Rookie bandsaw user can’t resaw red oak.
I have a brand new Rikon 18″ Model 10-345. I have spent quite a bit of time studying about it, and practiced adjusting it as best I could. And I bought a “Wood Slicer” blade from Highland Hardware, 4 TPI, supposedly a good blade for resawing. My blade is square to the table, my fence is square to the table and blade, etc. None of the blade guide wheels move without a load on the blade, and I thought I got the whole thing adjusted quite nicely.
Oh, yeah, and I lowered the blade guide assembly to only a little more than 1/4″ above the workpiece.
Then I tried my first resaw, attempting to cut a 1/4″ slice off a piece of 3″ wide red oak. This seemed extremely slow, and burned the wood badly.
What the heck am I doing wrong?
OK, son, hand me the plywood stretcher…
Bill Bryan
Edited 11/18/2006 6:57 am ET by FoghornLeghorn
Replies
I've read a few similar posts from folks who later discovered they had the blade on backwards with the teeth pointing the wrong way. Cant hurt to check this first before you spend hours barking up the wrong tree.
If you build it he will come.
OK, you got me, pard.
Dang, now I feel like a three alarm fool. I thought I put it on right, but I was concentrating so hard on changing the blade for the first time, making sure I had the tension right, the tracking right, and all the little adjustments with the blade guides, that ... oops! ... I never checked to see if the teeth were pointing down.
What a pumpkinhead!
View Image
Please excuse me while I go shoot myself.
How do I change the topic to "Rookie bandsaw user can't use brain either"??
OK, son, hand me the plywood stretcher... Bill Bryan
Edited 11/18/2006 2:15 pm ET by FoghornLeghorn
Edited 11/18/2006 2:16 pm ET by FoghornLeghorn
Heh! Heh! When I taught carpentry, every year some one would bring me a drill bit that wasn't any good. Everytime the drill was in reverse.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Dont sweat it. You certainly aint the first one. I must have seen a dozen posts over the last year or so where someone has done that. I suspected as much with all the burning you were getting. A new Woodslicer should power right through. The heat may have trashed the blade though. I'd call Highland Hardware and ask their opinion. If you build it he will come.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, douglas2cats. I'm sure I'll get over it someday. ;-)One time, many many years ago, I rebuilt a motorcycle engine, took a lot of time and care with it, thought I did everything right, but when I got finished the dang thing wouldn't start. You have no idea how humiliating it was to have to lug that thing to a motorcycle shop to ask them to finish the job. And it only got worse ... I had wired the points backwards.Good thing it's been almost thirty years since then, I might start feelin' a little insecure!I'll check with Highland Hardware about whether the blade might be burned. Good thing I bought 2 at the same time.Thanks again!
OK, son, hand me the plywood stretcher... Bill Bryan
"I never checked to see if the teeth were pointing down." Not to worry, you're not the first and undoubtedly won't be the last. The first time I used my new dado set was a couple years ago when making zero-clearance inserts for the table saw. Got the blank battened down to the table top, started cranking up on the blade to come up through the plywood. Smoke everywhere!!! Godawful noise!!! Yep, had the blades on backwards..........too focused on a bunch of other stuff to even notice. ROFL!!!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 11/19/2006 10:21 am by forestgirl
Wasn't that yesterday not two years ago?DJK
I'll tell you the worst part, after tryin' to choke down my grievous error for a few minutes here.Before I asked for help, I put my try square on the table to measure the TPI so I could include that in my pitiful plea for assistance. So I was lookin' right at the blade, close up. I just didn't SEE what I was LOOKIN' at! Ouch!Y'know, I DO have a brain. I'm almost sure of it. And it's around here somewhere ...
OK, son, hand me the plywood stretcher... Bill Bryan
Hi Bill,
I like your screen name.
Hopefully we are talking about dry red oak right?
Gee, maybe as another poster suggested the blade is installed with the teeth pointing up (incorrectly), rather than down in respect to the table.
Outside chance it could be a bad blade, if you have another blade might want to mount it to rule out trouble with first blade..
Did you check for drift - and then adjust the fence to match that angle?
Mark a line, parellel to a straight edge, on a piece of scrap. Make FREEHAND cut about 12" to 18" along the mark. Do not move the piece! Adjust the fence so it is parallel to the edge of test piece.
Good luck,
Frosty
Bandsaw blades don't always cut parallel to a fence. Some have a bit of drift. I think Frosty has covered it. If you have been forcing the work to stay against the fence, this could be the problem.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
You have a blade that has a good reputation. I use Suffolf Machinery blades, so I cant speak from personal experience, but they get good reviews. Does the Rikon have multiple speeds, and you are cutting at a slow speed? I have a Grizzly 17", and mine has two settings, one slow if you are cutting metal. When I spoke with sulfolk machinery, they told me which RMP was reccomended for my blade. If that blade is tracking properly, and a good blade, it should shave off paper thin cuts with ease and no burning. I have never had an issue with drift, so I can add any suggestions for that. If it's a brand new blade, there could be something wrong with it. Do you have another one to try? Just some suggestions. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Two other possibilities are that the band is binding because the wood is rolling slightly, or the kerf is closing up behind the band. Make sure your test piece is flat against the fence and stays there throughout the cut. Use push pads, sticks, or a featherboard rather than your hands to keep it there. If the kerf is closing up, a thin wedge placed carefully after the cut begins will control it.
Sounds like this is your first band saw, so congratulations! Be extra-vigilant, especially when resawing. You'll have a lot of band exposed and you can get a serious injury in the blink of an eye.
Pete
Come here, I say come here, boy! I wanna teach you to how to make a paper aeroplane!
I hope the points aren't damaged from heat. At least you found the problem. Enjoy!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled