I am convinced by the Michael Fortune approach to band saw setup, but cannot quite get where I want to go. The saw is a 14″ Rockwell (Delta) with the riser. I shimmed a wheel to get them coplanar and then used Fortune’s approach; that is, set the fence parallel to the guide slot and then adjusting the entire table until the trailing edge of the blade is centered in the kerf, and the cut runs parallel to the fence. In my case, I had to enlarge the slotted holes in the 6 table mount holes to get wherever I am, which is either there or very close. Nevertheless, the cut reliably runs slightly away from the fence. It is not terrible in that it doesn’t run off far enough to bind up. The thickness changes by 0.015 or thereabouts from the start to a point an inch or 2 into the cut and the surface is not quite flat. For most things, that’s quite good enough, but there are times when better would be better. I’m hoping Mr. Fortune reads these posts, but am happy to hear from other experts, too. Thanks.
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I had purchased a brand new Laguna 14/12 bandsaw and Laguna blade. Did a very careful setup and angled the fence etc. I could not get the saw to cut a straight line. After calling Laguna and discussing my issue, the guy stated that occasionally the blades can be bad as in not set properly and he offered to send me a new blade. The new blade arrived and I put it on the saw and the problem was solved. Maybe the blade is the problem.
This is the best advice you will find for setting up a bandsaw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU&t=1031s
I have had similar issues and found that it was the fence not quite parallel to the blade, and just a hair off square as well - they are quite sensitive to that. I used my combo square blade and an old hard disk magnet to hold it to the blade. This reveals even very small amounts of misalignment.
I agree with plockman that the blade could be the issue and is an easy way to test it. The other point I don’t see mentioned is making sure your blade tracking keeps the blade in the center of the upper wheel.
Set the fence parallel to the miter slot and adjust the blade via the tracking adjustment. It is that simple
That's my experience as well. No need to adjust or drift.
That is a good trick, I found it by accident when I experienced drift and before going to the lengthy process of re-aligning the table noticed that the blade was not centered on the tire.
This is not a "trick", this is an intentional design. There is a tracking adjustment on the saw for this very reason. Adjusting the fence, as many people do, to compensate for drift, makes no sense what so ever IMO. I will add that the centering of the blade is much too much over emphasized. Yes, put the blade roughly near the center, after adjusting the tracking it may no longer be "centered", it might be slightly to on side or the other, this is fine. The wheel is crowned and also tilts. It is no less safe to have the blade slightly off center.
Thanks to all for the helpful comments so far. I will play with the tracking and see how that goes, and will try a new blade soon -- I am not totally happy with the current one anyway. That said, the tracking approach brings up a question that has bothered me for a while. On no saw that I have ever seen does the blade track in the same place on both wheels. On mine, it is always closer to the front on the lower wheel. seems to me that should put a little twist in the blade, which we then nail down in the way we adjust the guides. I guess this is OK as long as the twist is not so much as to exceed the kerf, but it adds to the general headache in thinking about it.
IMO, the blade should run roughly centered on the lower wheel as a reference point. The upper wheel is adjustable, so this is where it can move slightly off center when adjusted
Well I just did the tilting the wheel thing and it is great for fine adjust of the blade trailing edge in the kerf. I had a 1 inch wide stiff blade and it was clearly more in the front of the tire than at the rear. So I backed it and the rear of the blade started touching the right side of the kerf, by bringing it forward the rear moved left back in line with the cut.
You center the deep part of the gullet on the upper wheel, not the blade.
No, if I do that, there will be 1/2 inches of blade past the rear of the tire and my guides can’t go that far.
“[Deleted]”
Agree with 27B_6. A few years ago I saw the video you posted a link to and followed Alex’s method and my bandsaw is a pleasure to use. A point he makes is having the gullet in the centre means not having to change the guides, only the thrust bearings when you change blades.
A blade has three parts
1. band
2. gullet
3. teeth
The band is what drives the blade and determines direction.
The gullet and teeth do not touch the tire and have no effect on the the alignment of the blade.
The way I first had it described was:
The tires are crowned -- there is a radius to them. If the blade is too far forward, the teeth are angled on the downhill slope. The cut will require the board to be angled back to cut a straight line. The fence needs adjusting if you are using it.
If the blade is too far back, the radius on the tires will angle the teeth away from the saw, requiring adjustment in the opposite direction.
Center the blade on the crown, you've eliminated drift, and the fence can stay parallel to the miter slot.
On both my saws, I've aligned my fence to the miter slot and never touched them again. When I change blades, I simply use the tracking adjustment on the saw (how convenient) and adjust until the blade cuts parallel (straight) to the fence. There is no point in doing anything else. This is why this adjustment is built into the saw, use it.
The miter slot doesn't need to be parallel unless you're using a miter gauge, and that's rarely done.
IMO forget about Snodgrass. I've tried it as well as Fortune on both my machines and I can tell you every time you change a blade the drift is different.
Just do what people have been doing for 100 years - just adjust the fence for drift and get to work.
I use a miter gauge and a fence, I guess I do not cut many curves anymore. So I need to get the blade and guide and miter slots in alignment. I adjusted the table years ago with the blade on the centerline of the tire and the guide parallel to the miter slot, since then, drift is non existant even when I change blades.
This also eliminate the use of sleds of any kind
I would suspect that drift is slightly different with each blade, simply due to manufacturer differences, metallurgy, etc. This is precisely why there is a tracking adjustment. To have the ability to quickly and easily align any blade parallel to the fence and miter slot.
Your right (again) , the sleds are what made me insist on fine tuning the table angle to the blade since I used large sleds to slice 12- 14 inches logs. I made the exercise then to change blades 1/4 , 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch to see the difference and none drifted as long as they were centered on the tire. I did however, after a few years of trouble free use, adjusted the table angle almost daily to accommodate my newly sharpened resaw king blade. Whatever I did, it drifted, the same direction. I finally gave up and adjusted the table using a conventional blade and I regained happiness. So I returned it to Laguna and they sold me a new resaw king for a bit more than the price of the sharpening .
I use a sled for various things and so want the cut/fence parallel to the slot. I tried using the tracking and that works, to a point. I will try using that for fine adjustment. In this case, the cut wanders slightly to the outside even when the trailing edge of blade is closer to the outside of the kerf. A new blade does seem to be in order. Thanks for all the advice. Doing other stuff, but will follow up later.
A dull blade complicates tracking as the resulting cut can be straight while the blade is not. I always check the cut for this reason. This can also be compounded by lack of tension. If a blade isn't tensioned properly it will want to flex to the side rather than cut straight, regardless of how you have aligned it.
I have a 14" Rockwell bandsaw (later rebranded Delta) and a 36" antique (no name n it.) I use the 14" mostly for curves and cutting thin pieces; the 36" for preliminary cutting of rough lumber into blanks for later refinement, and for resawing. On the 36" saw, a dull blade that will cut 1" lumber straight will sometimes come out the side of a piece being resawn, as the blade will belly when pushed hard enough. Once that starts, there is no predicting the outcome. High feeding pressure can distort the blade (it is thin steel, after all.) When you push on the front of the blade, it tries to stretch the back of the blade. The back resists this stretching by trying to "circle" around to the left or right to remain closer to its original length. There goes your straight cut!
Since we are talking bandsaws and blades here, I'll add to the thread the following, which may be useful to some of us:
A couple years ago, I saw a YouTube video (that I couldn't refind later) where a guy rigged up an automatic feed for his bandsaw with a weight, pulley, and a cord. He put a new name-brand blade on his saw, and fed a piece of wood thru the saw, which took 27 seconds to cut it (a 1" thick board, rip cut.) He then sharpened the blade, redid the test, and it took less than 10 seconds. I became curious. My big saw takes an 18'7" blade, and I have always bought blades from a saw shop in Nashville that services the woodworking industry in this area; they weld them up from a big coil. When I looked closely at the blades, I discovered why I had never been that happy with how my bandsaw functioned. The teeth had been created (probably by grinding) and had then been set. However, they had never been sharpened after being set, so they were not the proper level-topped ripping teeth. Instead the tips of the teeth were angled by the setting. So I found the article in FWW long ago about how to sharpen bandsaw blades, sharpened a dull one, and was so pleased with how it cut that I sharpened 5 more. (Yes, my partner and I hung dull bandsaw blades on the wall for 40 years, so I had plenty.) Then sharpened up all the dull blades for the 14" saw.
I'm not saying that all new bandsaw blades are junk, but it's pretty clear that some are. If they are not sharpened after being set, they won't cut right. (Same is true for rip hand saws. If you are restoring an old rip saw and reshape the teeth, then set it, you need to sharpen it again to get the teeth tips the right shape.)
What issue was the sharpening article in?
A dull or damaged (bent or dulled teeth on one side) can cause a blade to "dog track", with the back of the blade and the center of the cut not in perfect alignment. You can adjust the tracking so that the cut result is straight and parallel but the blade may not be parallel to the fence. This is why simply relying on things like "center of the wheel" and "parallel to the fence", don't always hold true and produce a straight, parallel cut.
That has not been my experience, a dull or damaged blade will drift to one side and no matter how much you offset the fence, it will only drift further.
I confess I don't understand the thinking of some.
Many seem to want to adjust what should be "fixed" (the fence)
And not touch that which is meant to be "adjusted" (the blade)
It makes absolutely no sense at all to me and is most likely the reason so many are confounded by blade drift and/or poor alignment.
I followed Fortune's advice on my JET 18". Worked on it for hours.
The saw was cutting straight but the blade was making a 1/16" jog to the right shortly after beginning the cut. Out of desperation I mounted a Highland Tool 1/2" resaw blade. Eureka, success! That was at least a year ago. I haven't changed the blade since.
"Drift" is the myth. Figure out how to set up your saw. Easier or harder depending on the saw, yes... but most will function as intended with proper setup. Over-reaching the capabilities of a given saw is where poor reputations are born, whether originating on the user side or out of the marketing department.
The last two posts brought up a situation I wasn't going to discuss but here goes.
Some people struggle to get their saw set up properly to cut straight but after they eventually get it dialed in, typically after a long battle, they never want to touch it.
The fear of loosing the set up paralyzes some to the point that the blade never gets changed, even long after it should have been. First, the gradual dulling and subsequent loss of alignment begin to become more apparent. Even after feed pressure has been increased to the point where the blade is at it's limit, the reluctance to change the blade remains strong, for fear of loosing the current setup.
Changing blades should not be a traumatizing experience. While I don't necessarily look forward to changing a blade, when I need to, it's not a big deal.
Proper alignment can be achieved in a few minutes after a couple test cuts.
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