Blade drift in bandsaw

[Niall Church]

Have new blade,but,getting blade drift,so,I adjusted have the fence at an angle, which corrects the drift! As I don't want to leave the fence at an angle,do I twist the table in the same direction as the fence,and then straighten the fence?

 

[Yojevol]

If the saw was working satisfactorily before the new blade, what has changed? Try and work out what is causing the drift. Adjusting the fence is just an attempt to live with the problem and you can bet your life things will change as the blade wears.
Brian

 

[Spectric]

Start from the begining, bandsaws are tempermental and I had issues until I understood more about what was going on. Having the wrong number of teeth for a given material thickness is one problem, if the blade cannot clear it's gullets then it can wander and you want at least three but no more than ten teeth in the material. Take a look at snodgrasses bandsaw videos as they might help.

 

[Niall Church]

If the saw was working satisfactorily before the new blade, what has changed? Try and work out what is causing the drift. Adjusting the fence is just an attempt to live with the problem and you can bet your life things will change as the blade wears.
Brian

Saw wasn't working ss should before,blade was replaced,as it was drifting,hencs new blade! Anyway question still stands , if I twist table same way fence is now,and then straighten fence,will that still keep blade going straight?

 

[Fitzroy]

When I got my new (to me) bandsaw I set it up as follows. Blade riding in correct place on wheels with correct tension. Adjusted table so that T-slot was parallel to blade, so fence bar is perpendicular. Adjusted fence so it was parallel to blade and t slot. So, yes some table twisting took place, but only after blade was in correct position, and only to bring t slot to parallel with blade.

 

[Orraloon]

As Spectric said watch the Snodgrass videos.
snodgrass bandsaw setup - Google Search
Gives you a better understanding of just what is going on. Before I was aware of him I made nearly all the mistakes you can on a bandsaw. Shifting the fence angle can be a quick fix but its best to eliminate as much of the drift problem as you can otherwise you are always chasing the problem.

 

[Niall Church]

Ok, everything is done correctly,as per mr snodgrass, fence is angled and that rectifies the drift in new blade! IF,I twist table TO same angle fence is NOW, and then STRAIGHTEN the fence,will the drift be still corrected? It's just a simple question!

 

[pe2dave]

@Niall Church I'm not clear why you think a table twist will solve the problem? No different to the twist on the fence?
Why not follow the setup advice - lots of it on youtube? It may even work.

 

[Yojevol]

Have a look at this video. Drift is dealt with a couple of minutes in:-
https://woodschool.org/woodschool_videos/41-how-to-re-saw-veneer-and-boards/

This video library is an excellent source of woodworking advice.
Brian

 

[Spectric]

You really want the tables slot to be parallel to the blade otherwise you could get issues when you use another blade, in other words fix the drift at source rather than try and compensate. It is a bit of a process but the results are worth it and it starts with getting both wheels in line with a straight edge.

 

[--Tom--]

Ok, everything is done correctly,as per mr snodgrass, fence is angled and that rectifies the drift in new blade! IF,I twist table TO same angle fence is NOW, and then STRAIGHTEN the fence,will the drift be still corrected? It's just a simple question!

If the table has a t slot I’d align that to the blade, same as Fitzroy.

The challenge can be if your saw is like mine and attaches the lower blade guides to the table as you’ll need to ensure you readjust those after adjusting - and go through the process of making sure the blade is 100% perpendicular to the cut.

In practice often easier to just tweak the fence angle and leave the table alone, accepting that any cross-cuts will need finessing - which they would anyway in nearly all cases.

 

[Diver Fred]

The blade is running through all the guides? Top and underside the table? To the full depth? The guides should be clear of the gullet by about 1mm when the blade is cutting.
You do have the top guide close to the tiimber you are cutting?
Is the blade set on the wheels so it's on the highest point (It's not obvious).

 

[pe2dave]

Have a look at this video. Drift is dealt with a couple of minutes in:-
https://woodschool.org/woodschool_videos/41-how-to-re-saw-veneer-and-boards/

This video library is an excellent source of woodworking advice.
Brian

An excellent resource, thanks Brian.

 

[imageel]

Just my two cents - I would ensure that your blade is set up correctly in terms of tension and position upon the top wheel too since this will - particularly if you have crowned wheels affect the saw tracking.
I have recently sold it but had a Kity 613 that I bought from new back in the day and contrary to a lot of advice on these forums, the manufacturers instructions wrt blade position, for mine it was with the set part of the teeth just proud of the top wheel and not with the blade sitting centrally upon the top wheel.
My model even had a manufacturers sticker illustrating this affixed to the throat..
To my mind if you have a crowned top wheel then when under tension if the blade is not central on the wheel then potentially the blade may twist slightly to conform to the crown profile and this I am sure would affect the ability of the blade to cut aligned to the chassis since this would likely result in the blade tending to toe-in toward the fence on the cutting edge.

 

[NorthernSteve]

Having been through this loop recently, I concluded not to set the fence to the drift on my now previous blade. Instead, I spent an hour cleaning & lubricating everything (Record Power Sabre 450), bought a decent blade Hakansson 3/4" 3TPI (Fish and Meat),
installed it and set everything up very carefully. It worked, I am now able to resaw accurately, using a slow feed rate. Massive difference to previous blade. I have vowed only to use that saw for resawing and straight cutting. Which gives me the excuse to buy a second bandsaw for cutting curves etc.

 

[cmoops2]

Reading through this thread has left me somewhat exasperated !

There is (sadly) a conception out there in 'bandsaw-land' that you set up a bandsaw once and that's it for ever. I regularly talk to bandsaw owners and ask them one question (which intially confuses the carp out of them) - I ask them if they own a pillar drill and, if they do, how often do they change the spindle speed. Apart from one guy who had a variable speed pillar drill, every one of them had NEVER lifted the lid off their pillar drill to change pulley settings !

It amazes me that many, many, bandsaw owners don't understand that EVERY blade change (for whatever reason) is highly likely to necessitate guide resetting (the only possible exception being a like-for-like replacement of a snapped blade). It also surprises me that many people do not even consider removing the table to change a blade. If the bandsaw is from a 'respectable' stable, that job is simple.

Following a blade change (from say a narrow, high-TPI one to a wide low TPI one for ripping), the fence WILL need to be adjusted to compensate for drift. The answer to what many seem to see as 'a faff' is simple - learn how to do it - you will reap the benefit of your effort. I only make that point because it's true. For those who may scoff, I would supect that they primarily use their bandsaws as nothing more than 'floor/bench mounted heavy duty jigsaws'. Those who regularly use their bandsaws for cutting boards into bowl blanks will quickly find that the blade WILL adopt a 'set' making it USELESS for ripping. It is only those bandsaw owners who regularly rip veneers or strips for laminated work who appreciate the need to set up their machines correctly because the results they require demand it.

I've personally had to 're-fettle' several new bandsaws because the owner has fallen into the 'wheels must be co-planar' black hole and have adjusted the factory-set position of the lower wheel ! Get the blade to track on the upper wheel with the bottom of the gullets on the crown line and all will be well.

And lastly, if you have to use YouTube for guidance, the Alex Snodgrass method is my favoured go-to recommendation ...

 

[--Tom--]

But back to the OPs question - should they adjust the table as well as the fence?

 

[deema]

What is missing is what the model is of the bandsaw to give a full answer. Most bandsaws you can adjust for drift by adjusting the lower wheel alignment. If however you can adjust the table, then adjust the table.

For a properly setup bandsaw, I have / do change the blade without any drift. We restored a SCM bandsaw which we went through the full engineering setup of a bandsaw along with all the theory. It’s well worth a read.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/scm-minimax-s45-bandsaw-teardown-overhaul.135069/

 

[MarkAW]

bought a decent blade Hakansson 3/4" 3TPI (Fish and Meat)

Assuming you're doing woodworking, and not cutting high precision fillets, why this blade?
How does it differ to a wood blade?

 

[Blackswanwood]

What is missing is what the model is of the bandsaw to give a full answer. Most bandsaws you can adjust for drift by adjusting the lower wheel alignment. If however you can adjust the table, then adjust the table.

For a properly setup bandsaw, I have / do change the blade without any drift. We restored a SCM bandsaw which we went through the full engineering setup of a bandsaw along with all the theory. It’s well worth a read.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/scm-minimax-s45-bandsaw-teardown-overhaul.135069/

I’d forgotten about this thread - it is indeed well worth a read.

I also find that once set up properly changing the blade doesn’t introduce drift.