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Hesh,
You can cut it on the table saw with a sled. Safe. Without a sled and with out table saw experience and a small piece of the UHMW , not safe.
Chop saw, depends on understanding the forces at work and how big your piece is and how you hold it to cut.
Bandsaw, depends on how thick your piece of UHMW is and what blade you use. So the answer is you can cut it as if it was wood but cutting small pieces of wood on power tools takes careful thought and knowledge of technique. You could do by hand but I don't know what the shims look like so I can't advise as to specifics. Give me the specs. and I will make you some shims and mail them to you.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Thanks guys - much appreciated!!

Thanks Filippo! I had the wheel off and now see that they pull right off and I didn't have to take off the snap ring so I am all set. I am just struggling with how to cut the shims since I don't use a table saw. May take Link up on his kind offer too of mailing me some or I am also hoping that I can use plastic "for sale" sign stock that I use int he shop to make protective shields for instruments.

Thanks for the offer though!

Thanks Filippo telling me to think of it as Mahogany was what I needed and then I was good-to-go.

I sliced off some UHMW shims and you're right this stuff, UHMW material is easy to work.



Now I was able to tap two shims in on the left side but I have some questions please?



I did a trial run and removed the shims and here is what I noticed. My shims must be too thick because the black metal parts, T box... won't move even when I detension the blade with the shims in place. Shims too thick?

Also not that this is an issue but the tracking changes with the side that you use shims on since shiming one side and not the other moves the wheel over the thickness of the shims. What I am unclear about going back and forth between this thread and this one: http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=21275&hilit=rikon is are you using two shim total with both on one side or four shims total with two on each side? I suppose that the side that we shim if only using shims on one side is irrelevant?

Lastly since this UHMW material is slippery and even my thick shims shifted around a bit what prevents the shims from moving over time or even falling out? I'm wondering if you drilled out your shims to encircle the two side bolts that hold the T-channel stuff in place? Maybe just drill and then open up one side so that the shims can still be pressed in over the bolts?

Thanks again - almost there, having fun and learning a lot about my new saw too.

The thing I am running into so far is that the lower bearing guide doesn't allow enough adjustment to run the bearings just behind the blade gullets... even with the supplied 1/2" blade. It doesn't seem to have enough front direction travel.... I think I will have to fab up another little adjuster bar....

And then -- What is with mounting the entire lower adjuster mechanism with 1 screw.... which is the same screw you use to Adjust it? Wouldn't you want more than one so you can keep the adjuster mechanism from twisting? Or maybe Separate the Mounting and Adjusting screws so that you can change the front/back bearing contact without twisting or shifting the entire adjuster?

On shimming the upper mechanism....
When looking at Todd's sketch in the other post -- he was showing 2 shims.. 1 on each side. This would help it center properly in the track like it is supposed to.

Also -- you probably want a tight but sliding fit -- so maybe 0.002" - 0.005" per side clearance... Not a press fit where the whole thing will lock down.

Also Hesh -- if you look at how the adjuster pointer works.. you could fix your adjuster reading now that the wheels are off... just loosen the 2 screws and move the pointer up to show less tension.

Thanks

John

Thanks Filippo - just got home from the Ann Arbor shop and am planning on kicking back and working on the bandsaw so great timing as well as advice.

John - good idea on the pointer but the 1/4" blade that I am currently running is defective and nearly 112" long so I don't want to reset the pointer for this one - instead I am just going to wear it out and then install a proper blade. Good idea though.

My shims are in and ended up being .045 thick each. I wanted to put them on both sides and top and bottom which is what you did I think too.

The saw was already pretty smooth in terms of vibration and continues to be very smooth if not smoother now with the shims.

It's a great saw and I have really enjoyed setting it up, doing the mods, etc.

Thanks again everyone for your help!