Bandsaw drift

[Steve Maskery]

The problem with having the fence skewed to compensate for drift is that that is fine for ripping operations but useless for any kind of crosscuts, such as tenon shoulders. The fence should be in line with the mitre slots AND be cutting straight at the same time. That's what the tracking knob is for.

 

[Spectric]

A good starting point is a decent blade, my BS400 could not cut straight no mater what I did to it and once the new blade was fitted it was like a different machine.

 

[powertools]

The other thing to remember with bandsaws is the feed rate is quite slow even with the correct sharp blade. Pushing the work too hard to try and speed things up will cause drift.

 

[PAC1]

The problem with having the fence skewed to compensate for drift is that that is fine for ripping operations but useless for any kind of crosscuts, such as tenon shoulders. The fence should be in line with the mitre slots AND be cutting straight at the same time. That's what the tracking knob is for.

Correct it is also useless for bevel rip cuts, it was a function of fixing (bodging) the problem at hand rather than the big picture. I had to solve the problem the following week and ended up replacing the blade and full reset.

 

[matkinitice]

Peter's videos are great but I have an additional one to check out.

I have the same saw and after this upgrade the fence is much better. It's as quick and easy as the video, took the whole of 5 minutes.



As Peter said, the quick release handle does nothing. Ignore it. The fence also is defective out of the box. If they fixed these two issues it would be great from the get go.

In addition to the fix, watch the Snodgrass tune up video and you should be good to go.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

One consideration is that the fence does not need to run parallel to the mitre groove. A couple of months ago I set the machine to cut perfect thin veneers. A week later I moved the fence only to discover that it was about 5 degrees off parallel, but cutting perfectly straight for that blade (not sure what was wrong with it).

There is at least one member who will shoot you down for that heresy.

however there are some bandsaws where you can not adjust the cut line by changing the blade position on the top tyre as it is flat and the tracking adjuster only changes the blade position on the tyre it has NO effect on the cut line.

with those Bandsaws you have to adjust the fence angle so that it is 90 degrees to the cut line.

This is considered as an abomination by those who demand that cut line be parallel to the mitre slot and the fence parallel to that. They are wrong to say that it is universally correct.

the method is however printed in my instruction book for my saw And my fence is adjustable to compensate for drift.

But if the top tyre is crowned by changing the blade position you can change the cut line to be parallel to the mitre slot and that is the preferred (PC) way.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I disagree...
Even with flat tyres, altering the tracking knob moves the cut line. Try it. It does so because the top of the wheel moves in an arc, just like a section of a very fat crowned wheel. When moved back, the teeth will be under very slightly more tension than the back of the blade, and when moved forward the back is under slightly more tension, because the circumferences are very slightly different. It's like starting positions on a race track.
The effect might be easier to see with a crowned wheel, but it happens with both flat and crowned.

 

[Steve_Scott]

a new blade solves 90% of bandsawing issues.

I can’t stress this point enough... before you do anything for set up put a new blade on. No amount of tensioning and guide positioning will stop a damaged blade wandering.

if you want a decent set up guide to walk you through then head over to Axminster tools and download their manual for the craft range. It might not be identical but the steps are the same for any bandsaw.

 

[Tortoise]

As a relative novice with a bandsaw I agree with everything here. Setup is key. I have a Record BS250 and still get a few issues, so advice appreciated.

First, the machining of the roller block is such that iI find it hard to make very minor adjustments to the roller positions (nearness to the blade). Try to slide it gently and it doesn't move. Increase the pressure and the whole thing jumps, making the setting worse. Any suggestions as to how to make the adjustment smoother and increase the fineness of setting?

Second, anno domini isn't kind. Judging the distance of a roller from the blade by eye can sometimes be fraught as there are always shadows or reflctions to contend with. Is the the "paper thickness" method the best solution?

Finally, blade tightness. I can set the blade according to the instructions, but start to get concerned about the stress on the main bearings. Looking at a friend's Elektra Beckum 315, his blade is set much tighter and gets excellent results. (He also swears to th benefit of the roller guide upgrade avaiable for that machine.) On the BS250, I can alter the tension over a range and it gives approximately the same results in the sideways movement test. Any advice on tensioning whie not over-stressing the main bearings wod be appreciated.

I'm asking on this thread as the setup process is similar on sevearal models.

 

[Chris_Pallet]

I had exactly the same issue, drift and it was screaming.
I watched all the set up videos (cheers Peter)
But ultimately the massive difference was a new decent blade.
Advice from here was tuffsaws website which gives loads of advice for the type of blade you need.
I bought a thinner blade with more teeth.

I reckon the old blade just wasn't up to the job so would push back on the bearing and drift as it wasn't cutting quick enough.

Like others have said it solved 90% of my issues.

Good luck

 

[MikeJhn]

First, the machining of the roller block is such that iI find it hard to make very minor adjustments to the roller positions (nearness to the blade). Try to slide it gently and it doesn't move. Increase the pressure and the whole thing jumps, making the setting worse. Any suggestions as to how to make the adjustment smoother and increase the fineness of setting?
I'm asking on this thread as the setup process is similar on sevearal models.

There are a couple of threads on here showing modifications to the bearings on the Record Bandsaws to put Axminster roller bearings sets on them, do a search.

Axminster HBS350N / RECORD POWER BS350 Bandsaw Advice? From page 5 onwards has the detail.

 

[novocaine]

couple of videos for you.

1, QR working just fine thanks.


2. cross cut. watch the thrust bearing, note that it isn't always spinning and when it is, it isn't heavily loaded as the blade is cutting quick enough to make forward progression. this is because 1, the bearing is in the right damned place and 2, the feed rate is just about right for the blade.


3. messing about to show why this cheap bandsaw, when setup correctly is actually pretty capable, worth noting the the blade on this is 2-3 years old and not far off trashed, still worked just fine thanks. (ok, pine not hardwood, not wasting the good stuff doing this)


upper blade housing removed because it annoyed me (it isn't a damned guard)
tension knob removed because it mean't I couldn't put the saw under my bench.
dust kept because I'm a messy sod.

 

[Matthew S]

couple of videos for you.

1, QR working just fine thanks.


2. cross cut. watch the thrust bearing, note that it isn't always spinning and when it is, it isn't heavily loaded as the blade is cutting quick enough to make forward progression. this is because 1, the bearing is in the right damned place and 2, the feed rate is just about right for the blade.


3. messing about to show why this cheap bandsaw, when setup correctly is actually pretty capable, worth noting the the blade on this is 2-3 years old and not far off trashed, still worked just fine thanks. (ok, pine not hardwood, not wasting the good stuff doing this)


upper blade housing removed because it annoyed me (it isn't a damned guard)
tension knob removed because it mean't I couldn't put the saw under my bench.
dust kept because I'm a messy sod.

nice

 

[sometimewoodworker]

But ultimately the massive difference was a new decent blade.
Advice from here was tuffsaws website which gives loads of advice for the type of blade you need.
I bought a thinner blade with more teeth.

I reckon the old blade just wasn't up to the job so would push back on the bearing and drift as it wasn't cutting quick enough.

Good choice on the supplier.

A thinner blade can be tensioned correctly (they need a lower tension) more easily, so that was a good move. More teeth may be a bad choice.

The number of teeth depends on the material you are cutting and will slow down the cut, because more teeth = smaller gullets = slower sawdust removal and more teeth in contact with the wood = more heat in the blade.

So a general rule is you should only have about 3 teeth in contact with the wood for the fastest coolest cut.

This doesn’t apply to a TCT blade but virtually no bandsaw under 18” can tension one of those and they cost more than any small bandsaw as well.

I personally leave an M42 3 TPI ½“ blade on my saw virtually all the time.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

“upper blade housing removed because it annoyed me (it isn't a damned guard)”

first part; Your workshop, your saw, your choice.

Second part; It absolutely is a guard, it may not be the best but it does stop a substantial length of spikey dangerously fast moving metal being exposed unnecessarily.

Most guards are there to prevent accidental contact with something that hurts a bit, a lot or completely.

A bandsaw is quite capable of doing nasty things very quickly, just ask a chicken leg.

 

[aramco]

have a watch of the alex snodgrass band saw set up on you tube, it worked for me when I had a record power 300s,

take care
John

 

[billw]

I just bought a couple of tuffsaw blades and Ian sent me a link to this video about tensioning....



... which I found really useful (as is some of the other content).