Bandsaw tuning.....

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opfoto

opfoto

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I know this has been beaten to death but....

I had severe drift while cutting 3/4" blanks with my C- man Bandsaw.
I could not cut them straight.

I decided to start over from scratch.

Checked the wheels for Co planer-----Yes
2 checked blade riding on center of top wheel----Yes
3 Checked for guide(s) behind the blade---------Yes
4 Checked position of blocks-------------Yes
5 Added tesion
6 Added more tension
Checked position of blade on wheels found it riding forward
readjusted blade on wheels to center
rechecked guides and blocks
checked cut ---------------- Better
Added tension
Added more tension
Pretty much looks like the spring is compressed.
Blade sound is good according to the Duginski bible.

What do you guys suggest I try next............Please be nice after all it is the holiday season :)
 
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Duginski bible? Dunno what that is.
Problem could be as simple as a dull blade. Drift is usually the first indication to replace a blade.
What size is the bandsaw? Very small ones (e.g. 10") can be very difficult, if not impossible, to get to track properly. Same with three wheel models.
 
I agree with the dull blade possibilities.

If you are using a smaller blade you will experience more drift when using a fence.

If you do not have a wider blade, try using a pivit guide instead of a fence. That will give you more hand control to compensate for the drift.
 
Sorry

Craftsman 14" Bandsaw single speed with a 3/8" blade
Duginski..... Mark's Bandsaw Book. (Older version)

Thanks
Marc

Forgot to add using homemade pensled from the home page a couple of years ago.
 
Originally posted by opfoto
<br />Sorry

Craftsman 14" Bandsaw single speed with a 3/8" blade
Duginski..... Mark's Bandsaw Book. (Older version)

Thanks
Marc

Forgot to add using homemade pensled from the home page a couple of years ago.
Click to expand...

Two thoughts:

I have a 14" Craftsmen. I use a 3/8" blade to cut blanks. I have considered purchasing a 1/2" for the same things you described. I have noticed that too much tension will cause it to drift to the outside (away from the saw body).

Your sled could cause some blade drift if it has worn or cut away over time.
 
Mark Duginske - the man wrote the book on the bandsaw. Literally. He has a brand new book just out that is greatly updated... Nice guy - member of an AAW club about an hour from me, regularly comes up to our AAW meetings.
 
One thing that I have found when dealing with the bandsaw is force of entry and all that physics stuff. Basically if your feeding it to fast it will wander. The direction of the drift tells you many things about what is wrong.

Some wood you have to feed super slow and others does not matter. If you hear the motor changing pitch when you feed it then you will get drift. Size of the blade makes a HUGE difference to.

I use a laguna 3/4" x 3TPI X .032" for most things. Also they have a 0.06" x 3/4" resaw king which is quite good.

Ed
 
Not to sound like a broken record, but you are checking all the symptoms and not treating the problem first. Start off with a good blade and fine tune from there. Order a nice Timberwolf blade and then tune your saw. I just had to take the 3/4" blade of my big saw and install the 3/8" to cut some tight circles and had a heck of a time cutting a pen blank the other day (known junk blade) I think it had a 30 degree cut!! [:0]

Oh, and I had one of those C-man saws and my blade sucked when it was brand new, bought a blade, no a REAL blade and fixed my problem right off.
 
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