HELP! Bandsaw Not Cutting Correctly
Jnicholas
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
My bandsaw doesn’t track correctly when I resaw.
When I try to resaw a 2xwhatever, the blade shifts over, so at the start of the cut I have 2 1″ boards, but the blade wanders until I finish with a 1.125 thickness on one piece and .875 on the next.
Is this a tension problem, a bearing guide issue, or both? Could it have something to do with the sharpness of the blade?
Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Replies
Could be a lot of problems but I find my saw does it most frequently when the blade is dull and has one set of teeth sharper than the other. Usually a new blade solves the problem, assuming that the guides are set correctly etc. Also make sure you are holding the piece to be cut tightly against the fence and flat on the table especially as you get to the end of the piece.
J-
First, have you checked the drift on your saw? This is most often the culprit. Also, if you try to jam the wood into the blade, the blade will barrel leaving behind an awful cut, varying in thickness like you described. Be patient when feeding the wood. Lastly, band saw blades are cheap, feel free to put a sharp one on. If you get tired of changing blades all the time, consider a carbide tipped blade. Very expensive, but they last close to forever, and they cut brilliantly. Laguna has the Resaw King, ( can't speak for it ) or Lennox has the Tri-master, (AWESOME BLADE!). I can cut veneers as thin as commercial veneers with it. Hard to beat.
Hope this helps,
Sean
If it's not the natural drift of the blade, I think you need to try a new blade.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
You may be using a blade with too many teeth. Three teeth per inch is the most I use resawing. The width of the blade does not make as much of a difference as the # of teeth. The blade may be heating up and stretching, thus the poor cut. More tension won't help if the blade is dull or wrong type for resawing.
mike
Also check if the blade is tracking near the center of the tire. Or if your fence is badly out of square to the table.
Brian
Edited 7/25/2008 11:54 pm ET by BrianDerr
Are you using a true resaw blade? I had the same problem until I bought a real resaw blade (3 tpi) and the difference was amazing. No drift (I can just run the board against the fence) and I can resaw a board in half (or less) the time it took with a regular blade.
Dave,
I think that the 3TPI is more important than the width of the blade, which generally denotes a rip blade.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Mistracking of a bandsaw blade is caused by either an alignment problem or a problem with the blade.
I would suggest you get Mark Duginske's new bandsaw book and carefully follow his recommendations for aligning your saw.
Second, I would suggest a new blade if your existing blade is more than almost brand new. You should have at least three different blades that are used for different type cuts.
Bottom line, with good alignment and a good blade, your blade should track properly.
This is part o a response I made in discussion 40649.7.
Michael Fortune is a great designer, artist, craftsman and teacher. He knows bandsaws. He makes his living knowing bandsaws. He has contributed some fine articles on the tuning and use of bandsaws to FWW and other publications. (BTW, I have never met the man.)
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=24093
A properly tuned bandsaw is wonderful. The opposite is pure hell.
Do not assume the factory assembled the saw properly. Most of the stuff I had to adjust on mine wasn't even mentioned in the user guidebook.
My bandsaw has been a joy to use since following Michael's tune up tips.
A lot of people talk about compensating for drift. If you blade is good, then you should have no drift. Once you get the tracking set, it is set. I tension and de-tension each cutting session. The tracking hasn't changed in months and I have been cutting teak, jatoba and padauk only resawing 4/4 X 6".
Read this article and get you saw tuned.
Don
"A properly tuned bandsaw is wonderful. The opposite is pure hell.Do not assume the factory assembled the saw properly."
Don, you sure hit the nail on the head with that statement.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
It is not abnormal for a badsaw blade to not track straight. That is why most sources say not to resaw against a normal fence and to use some sort of a resaw guide.
Likely causes could include: teeth not equally set or one side got damaged (this is the most common problem at the school where I teach), blocks too loose, not enough tension, natural track of blade is not straight. There have been quite a few articles in the woodturning magazines lately on the value of fence that can be adjsuted to match the track of a blade. At the school where I teach I go low tech two clamps and a board with a straight edge.
After all of this I have to admit that on my 14" Jet with a riser block the current bandsaw blade tracks perfectly straight and I can resaw some reall hard nasty woods without a problem. The best part is that it was an $8 dollar blade that I decided to gamble on, even though I knew it would probably never work well. Boy was I ever wrong. I am going to be sad on the day I have to replace it.
What kind of fence are you using? A standard fence isn't suitable for most blades as the blade causes it to drift. A pivot point fence is best. Get Duginske's book as suggested.
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