Getting straight cuts

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tomted62

Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2016
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18
Location
Bucyrus, Ohio
Hi everyone,
I have an inexpensive Skil 10" bandsaw. When I go to cut my blanks in half, the blade tends to go off line and I get an slight angled cut. The blade is tight and the fence is aligned. Is the problem me or the fact I have an inexpensive Skil 10" bandsaw?? :frown:
 
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Band saw blade is out of alignment.

The teeth of the blade need to be riding the crown of the wheels, and the blade guides should not really make much contact with the blade unless you are cutting.

Look up youtube videos on band saw blade alignment.
 
tomted62 said:
Hi everyone,
I have an inexpensive Skil 10" bandsaw. When I go to cut my blanks in half, the blade tends to go off line and I get an slight angled cut. The blade is tight and the fence is aligned. Is the problem me or the fact I have an inexpensive Skil 10" bandsaw?? :frown:
Click to expand...

When you say the fence is aligned, aligned to what??? With a bandsaw you will get blade drift. Until you figure out how much that is what you need to align the fence to.

Take a blank and make a mark down the center of the blank and now free hand the cut half way and stop the saw and do not move the blank. Whatever the angle the blank is at is your blade drift. Set your fence to that angle and try cutting your blanks. Each blade will be different so be aware of that. Oh by the way use a scrap piece to do the setup. no sense wasting good wood. :smile:
 
I tried the advice you all gave, It is a new blade so I checked the alignment then tried your trick John. This helped quite a bit, Thanks much!!
 
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A couple of things to try in addition to the above, add a little more tension to the blade and slow down a little when making the cut. Let the blade do the work.
 
jttheclockman said:
tomted62 said:
Hi everyone,
I have an inexpensive Skil 10" bandsaw. When I go to cut my blanks in half, the blade tends to go off line and I get an slight angled cut. The blade is tight and the fence is aligned. Is the problem me or the fact I have an inexpensive Skil 10" bandsaw?? :frown:
Click to expand...

When you say the fence is aligned, aligned to what??? With a bandsaw you will get blade drift. Until you figure out how much that is what you need to align the fence to.

Take a blank and make a mark down the center of the blank and now free hand the cut half way and stop the saw and do not move the blank. Whatever the angle the blank is at is your blade drift. Set your fence to that angle and try cutting your blanks. Each blade will be different so be aware of that. Oh by the way use a scrap piece to do the setup. no sense wasting good wood. [emoji2]
Click to expand...
This. A band saw fence will not normally be exactly parallel to the blade or table. When a blade is changed this will need to be done again even with the same blade because it will probably be tensioner differently. Resawing is where I find it most important.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
 
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Skie_M said:
Band saw blade is out of alignment.

The teeth of the blade need to be riding the crown of the wheels, and the blade guides should not really make much contact with the blade unless you are cutting.

Look up youtube videos on band saw blade alignment.
Click to expand...

2 things:

1. Until I learned this - "teeth of the blade riding the crown of the wheel," as Skie mentioned above, I could make my 14 in BS go straight but I had to often make adjustments. When I learned to begin alignment with the teeth on the crown followed by other alignment settings, I have been amazed at the straight cutting on various grains. And I have not had to have as much blade tension as before.

2. SOME 10 inch saws don't obey number 1. I have a 10 year old 10 inch Delta. I put new guides, bought new blades, aligned and aligned and aligned. Very little straight cuts on 3/4 inch stock. I spent hours and hours on it - just trying to get it to cut straight.

In my opinion, Some 10 inch BS's are not meant to deliver 3/4 stock on par of a 12 or 14 inch. They are more on the line of hobby saws for 1/4 and 1/2 at the most. There are 10 inch BSs that do deliver with 3/4 stock consistently.
 
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