Skil 9" bandsaw cutting problem

[Joebobber]

I've had this thing a year and about 3 months ago it started wandering badly. It seems like it was going to the right at around 20 degrees. This started after the old blade caught the lower guide(?) which had wiggled loose. The blade snagged and then let loose causing the guide or something to jump up into the table from below. I noticed one of the lower guides was missing. I bought a new lower guide assembly and put it on. Got everything lined up best I could, and square, and adjusted the guides and blade. Still goes to the right and wanders on thicker wood. I've gone through geeze about 7 or 8 blades with this thing since Christmas last year. I use it multiple times a day, every day. I cut wood, corian, and some catlinite and once alabaster. Any ideas on what might be wrong? The guide assembly is held on by 1 bolt so it moves quite easy if it comes loose. I've never had a bandsaw before so I'm only adjusting everything based on the manual and You Tube videos.

 

[Wildman]

How many teeth per inch blades are you using? For thick wood you want less teeth per inch. If can afford a bigger saw new or used, and use 3 TPI blades might make world of difference.

 

[jttheclockman]

Joe I do not have a small bandsaw but my brother own a 9" craftsman for about 2 weeks. The blade never tracked well and it was too underpowered.

The thing with those small bandsaws is you can not be rough with them. Being you are cutting different materials can bend the teeth on those smaller blades easily. All bandsaws will have drift and I know there is debate on this but it is true just because of the blades are stamped and all blades will have different drift to them. With larger bandsaws you can adjust the guides easier to compensate as well as the fence.

When you broke the guide the blade may have cut into the tire and made them untrue so that maybe where the drift is coming from. Not sure how much you know about how to set up a bandsaw so I won't get into all the little details but the wheels are crowned and the blade needs to sit with the gullets riding in the center of the wheel (not the whole blade) When you have this riding true without any of the guides in place then you set the guides. The back thrust bearings just barely touch the back of the blade so that when pressure is applied to blade the bearings are now engaged. The side guides and I think all those are metal on those small saws need to be just behind the gullets of the blade and barely touching the blade. With metal guides they have a tendency to wear the sides of the blades and this creates heat. Add the extra heat from the blade you are using to cut nonwooden material will transfer to those tires and being a smaller blade the heat develops faster than on a larger saw. This can distort them and cause the blade to slip forward or back and now the center of the blade is out of alignment and cause wobble or drift. Tensioning will or can stretch the blade and when cools go back to original shape until next time. But heat is an enemy.

I gave you reasons and you can read into them and maybe something will help with your problem or just deal with it and use as is. Those saws are $130 for a reason. Good luck.

 

[Joebobber]

Yeah John what you said about the heat into the blades makes alot of sense. Probably why I've broken so many blades, despite literally hours watching you tube and reading manuals on how to adjust the thing. I have the tracking set spot on and the upper and lower wheels are parallel. Wow you are a plethora of knowledge! How good are you at fixing a Delta 10" (I think) drill press? That's mine and my wife's next project!

 

[jttheclockman]

Yeah John what you said about the heat into the blades makes alot of sense. Probably why I've broken so many blades, despite literally hours watching you tube and reading manuals on how to adjust the thing. I have the tracking set spot on and the upper and lower wheels are parallel. Wow you are a plethora of knowledge! How good are you at fixing a Delta 10" (I think) drill press? That's mine and my wife's next project!

I will say this that is the one tool I agree with but I have a 12" table top Delta drill press and really like it. I also have a floor model 16" Delta that is my work horse. Ask any questions here and I am sure someone will step in and try to help.

Back to those bandsaws. Being the blade is so short it has to work more to cut the same things a full size does so those blades will get heated for sure especially cutting hard woods and other materials. Good luck.

 

[ebill]

Those saws are $130 for a reason. Good luck.

- by all means, check the tires if all else has been checked/double checked.

- I have a small Craftsman that I use occasionally. Two things I have noticed unique to it are; a) tension must be set high - a 'loose' blade tends to move off line easily and b) if you try to feed material faster than it is effectively cutting, it tends to wander off course more easily.

- and of course, having the right tooth blade for the material is important.

- ebill

 

[MiteyF]

Have you changed what types of blades you're using? My 9" Ryobi (likely almost identical to your Skil) is very picky about blades. I got one off Amazon to try a few months ago, and no matter what I did, it would never cut anything close to straight. I tossed it. My go-to right now are actually from (gasp) Hazard Fraught. They don't last a terribly long time, but while they do, they cut surprisingly well, and track straight as an arrow. I can rip 1"+ stock down to about .020" thick reliably. And when I need a new one, I can run to any HF and pick up another, and know that it will cut exactly like the last one. No waiting for an online order, no re-setting of my saw, just throw it on and cut. I figure it costs me about $2/month to run these blades if I'm using my saw a lot.

As you know, it's all in the little setup tweaks with these little saws, but once I got mine dialed in, she's one of the best $100 I've ever spent in the shop.