Carolina Bandsaw (HD10?) measurment needed

I have an HD10 and the arm measures 10 5/16" from the pivot center to the bolt center.

I have never seen other than my HD10 so I don't know the difference in the models; mine uses a 3/4" blade, 115 1/2" long.

My saw agrees with the other poster at 10 5/16" center to center. I measure about 43deg angle with the table on the square tube at the top of the saw.

However your saw may be suffering from what mine was based on what I see in the photo. My saw had the pivot bushings in the base wrong. It would track pretty far off from 90deg to the table. The way to check this is put a framing square on the table (use whatever surface you plan on using for getting the stock flat on for a reference since these saws don't have a perfectly flat table). Push it against the blade and then hold it there. Then raise the saw and see if it either binds or moves away from the blade. If it moved away that will be the amount of angle on the cuts made with the saw. If it binds then reset the square against the blade with it up (you'll only be able to go about half way up doing this). Then lower the blade and see how much it's off. If it was like mine you have close to 1/4-3/8" out in 10-12" of travel.

The cure for this is to take the arm you're talking about off and then cut the bushing loose from the base. Then notch the hole in the direction you need to go and tack it in place. Check for square travel and adjust as needed. Once set you weld the bushing back.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Thanks for the measurements and ideas Wayne and John. Since you both said the arm measures 10 5/16" hole-to-hole, that must be the correct size (unless my saw is not really a HD10 and the other models use a different size arm). Mine is a tiny bit shorter--10" +/- 1/16", but that difference does not explain the problems I am having with alignment. The alignment issue that you corrected on your saw, Wayne, does not seem to be a problem on mine. My blade follows a square nicely as I raise and lower the saw head. Here are the symptoms that led me to think that the arm was too short, perhaps someone else can see another explanation:

1--With my saw adjusted to the best of my understanding, the blade does not complete the cut (pass beyond the plane of the saw bed) unless I set the saw head to pivot beyond the horizontal position AND/OR I set the lower blade guide at an angle (by tilting it in it's adjustment slots on the saw frame) to force the blade to make a little deeper cut.

When I bought the saw, it was set so that the head was angled down at the end of the cut (i.e. the main square tube of the frame was not parallel with the floor; the motor end was higher than the other end). This did not look right to me. All of the Carolina (and Ramco) Bandsaws that I have seen in pictures seem to end the cut with the square tube parallel to the floor, so I made adjustments in the blade guides until it could almost complete the cut "properly". Am I off track with this idea? Surely the lower blade guide should not be set at an angle; if it was supposed to be extended that far then I think the slots would have simply been cut further down.

By extending the support arm (mentioned in my original question) and raising the high side of the saw, I would lower the blade slightly.

2--When I raised the saw head to a vertical position, the gear case bumped the nut that was welded to the base to hold the tension spring, preventing the saw from pivoting to a full upright position. Surely that is not intended in the design of the saw. A longer support arm would put the gear case further from that nut. I have cut off that nut and I am working on a new spring attachment which will provide more even tension as the saw head descends, but that is another whole post in itself . . . .

3--The deepest cut my saw will make is 7.75". Isn't it supposed to cut 8.5" deep. A longer support arm would help with that.

4--Looking from the end of my saw, the saw head is at a 41 degree angle from the table. I thought it should be at a 45 degree angle, but I have no real reason to expect that. Wayne said his is at a 43 degree angle, so I guess mine may be off by a little.

Here is something else that confuses me which may or may not be related to my alignment problems: The wheels of my saw are not in the same plane. They have different flange depths, which the parts suppler, American Fab, told me is OK, but it doesn't make sense to me. The drive wheel's flange (the part that the back of the blade can bump against) is 1.5" from the saw frame (measuring from the flange to the surface of the 1/4" thick plate that holds the wheel mechanism). The non-drive wheel's flange is 2" from the saw frame. If this is truely the way that this saw was designed, then this just seems like a poor design to me.

Any words of wisdom about these alignment issues will be appreciated.

--Harry

Harry, I recently bought an old Carolina HD10 and am trying to set it up like you are. I'm a little concerned that the frame just isn't stiff enough. I'm thinking of welding gussets on the back of the plates.

However, my bandsaw goes 3/8" past the table when horizontal. I think your problem must be alignment but perhaps it is that the saw was just made high. One possible fix would be to put a 5/16" plate on top of the work surface. You would lose 5/16 of travel, is that a problem? First thing I would do is play with the blade guides: they move in out up and down. You should be able to move the blade around. Then you'll probably have to adjust the tracking. BTW, both of my drive wheels are over 2" from the 1/4" plate so you may want to look at your gearbox so see if someone shimmed it or something.

BTW, I paid american fab $10 for a manual and it isn't worth much.

I put a coolant system on mine but it drips a lot off the tail end. I'm working on a recovery system for to go under the corner but keep thinking there must be a more elegant way.

Finally, I started a Yahoo group called "bandsaw" if someone wants to post some photos. I'm new to this group so I hope it's not bad form to mention Yahoo groups.

Cheers, Jerry

I'm also putt

I have been thinking along these lines too. My idea is to cut two pieces of 1/8" plate 14" X 3" and weld one on each end of the saw. One end of the piece would be welded to the square column and one edge would be welded to the plate that the wheel is attached to. I think this would add a lot of rigidity with a minimal effort. It should take care of some vibration. I would trim the wheel covers and replace the hinges.

The throat depth of my saw, as it is, will not allow a cut deeper than

7.75". Isn't it supposed to cut 8.5" deep? I don't think the pivot is set too high.

I have played around with them. They are set to the positions that push the blade as far down as possible, in fact, too far I think, since the lower blade guide assembly is angled in its slots.

I wonder if my gearbox is not original since several people have mentioned that the gearboxes on these saws tend to give out. Mine is a Boston Gear Box--300 Series. Is that typical?

I am not surprised to hear that the manual is lame. I received a couple of pages of alignment instructions from American Fab (for their newer Ramco saws which appear to be nearly identical to the Carolina saws) when I ordered some replacement parts. Several sections of the instructions are confusing or incomplete. For instance, they suggest using a fish scale to check the descending weight of the saw head in order to set the spring tension. They say the saw head should weigh

9-10 pounds (without the hydraulic cylinder engaged) if the spring tension is set correctly. The problem is they don't tell you where to attach the scale to the saw head. The saw head is a lever--the closer you put the scale to the pivot point, the greater the weight will be! Oh well, I can figure out the appropriate pressure by referring to blade manufacturers PSI recommendations.