# Rockwell bandsaw question



## ScottyB (Mar 1, 2009)

I picked up a 10" Rockwell bandsaw in a second hand shop for $75. It seemed a good deal at the time but I was buying a second hand tool with no documentation, something I will be careful about in the future. I got it home and tightened the belt on it and fired it up and it seemed to run ok, but the blade seems to walk quite a bit. I finally decided that the guide bars (?) probably needed adjustment. My question is, how do you SAFELY make this adjustment? I see where you loosen the screws to adjust the bars, but the only way I can see where they need to be is to run the saw and then try to push the bars into position CAREFULLY. This does not strike me as being the safest way to do this even though my fingers don't come close to the cutting surface. Am I being paranoid or am I missing a huge safety procedure here?


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## ScottyB (Mar 1, 2009)

Bump.

Should this actually be in the safety forum?


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

ScottyB Trust me when I say you got a good deal. Rockwell tools when new could be compared to The top line tools made today. The reason you can still find Rockwell tools is because they are that good. Now this is how I would tackle your problem. First unplug the tool. Take the front cover off the band saw and then loosen all the guides including wheel that the back of the blade runs against. Once all are loose, turn the drive wheel buy hand in the direction the blade cuts in. On the back of the top of the saw should be a tracking knob. Ajust the tracking knob to made the blade track on the middle of the tires. The tires are the rubber bands that are around the drive wheels. After the blade is tracking in the middle of the tires, start ajusting the 4 side to side guides to barly kiss the blade. After you get the 4 blade guides and the 2 little wheels at the back of the blade the blade runs against, It should run and cut ok. The teeth on the blade should stick out past the side to side guide blocks. The guide wheels will have to be reajusted if you change the blade to a bigger or smaller blade.


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## ScottyB (Mar 1, 2009)

Thank you. I had the tracking figured out but that took a while with no manual nor experience. I saw another thread about rollers that got me to thinking that I may have a different issue when it came to cutting straight so I looked at the guides. In retrospect your advice makes much more sense than what I was trying to do, go figure. Why is it we always go for the hard way first? 

I am happy with the saw. I was a little skeptical at first when i saw the plastic covers but it cuts whatever I throw at it. Some day I will have to break down and order the parts to replace the tracking mechanism though. Previous owner really torqued that up and now they don't work properly.


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## oregoncarver (Jan 8, 2009)

Check the model number on your saw, it might be the same as mine, if so I have a manual I can copy. I got my band saw about 10 years ago and Delta had the manual they sent me free along with a small part that was missing.

Arthur
[email protected]


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## ScottyB (Mar 1, 2009)

I'll take a look when I get home Sunday. Rockwell is related to Delta, right? Now that I think about it I think I heard somewhere that Delta is really good about keeping manuals online. Something else to check out when I get home.


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

ScottyB Yes Delta and Rockwell merged way back before I was born. One of my band saws was made in 47 or 48 and is a 10" Delta/Rockwell. When I bought it, it had been in the tool room of a large Clothing retail store. One of the first things I did was remove the brass Babbit bears in the drive wheels and replace them with needle bearings. Even with the blade tight, it will free spin with almost no drag. Way better preformance, smoother cut, all around well worth the money and efford to find bearings to fit it.


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