How to Adjust for Drift on the Bandsaw

cincinnati10 · Post by **cincinnati10** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:05 pm

I have the original bandsaw with cast iron table. There is no fence system for this table. I am making a fence to adapt to the table. How do I measure drift and compensate for it?

Has anyone adapted a fence to their saw?

I have a spare Incra Jig that I want to mount on the bandsaw so I can resaw in 1/32" increments for veneer thickness. Has anyone done this? If so, how did you design and mount the fence/jig?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:44 pm

cincinnati10 wrote:I have the original bandsaw with cast iron table. There is no fence system for this table. I am making a fence to adapt to the table. How do I measure drift and compensate for it?

Has anyone adapted a fence to their saw?

I have a spare Incra Jig that I want to mount on the bandsaw so I can resaw in 1/32" increments for veneer thickness. Has anyone done this? If so, how did you design and mount the fence/jig?

I'm going to make an attempt at this. It is simple to do]There is a recent thread, which I can not locate, that discusses a resaw fence that is available. The Kreg Fence for the bandsaw also does what you need.

Found it - https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=1890&highlight=bandsaw
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8iowa · Post by **8iowa** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:51 pm

cinci:

My bandsaw has been used for resawing ever since it was purchased back in '83. It originally had the cast iron table of course, and I made a plywood extension for the miter gauge and used this successfully as a fence.

Compensate for drift by selecting a piece of wood approximately 3" x 24" x 3/4" and drawing a line down the middle parallel with the sides.

Then carefully, by hand, saw down the line, 1/2 way down the board. Turn off the bandsaw and carefully clamp it in place without moving it. You will notice that it is not parallel to the slots. Move your miter gauge "fence" up to the board and tighten it at that angle. You can now resaw straight and true.

Best results are obtained with the 1/2" or 5/8" wide blade. I have a new Woodslicer blade, form Highland Woodworking that really gives great cuts.

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:02 pm

I don't have a shopsmith band saw however I second the Highland blade. I got it a couple of years ago and it is great. If you want to do some extra reading check out:
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/inde ... stom&ID=19

In fact I would say it is required reading but that is just my opinion.

Ed

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:49 pm

reible wrote:
In fact I would say it is required reading but that is just my opinion.

Ed

Ditto! Probably the best set up explanation I've seen Good on you, Highland.

otee453 · Post by **otee453** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:50 pm

single point resaw fence.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f57/resaw-fence-bandsaw-17688/

I'll go take some pics of mine I built, with closeups of how I mounted to the cast iron table of the Bandsaw

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:12 pm

otee453 showed us his - now I'll show mine.

I know the fence adjustment is a much used method, but it doesn't work for me as the blade may drift a little in both directions, depending on the grain. I use a SS 5/8" skip tooth blade.

I draw lines like 8iowa and Dusty described - then clamp the jig to the fence and simply follow the line. Works every time - no adjustments other than depth.

Also many folks use the single point fence, Rockler even sells one. Here's mine:
[ATTACH]3332[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]3333[/ATTACH]

otee453 · Post by **otee453** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:52 pm

oops, sorry, I should've noted that the link I provided isn't mine, it was just the first pic I found on a google search.

I took pix of mine with the cell phone camera a bit ago. I will up load them tomarrow when I'm in the office (my home PC doesn't have the software to easily retrieve cell phone pix).

Sorry for the misunderstanding, but I think the idea has been presented.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:16 pm

otee453 wrote:oops, sorry, I should've noted that the link I provided isn't mine, it was just the first pic I found on a google search....

...Sorry for the misunderstanding, but I think the idea has been presented.

That's O.K. Otee! Thought that might be the case, but couldn't resist the "show me yours - I'll show mine" thing. BTW, I really like the one you showed.

I genuinely believe these things are Magnitudes easier to use than an off set fence.

otee453 · Post by **otee453** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:38 pm

here's mine

[img][IMG]http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/609/img060oo4.jpg[/img][/IMG]

[img][IMG]http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/623/img061li1.jpg[/img][/IMG]

[img][IMG]http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/574/img062oy1.jpg[/img][/IMG]

Only thing I've found is the face of your material against the "fence" must be good and flat. If it is not, it want to push the material into the blade from the side, causing alot of binding and stress on the blade.