Bandsaw Blade Alignment

basaltboy · Post by **basaltboy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:44 pm

I seem to be having trouble with a 1/4" blade not cutting straight. I have adjusted everything to the best of my ability but it still cuts to my left as I face the blade- probably 10-15d degrees, quite an angle. The size of the piece does not seem to matter.
Any suggestions??
thanks

KDC · Post by **KDC** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:03 pm

Have you set the blade tension correctly?
Are your guides ok?
Are you forcing the wood?

basaltboy · Post by **basaltboy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:27 pm

The tension is correct according to the gauge on the inside of the saw. As near as I can tell the guides are correctly set, just a bit of contact on both sides. I have tried varying feed speed/pressure and it doesn't seem to make any difference. I would guess that if any of these three points is suspect it's the guide setting.
Thank you
--pat

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:35 pm

basaltboy wrote:I would guess that if any of these three points is suspect it's the guide setting.
Thank you
--pat

Could also be the teeth set causing the problem. Try another blade.

basaltboy · Post by **basaltboy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:37 pm

hmmmm-- good point. I'll try another blade and compare-
thanks
--pat

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:00 pm

Bandsaw, correct? Blade induced drift...that is what you are experiencing. If you would draw a straight line down the center of a piece of wood that you are going to rip and then attempt to rip it (following that line) without a fence you will see the results of drift.

Cut about half way and stop. Do not move the board that you were cutting. Look at it with respect to the expected line of cut and you will find that the board is off to one side or the other. DRIFT. A normal occurrence which will most likely be different with every blade you use.

You cannot rip against a fence on the bandsaw as you do on the table saw due to....you guessed it....drift.

Added Comment:

This is not exactly a true statement! You can rip against a fence but the fence must be set on that drift line (angle of drift) rather than square to the table (parallel to the blade).

basaltboy · Post by **basaltboy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:10 pm

Thanks-
Isn't resawing done on a bandsaw with a fence??

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:28 pm

basaltboy wrote:Thanks-
Isn't resawing done on a bandsaw with a fence??

Yes. Some times. But, you have to adjust or angle the fence to make up for the blade drift.

anmius · Post by **anmius** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:41 pm

Sometimes "drift" can be caused by uneven "set" of the teeth on the blade. One of the old tips for correcting this (or reducing it) is to rub a sharpening stone on the side of the blade where the drift is heading. If I understand it correctly, it is supposed to reduce the aggressiveness of the teeth on that side, yielding a cut with reduced or no drift.

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:48 pm

The only problem with that is that it also dulls the blade at the same time as correcting the pull.