adjusting tracking in WM LT 40

[gdingee]

On Thursday I had to replace a the bearin on the idle wheel. I had been unaware of the bearing going bad through the day, though I noticed my blades were dulling sooner than normal. Also noted the blade did not appear to be running in a straight track. I  found the three bolts on the drive wheel were a bit loose so tightened them- blade did track a bit better.

Now to the question: With the new bearing in the idle side wheel, my blade is way out of line. It wil track to the apropriate 1/8'" on the idle wheel, but obn the drive side, it is out as much as 3/8".

Furthermore, the back of the blade is nearly 1/2 out from back of the blade guide rollers. My mechanic was off for the day so I tried re-adjustung on my own- I cannot get the blade back in line. I am afaid I have moved the drive wheel forward & back so much it will never go back to proper position!!

Can someone help get my blade back to tracking properyl?

Graydon Dingee
Carlow, New Brunswick, Canada

[Tom]

Graydon,
My experience is with older machines.  I don't know if I could be of much help but......

The manual used to have some instructions for doing this.   I don't know what three bolts you saw that were loose, but there are some small bolts at the center of the wheel that are used to "pull" the wheel. You may have pulled the tapered lock out.  Perhaps you need to wait on your mechanic or call Woodmizer.

The blades must first be made co-planer (parallel) to one another and then adjusted for tracking.

It will probably be of great help to members who might be able to help if they know the year of the saw.   Even pictures might be of help to them and you both. 

The woodmizer 800 number would be the first place I would go if I didn't have a book.

[gdingee]

Thanks Tom,

My mill is a 1997 WM LT 40 HD. As I mentioned the bearing went on the idle side which I assume caused those threebolts on the drive wheel to loosen a bit. You are right, they are the ones to "pull" the wheel. Apparantl,, 2 of them can be romeoved and inserted into 2 additional holes which will then "push" the drive wheel in.

Anyway, in my ignorance, I did both the push and pull methods. The blade did seem to improve in tracking onthe wheels themselves, but I could never get the blades near enough oriented on the rollers- they were still out from the back of the blade guide rollers by a3/16 to 1/4'.

That taper you mentioned has undoubtedly been pushed in or out of place.

[MartyParsons]

Graydon,
If you have a operators manual that would be best. I am looking at section 3.5 on a new manual. The cant control is the adjustment for the idle side. It should be very close to the blade adjustment handle. Loosen the lock nut and turn the handle colckwise or counter clockwise. If the blade is too far out turn the handle counter clockwise if the blade is too far in turn the handle clockwise. Always keep the blade at the proper tension because this will change where the blade tracks. ( The newer mills have no handle WM removed these because somone always grabed the wrong handle) The handle is attached to a threaded bolt that will pull the idle bearing shaft right or left and adjust the tracking.You will need to rotate the blade wheels to check the tracking. Keep safety in mind when doing this! We always install a new belts and a new blade just in case we have two problems in stead of one.
   The drive side is a little different, I always think about where the blade needs to be moved in or out on the wheel. Move the Drive wheel above the saw dust shoot the same direction you want the blade to move. There are u bolts that hold the drive bearing in place and you will see there are nuts for holding the drive bearing and nuts for adjustment. You will need a short 3/4 wrench and will work through the spokes in the drive belt pulley. It is basic loosen the nuts equal distance and tighten the other nuts. Make small adjustments and recheck.
Hope this helps.
Marty

[Tom]

I can understand the guides not touching.  You need to get the wheels lined up and then worry about the guides.



If you are starting from ground zero, the wheels need to be co-planer. That means that a straight edge layed across their faces will touch the four edges of both wheels.  This will cut down on a lot of unneccesary tension in the band which cause short life.

Then the adjustment bolts can be used to tilt the wheels and fine tune the running of the blade.

You can get the blade to run true on bandweels that aren't co-planer and that isn't good. 

It's like getting the toe-in and alignment on your car out of whack.  It might run straight but it eats up tires.

[woodbowl]

gdingee, there is an elusive grimlin in the sawdust pile trying to mess with your head and your blade. Toms illustration shows the physics involved for the final and proper tracking.

I've had the same problem as I have replaced bearings several times as well as replaced the pulleys.

The very first thing that I would do is get new B-57 belts or at least make sure that the blade is running high on the old belts. I know this sounds so off base.

The reason for this is, if the blade is barely touching the pulley shoulder, it will gradually move either forward or backwards causing you to think that the tracking needs adjusting, but it doesn't in this case. You need to eliminate this hidden potential preferably with a Browning or Goodyear B-57. I can't tell you how many times I've adjusted this and almost got it right, then all of a sudden it was way off again. It was driving me crazy, only to find that the culpret was worn V belts riding too low and allowing contact of the blade and the pulley rim.

Here's what happened the other day ...... I noticed that my tracking was walking out so I figured it was high time to adjust it because I haven't done it in years. (other than a tweek to the idle side and I saw almost every day) I had an old belt in the truck that was worn but I exchanged it anyway. It was just enough to cause the blade to stand off the pully and PRESTO it was tracking back to normal.

Certainly, tracking is key to consistant blade guide shoulder gaps. Idle= 1/8"   power = 1/16", but once this is adjusted to new belts, a standard has been established and it usually doesn't drift very far. A pulley bearing going out or collapsed V belts are the only things that I can think of off hand that would cause the problem. Running and testing a different brand of blades sometimes track a little different too. I've found that it is less hassle for me to run the same type blades.