Band Saw Frustration And Seeking Blade Recommendati

[reible]

I was just looking at some notes I took when I took a bandsaw class some years back. If you place the board back against the fence if the cup is to the left then the back of the fence needs to be moved more to the right or opposite to the side of the cup. Like wise if the cup is to the right then the back of the fence should move to the left or again opposite the way of the cup.

You have to remember the blade is cutting that path so there is no magic involved.

Ed

[algale]

I was just looking at some notes I took when I took a bandsaw class some years back. If you place the board back against the fence if the cup is to the left then the back of the fence needs to be moved more to the right or opposite to the side of the cup. Like wise if the cup is to the right then the back of the fence should move to the left or again opposite the way of the cup.

You have to remember the blade is cutting that path so there is no magic involved.

Ed

Your notes and the article you earlier linked to by Highland say the same thing re adjusting the fence. It certainly makes sense that if the board initially used to adjust for drift was thinner than what is resawed it will not necessarily work correctly with thicker stock. More teeth in the wood at all times might exaggerate the drift compared to thinner stock. Something to experiment with. And maybe a reason to use a single point fence to resaw thick stock.

[algale]

Well, following Ed's notes and the Highland paper, I gave the fence some more angle to see if it would eliminate the cupping when resawing tall boards. After a couple of trials at progressively more fence angle, it has reduced but not still not eliminated the cupping. At this rate, by the time I eliminate all the cupping I will be cross cutting my boards rather than resawing them! I have wasted a lot of wood. So, I am going to quit until the new band saw blade I ordered last night has arrived. Then I will start over and report back my results!

[JPG]

A question regarding 'cupping'.

I assume cupping is a tendency for the blade to deviate from vertical as it transverses through the workpiece. Thus it creates a concave surface on one half of the resultant pieces and a convex surface on the other.

My question is, relevant to the previous statement regarding adjusting for cupping left/right which half(concave/convex) is 'the direction of cupping'?

The concave side(i.e. the blade deviates towards that 'half' in the center)?

In Nick's shop tip included in Sawmill's thread cupping was pictured as a curve along the TOP???????
http://www.woodshoptips.com/tips/011303/011303pt2.pdf

bandsaw cupping.jpg (226.39 KiB) Viewed 1997 times

Anyone else notice the 'guardless' bandsaw?

[ERLover]

Thee thinks the guard is raised to permit the resawing.

[JPG]

Thee thinks the guard is raised to permit the resawing.

Methinks the missing guard belongs below the table!

[ERLover]

Ya I noticed the missing pulley guard, but who need em anyway

[algale]

Well, following Ed's notes and the Highland paper, I gave the fence some more angle to see if it would eliminate the cupping when resawing tall boards. After a couple of trials at progressively more fence angle, it has reduced but not still not eliminated the cupping. At this rate, by the time I eliminate all the cupping I will be cross cutting my boards rather than resawing them! I have wasted a lot of wood. So, I am going to quit until the new band saw blade I ordered last night has arrived. Then I will start over and report back my results!

Reporting back that the results of the new band saw blade are great! I installed a new Wood Slicer 1/2", 3-4 tpi, blade and tensioned it up to exactly 1/2 inch on the scale. Without even adjusting the fence from where it was before, I was able to resaw on my first try down to 0.014 inches with zero cupping! This is much, much thinner than I need for the project I have in mind, which will be happy with 1/8th thick wood, so I'm good to go! Now I am dreaming about getting into making some home made veneer! Given the results of the new blade, I'm attributing my cupping problems to the old blade. What I don't know is whether it was truly dull or if it had some kind of defect or if it just is too much blade for the Shopsmith at 5/8ths wide. I will say that the new blade tensioned up much more happily than the old one did, with no back-talk from the tension mechanism and the saw ran very quietly indeed. Whatever, the reasons or explanations, I am happy with my Shopsmith band saw again and I didn't have to buy the Carter Guides to get there!

Thanks, everyone, who chimed in with their suggestions!

Al

[Gene Howe]

Dick, What 1/16 width TS blade do you use? Then, which band saw blade do you use?

[jsburger]

Well, following Ed's notes and the Highland paper, I gave the fence some more angle to see if it would eliminate the cupping when resawing tall boards. After a couple of trials at progressively more fence angle, it has reduced but not still not eliminated the cupping. At this rate, by the time I eliminate all the cupping I will be cross cutting my boards rather than resawing them! I have wasted a lot of wood. So, I am going to quit until the new band saw blade I ordered last night has arrived. Then I will start over and report back my results!

Reporting back that the results of the new band saw blade are great! I installed a new Wood Slicer 1/2", 3-4 tpi, blade and tensioned it up to exactly 1/2 inch on the scale. Without even adjusting the fence from where it was before, I was able to resaw on my first try down to 0.014 inches with zero cupping! This is much, much thinner than I need for the project I have in mind, which will be happy with 1/8th thick wood, so I'm good to go! Now I am dreaming about getting into making some home made veneer! Given the results of the new blade, I'm attributing my cupping problems to the old blade. What I don't know is whether it was truly dull or if it had some kind of defect or if it just is too much blade for the Shopsmith at 5/8ths wide. I will say that the new blade tensioned up much more happily than the old one did, with no back-talk from the tension mechanism and the saw ran very quietly indeed. Whatever, the reasons or explanations, I am happy with my Shopsmith band saw again and I didn't have to buy the Carter Guides to get there!

Thanks, everyone, who chimed in with their suggestions!

Al

I don't think a 5/8" blade is too much for the SS band saw but that is a different conversation. SS does sell a 5/8" blade for re-sawing.

I think what happens is that blades get dull slowly over a long period of time and we get used to the change without noticing it. So we just keep using them. It is not like they are great one day and crap the next day.

When the SS traveling academy was here in Salt Lake a few months ago Mike Young addressed just that problem. He had had the same blade on his band saw for ever that he uses at the Lowes demos where he free hands the flowers and Cabriolet legs etc. I don't remember why he said he bought a new blade but he said it was like night and day. He actually had the old blade there and put it on and let us cut with it and a new blade to see the difference.