sreilly24590 Posted March 26, 2019 Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 Well I'm not sure if this belongs here but...I've had on/off problems with my Laguna 14-12 since I bought it at Woodcraft in Richmond Virginia and Laguna has been contacted several times. This recent issue seems to crop up from time to time where when changing the blade is difficult to the point it won't stay on the wheels for even several hand revolutions. Last night was one of those times. I had the 1/2" blade on and went to install the 1/4". I released the tension and took the 1/2" blade off, put the 1/4" on and went to tension the blade. I turned the wheel by hand less that 2 revolutions and the blade sprung off. I had released the tension as I expected a lesser amount needed for the smaller blade. Remounted the blade and repeat, blade comes off. Now I really back off the tension, repeat and try 4-5 times with same result. Dinner time, I'm disgusted, I go and have dinner. Thinking about it still bothers me so after dinner and dishes I go down and put the 1/2" back on and tension, hand turn the upper wheel and check to center the gullets on the tire center. No issue. Take the 1/2" off and install the 1/4" blade, no issues. Now an on and off issue I've had with this saw is that when releasing the tensioner the top wheel doesn't always move much. I had this the first time after assembling the saw back 2 years ago and a nice lady at Laguna suggested loosening two bolts that align the upper adjustment when tension is applied. Not sure of the proper term here but hopefully you get the idea. So I had problems getting through to tech support at Laguna so I called my Woodcraft and spoke with John who sets up all their shop equipment for their classroom. After telling John the above he suggests the same adjustment as the nice lady did thinking maybe I didn't loosen enough. I had thought of that but wasn't sure if I loosened it more it might cause more bad than good. Keep in mind this saw has had very little used time on it like maybe 10-15 hours. Surgeries slow you down.... That and this has been a sporadic issue with me thinking the upper wheel carriage assembly may not be moving as intended all the time. Had I used it more maybe it would have "broke in" or it may have been more frequent to see the issue. But this long story has a bright lining as I had left a message the other day after talking to the desk at Laguna and received a call this afternoon. I was expecting a tech but instead got Benjamin, head of technical support I think. Anyway he's one of the big guys. We discussed and he asked when it was purchased, 01/30/2017, and said although it's out of warranty clearly I have had running issues which he wants to resolve. He asked me if John, from Woodcraft, was technical enough to be able to look over the saw and see if it had issues. I'm not sure but will find out. If so he's willing to pay for John to travel to my house (2+ hours driver round trip) and have a look. Benjamin also suggested my calling to speak with their best tech and see if he has any ideas which I think is the best next step and then John from Woodcraft if necessary. Biggest takeaway was this is by far more support than I expected from Laguna and very nice to see a company stand behind their products. p_toad, Gunny and John Morris 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 26, 2019 Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 Check the frog for a crack. My saw (not Laguna) had similar tracking problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sreilly24590 Posted March 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 Ok now I'm gonna sound like a newbie but the only frog I'm familiar with is on the hand planes. Is this the assembly that works the tensioner and alignment? Gunny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 26, 2019 Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 Maybe I have the name incorrect. "Frog" is what the guys at the repair place called my broken part (#194) in the picture. It was cracked on one side where pin #34 was inserted. This is a generic picture so your saw may be completely different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sreilly24590 Posted March 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2019 Thanks Lew. My diagram is way different. See attached. There are two bolts that go through the slots that guide the tensioner movement and those were loosened to try and help with a more consistent move when used. It's the only thing I could think of that might be affecting the action and thus maybe not putting the upper wheel in the proper alignment. Thanks for the suggestion but I can't really see anything that looks out of sorts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 27, 2019 Report Share Posted March 27, 2019 I see the difference. Sorry I couldn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sreilly24590 Posted March 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2019 So the service guy came this morning and looked at the bandsaw. At first he couldn't see anything but as we started changing blades different things, different then what i experienced (blades moving off wheels and such) such as the blades "fluttering", a term I thought meant side to side, not front to back. But the strange thing was although he checked the upper assembly for slop and physical problems, slightly tightened the two bolts I had loosened slightly (where when detensioning the upper assembly wouldn't drop down cleanly without a pull, he really didn't see any issues. The upper wheel was pulled off and the tire checked. The crown was good and the tire in excellent shape, no wear or tears. So installing the 1/4" blade, it tracked well, 3/8" blade tracked well, all three 1/2" blades well 2 fluttered front to back maybe 1/8" while the third didn't and tracked well. OK bad blades but not so fast as we installed the 3/4" with no issues and the reinstalled the 3rd 1/2" blade that worked well and it fluttered front to back again about 1/8". Ok tire issue but why only on the 1/2" blades and one that worked well before? If the tire is a problem why don't all the blades have the same issue? So Laguna is sending me one of their 1/2" blades to test. There's no obvious sag to the tires and I believe they are glued on. These are the poly tire not rubber. Of course you wouldn't see sag unless the saw is running and then I would think you need some gauge set touching the bottom of the tire while at rest and then while running and see if there is a difference. Not sure at 1750 RPM you would get any naturally. So although we worked on it for maybe 2-3 hours, maybe longer, I'm not sure we found anything. Something else I notied after we finished is that the blad now is almost and sometimes touching the insert to the inside of the table (towards post). That said I had installed the new trunnions which did allow much smoother tilting of the table. Maybe I installed the trunnions more forward? I can't say as there isn't any measurement on installing these and I was advised to tighten just enough to hold in place but enough that they can adjust themselves to the lower trunnions and when I get smooth tilt remove the table and tighten. Maybe that's that issue. Anyway I made some zero clearance wood insert, my first try at that and made 3 that fit extremely well. Seems it's always something........ p_toad and Grandpadave52 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Beitz Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 (edited) I build bandsaws... The tension should not have a lot to do with keeping the blade on... But tracking does... The tension will give you a better cut if set right. Edited March 4, 2020 by Kevin Beitz Gerald 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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