Bandsaw wiring... bad instructions.

I'm assembling my 14" HF bandsaw and am a bit frustrated by the instructions. Parts aren't differentiated very well (or at all), some things that are supposed to be already assembled are not, while things I'm supposed to put together already are. There were a few loose bolts/washers/nuts floating around in thd box and I haven't figured out where they go yet. Steps are missing and/or so vague it's maddening.

But the main issue I'm having is wiring. The wire from the power cord is supposed to be connected to the switch terminals already, but it wasn't. The instructions say just plug in motor wires in the same positions as the power connections and give no other instruction. There's a simple pic but no terminal numbers or helpful info. I connected the motor and cord wires based on the orientation of the terminal in the drawing, but won't plug it in until confirmed.

On the back of the terminal each spade has a number - 1, 3, 4, 6. This is a simple single throw on/off switch, so SPST. But I can't find a diagram of a SPST with these four terminals. I connected motor black to 4, white to 1, power cord black to 6 and white to 3.

Thoughts?

Also, the box is crap and the wiring insulation was stripped to far back and is exposed outside the box. I'm going to replace it with something sturdy and make better connections.

 

Get your DVOM out and test for continuity between 1-3 with the switch on and off, as well as 4-6 with the switch on and off. Should give you an idea what is connected with the switch in both positions. Looks like you have it right too.

give it a plug in and see what happens. Worst that should happen is you pop the breaker it’s on.

 

Agreed. It looks right.

 

Looks right, can you access behind terminal block to verify?

 

Yeah that looks right.

Btw this switch is a DPST, basically the centerline is the divide of two isolated switches that are both Single throw. Not sure why the bandsaw would need a full DPST switch unless it was 220vac.

1,2,3 are a single pole where 1,2 are NO ISOLATED FROM
4,5,6 where 4,5 are the Normally open pair.

 

Not sure but I'll look to see. I think there's enough consensus that I've got it right to give it a go. I still need to install the urethane tires I bought, blade, Accu-Link belts, etc. before it's done, but no reason why I can't turn the motor on to check.

 

While I'm enduring a long zoom meeting for work I decided to take a break from the WGT Golf game I'm playing and download the bandsaw assembly instructions to see what's next. Low and behold, they are updated and much better. Clearer directions and they also have some assembly steps in a different order than the paper version that came with the saw. Take a look at the motor wiring page below. I said in my original post there was no mention of securing the wires, but they addressed that in the version on their website. They also corrected the text identifying the ground wire as white...

 

So did you plug it in and risk shorting out your local neighborhood?

 

FWIW......

Typical wire colors for 120 Vac are

Green is Ground
White is Neutral
Black is Hot (power)

 

No, it was a full day at work and evening has been just as busy. Tomorrow.

 

@916carl any update? Also Im looking at getting upgrade/ slightly bigger bandsaw. Curious how this works

 

My plan is to get back on it today if work allows. I have a 1 car garage with a lot of stuff in it, in addition to the car. This happened when my fiancé moved in, and 2 households became 1. What I wouldn't give for an acre or two with a large outbuilding. Anyway, cars have to be moved, stuff rearranged and relocated to make room. That makes it hard to just run out and work on it for 20-30 minutes then get back to work. Although, all the big pieces are together now so I'm close to the point where I done have to do all that.

As mentioned above, I'm also doing more than just assembling the saw. In my research there were things people did to make the saw better and easier to work with, so I thought this is the time to do those rather than after it's put together. When HF was having their sale I also got Accu-link belts and a mobile base. On-line I bought urethane tires to replace the stock rubber ones and a better blade (apparently the one it comes with is crap). The mobile base is awesome and well worth the $, but the instructions were shite and that took a few hours to put together.

If I can get the pulleys and belts on, the urethane tires and the guide post/blade guard on today I'll be happy. Goal is to have it all done and running no later than Saturday.

 

Ok, got a big more done on it today...

• saw pulley put on and aligned with the motor pulley
• guide arm and blade guard installed
• swapped the top blade guide blocks for Cool Blocks, then realized, while those are rectangular, the lower blocks are round and I didn't buy those. If anyone needs 2 cool blocks I got extra...
• Accu-Link belts on
• swapped out the rubber tire for a urethane one on the top wheel. What a bitch that was. Was going to do the bottom wheel but ran into a snag regarding reattaching the top wheel and decided that was enough for today.

However, I did plug it in and fired up the motor and no sparks or fires! All good. Got the belts on and ran it again. I think they are too loose and will need to pull/push the motor down a bit, after I figure how to do a 3 hand job with two. And find out how much deflection the Accu-Link belts should have.

So far all the holes lined up, all the hardware was included and the motor and pulleys run well. It's a heavy piece of cast iron! They say it's a 2 person job but I'm doing it solo. You can definitely do it by yourself, but another set of hands would be helpful.

All that's left is urethane tire for the bottom wheel, installing the blade then tuning it. After that I'll cut some stuff and see how it goes.

 

@916carl
Got a question for you, what does the blade guide bearing on the upper part of your bandsaw that backs up to the back blade , i have an older model. But the new guide is round, the old one was hex.

 

I think this answers your question. It uses a round bearing. If that's not it, or you need a better pic let me know.

 

do you have a part number for the piece/shaft the bearing is mounted to?
Mines hex needs to be round

 

Send that to @six5crèéd and he can make it round for you! Haha

 

Sort of. The user guide calls these part numbers, but I don't know that you call HF it will be the one they need. The user guide is available on the HF website, but this is all it lists.

Looks like part #58A. Or 7. What do I know. Lol

 

Yeah harbor freight needs a 5 digit number i need part 7A @six5crèéd can you make it 10mm round?

 

Would it be easier to just make a new part to hold the bearing?