I am trying to resew 6″ white oak into approximately 0.1″ thickness. I am using an 18″ Delta bandsaw with a new 1 1/4″ 1.3 tpi blade. The saw is tuned as well as I can with all guides carefully adjusted. My fence is 6″ tall with a surf at the base for sawdust. The wood is jointed square and planed. I cut a quarter sawn board and it worked perfectly. Now I am trying to cut a lot of plane sawn boards and cannot do it. Even with a 30″ long board, the cut starts fine but before I reach the end the board pushes away from the fence and I cannot exert enough force to keep the full 6″ in contact with the fence.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
Try viewing Michael Fortune's video on aligning the table with the blade. It may be of help.
My thought exactly.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2018/07/16/two-fixes-for-bandsaw-drift
Thanks for the comment. I blame autocorrect for the bad spelling. I had written resaw and didn't catch the change.
I have watched Michael Fortune's video several times and followed all of his advice. The blade is perpendicular to the table and the fence is parallel to the cut.
Check your tension, that was always my problem, not enough tension. That's a monster blade and requires a high amount of tension, I resaw 6" boards with a 3/8" blade because my saw can't properly tension even a 1/2" one, albeit my saw is smaller.
Other than that, be aware a lot of resaw fences are a single point of contact that allows the board to pivot, thereby allowing the user to compensate for blade drift. Trying to resaw on a large saw with a large blade using a standard fence may also be an issue.
Just throwing some ideas out there... hope you get it resolved!
I recently struggled with this same blade drift problem, and before finally resolving it, I had reviewed all the tips and videos I could find on the Internet (including Michael Fortune's, Alex Snodgrass's, etc.), and any advice I could find from blade and saw manufacturers and suppliers. There are several conflicting approaches to solving the problem, and very little agreement; one video pundit rather sneeringly refers to the problem of blade drift as a "myth"--and then proposes his own solution to an ostensibly mythical problem.
Common to all the advice, of course, is the need for a clean and sharp blade, proper blade tension, and correctly-adjusted guides; after that, the "solutions" diverge. Many sources suggest adjusting the angle of the fence so that it is parallel to the angle at which the blade WANTS to cut (as determined by making a freehand cut along a straight pencil line). Adjusting the fence can help with resawing, but it leaves your saw's miter slots out of parallel with the blade. If the line at which the blade WANTS to cut is only a degree or two out of parallel with the miter slots, it is instead more practical (than angling the fence) to adjust the table itself, by loosening the bolts that secure the table to the trunnions, shifting the table, and tightening the table down again. (This may require a lot of trial-and-error.)
In the end, one of the most marked disagreements among the "experts" involves where on the upper wheel's tire the blade should be running. Most advice says that the center of the blade should coincide with the centerline of the wheel, i.e., at the highest point of the crown of the tire. At first glance, that would seem like a no-brainer. However, at least two knowledgeable sources disagree, and say that the deepest part of the gullets of the blade's teeth should be located on the centerline of the tire/wheel, in effect putting the bulk of the blade rather off-center. This suggestion is the ONLY one I tried that SIGNIFICANTLY reduced blade drift. In my case, it reduced the drift angle from about four degrees to about one-half degree. I just ran 135 feet of two-by-six redwood through my 75-year-old 14" Delta bandsaw (to turn old deck boards into vertical siding) and got perfect results: no binding, and no bowing or cupping in the resulting stock.
The only other suggestion I would add is to create a supplemental fence to attach to the face of your stock fence. Make the supplemental fence "short," such that it ends just beyond the back of the blade; once a resawn board has gone past the blade, it no longer needs the support of a fence, and the absence of a fence back there will allow the newly-cut board(s) to relieve any pent-up stresses by twisting or bowing freely, rather than pushing against a fence and inducing forces you'd need to fight against.
two thoughts- perhaps that blade that was sharp when you began is no longer sharp. Second, have you tried slowing down your feed rate? I sometimes get over eager, and going too fast creates an inaccurate cut.
SnareBreath, thanks for all the investigation on your part as I recognize some of those expert comments you mentioned. I too have found conflicting insights to blade drift in resaw. I will try your suggestion of the tooth gullet centered on the wheel tire.
I adjust the wheel angle instead of using the blade drift fence. Even in this mode, I have found some minor drift in resawing. Cupping is a definite sign of blade dullness or high TPI count and no technique can overcome it. I have moved up to the $100+ carbide tooth blades and find they remain sharp for a year with excellent repeatable results.
I'm in the no-drift camp. I also run the keeper next to the fence. I guess I just fly in the face of internet wisdom ;-)) The point is, what works for you, works for you. When it doesn't work is when you try new things.
This is a Resaw King, I use moderate tension (flutter method) and saw veneers at a moderate and steady feed rate. Blade condition, saw setup, material condition, feed rate . . . so many things can effect your result. Glad you found your "zone". ;-)
I own a Jet 18 inch bandsaw. Since I started using 3/8 Wood Slicer blades from Highland Woodworking (that’s the only source) I have eliminated drift. Obviously all other settings need to be dialed in. One of the biggest reasons for drift is if the set of the blade has been compromised. If one side is worn more than the other due to hitting a nail or a really hard knot, then the blade will drift into the middle of next week! The only solution is a new blade.
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