Shopsmith Forums

And another thing, very important as I have found out... is the blade tracking EXACTLY in the middle of the tires? I was ripping about 6 degrees off until I heard about this trick. Centred the blade on the tires and the skew went to 0 degrees.

Thanks everyone on suggestions for correcting my wayward bandsaw cutting. I have some work ahead of me today to work through the suggestions. Most helpful.

This issue will take me to areas of bandsaw maintenance where I have not been before. Should be interesting.

derekdarling wrote:And another thing, very important as I have found out... is the blade tracking EXACTLY in the middle of the tires? I was ripping about 6 degrees off until I heard about this trick. Centred the blade on the tires and the skew went to 0 degrees.

Derek: do you have a Shopsmith bandsaw? If you do and the blade is tracking in the center of the tires - you have a tracking problem! The Shopsmith tracks toward the rear of center due to the way the upper bandsaw wheel is cantered.

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Yes, to echo what Dusty said, the SS Bandsaw wheels are not intended to be co-planar. The upper wheel is canted with respect to the lower. The upper wheel itself has its tire following a slight conical-section shape, rather than a conventional symmetric/crowned shape.

dusty wrote:Derek: do you have a Shopsmith bandsaw? If you do and the blade is tracking in the center of the tires - you have a tracking problem! The Shopsmith tracks toward the rear of center due to the way the upper bandsaw wheel is cantered.

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Dusty, I do not, but thanks for setting me, and others, straight about the ShopSmith bandsaw. I have a delta-clone 14", and had quite a tracking problem until I centred the blade... cleared it up in a jiffy!
Derek

derekdarling wrote:Dusty, I do not, but thanks for setting me, and others, straight about the ShopSmith bandsaw. I have a delta-clone 14", and had quite a tracking problem until I centred the blade... cleared it up in a jiffy!
Derek

This exemplifies the reason we ss bandsaw owners must be careful regarding advice that does not apply to the unique design of our bandsaw.

It is truly a different animal from most others.

Follow ss directions! And those of 'us' who understand that animal!

Today reading an article on "Tune Your Bandsaw" the writer stated the proper position on the wheel is when the inside of the gullets of the blade teeth align with the center line of the wheel. He also stated that a properly tuned saw has no drift. If your saw has drift it is not set uo correctly, or you are using the wrong blade, or the blade needs replaced.

baysidebob wrote:Today reading an article on "Tune Your Bandsaw" the writer stated the proper position on the wheel is when the inside of the gullets of the blade teeth align with the center line of the wheel. He also stated that a properly tuned saw has no drift. If your saw has drift it is not set uo correctly, or you are using the wrong blade, or the blade needs replaced.

See post #16!;)

Drift IS caused by blade tooth set inconsistencies and is not uncommon regardless of what saw is being used.

IMHO improper blade tracking will exacerbate the drift.

I am happy to hear that you have the problem fixed. It is now sawdust time.

Baysidebob, drift on a bandsaw is caused by the blade itself where the teeth on one side of the blade are cutting more aggressively than the teeth on the other side of the blade. You can't "adjust" drift out of a blade, but you can use a honing stone to balance the cutting action of the teeth so that the blade will cut true. In essence, the stone is used to dull one side of the blade slightly. If you don't want to use a stone, you simply angle the stock into the blade in order to cut along a straight line.

Regarding where the blade rides on a bandsaw wheel depends on the type of bandsaw and the size of the blade. On your typical Delta-style bandsaw, the wheels are crowned so that the blade rides in the center of the wheels. Therefore, where the gullet of the blade is positioned on that wheel depends on how wide the blade is. The gullets of a 5/8" blade certainly is going to be in a different position than that of a 3/16" blade.

On the Shopsmith bandsaw, the blade is positioned on the wheel by two support bearings. One near the blade tension adjuster and the other below the table. Again, depending on how wide the blade is determines where the gullet will be on the wheels.