull... yeah you can bog it down, but your cut is going to be all over the place before you get to that point.

6" resaw capacity has worked for me thus far Joe, but all I've sawed up to date was pen blanks. Have a pretty good sized box of those I sawed out of firewood, and yeah I found a piece or two that wouldn't go through the saw, so I made it work. Fired the chainsaw up, cut it to blank length and ran it through vertically, or knocked an edge off the log to get it through. It really hasn't been an issue thus far.

Grizzly has a Riser Block Kit available for these saws for $90, if you decide you need more throat on it. That was the cheapest I saw riser block available for any 14 inch saw. Other brands were double that if they had one available.

If the Polar Bear hadn't been on sale at the time I bought mine, I'd have bought the Anniversay Edition 0555 as well. Hard to argue 20% off, sale price covered cost of shipping.


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## Palaswood (Oct 10, 2016)

Thanks for the reply @rocky1 - Since I will be going more towards the fine furniture route, I'm going to want to resaw 10 or 12 inches at some point, think krenov style cabinetry.

I would be happy with 6" resaw for now, until I play with it a little and figure it out. I've never resawed before and only ever used a bandsaw for metal (machine shop apprentice like 15 years ago lol).

But a bandsaw for chair parts is essential, and now that my workbench is almost done, I need to get serious about equipment.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Tony (Oct 10, 2016)

Sprung said:


> I couldn't imagine owning my saw without it having a riser block! I have an old (built in 1946) Delta 14". Had the riser block already installed when I bought it. So nice to have. I obviously didn't have to do the install of it, and I've heard that sometimes it can be tricky to make sure everything is aligned again afterwards, but it would be so worth it.



Matt, is yours a Rockwell or Delta?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Oct 10, 2016)

Tony said:


> Matt, is yours a Rockwell or Delta?



It's pre-Delta-Rockwell. The badge on mine is Delta Milwaukee (from way back when Delta was in Milwaukee.)

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## HomeBody (Oct 11, 2016)

Like this 1938 model. Gary


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## Mr. Peet (Oct 12, 2016)

1938, the way you put it, is that the year or model number? Year I assume since mine looks to be a twin and it is # 90-3364. I didn't see the light on it. I never use the light anyhow. Should I assume it was near a change over year? My Delta Milwaukee looks the same, including the wooden dolly on the bottom, however the base by the ID number has a Rockwell tag.


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## brandon (Dec 16, 2016)

rocky1 said:


> I'm guessing for $10, they ain't real good blades, but I'll take Mike's word for it. Homo-Depot isn't showing any, and quit shopping there when they started openly supporting the gay rights agenda. Reviews aren't stellar on the Bosch blades offered at Lowes, in fact that's kind of a fiasco there. Look at 93.5 inch bandsaw blades, it reverts to reviews on 14 inch bandsaw of some nature, then shows pictures of a handheld bandsaw, so you really aren't sure what you're looking at reviews on. Part of them say they're easy to put together, part of them say they have plenty of power to do the job they want to do, part of them say they're exceptional blades, part of them say they were dull after one job, and part of them say they don't cut metal worth a damn... I'm so confused!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Didn't make it to town today, gotta go get the work truck serviced, get a haircut, and run a few other errands in the next day or two, so I'll probably swing by then and pick them up.


Woww!!!!!


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