Blade drift in bandsaw

[Ed Weber]

I will go through this again for the millionth time.
For a crowned tire saw;
Adjusting the table = rough adjustment, adjusting tracking = fine adjustment.
Fence and miter slot should be parallel, always.
Never adjust the fence. adjust the blade, via the onboard tracking adjustment. If that isn't enough to correct for your drift problem, adjust the table and repeat alignment.
The blade DOES NOT need to be "perfectly" centered on the top wheel, it is crowned. When you adjust the tracking, the blade can move a small amount, that's okay, not all blades will run in the identical place on the wheel, hence an onboard tracking adjustment.
If the blade does not run parallel with the miter slot, you lose the ability to use sleds and other jigs, which diminishes the capabilities of your saw.

 

[Spectric]

I set my two wheels with a straight edge and have never tracked a blade since, yes sometimes need to adjust the guides but that is it.

 

[NorthernSteve]

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

A number of people have recommended it to me (Hakansson 3/4" 3TPI from nlstools.co.uk). Also recommended to me, but untried - Dakin Flathers Ripper 37, Tuffsaw's Sabrecut, and Hakansson from Scott & Sergeant. The fish and meat blade is thin and has held up well so far. I do not know the reason why, but so long as it does, I am content.

 

[pe2dave]

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

No.

 

[Wood4me]

About a year ago I bought 10 new bandsaw blades and just could not get them to cut straight, and I am very familiar with all the 'tricks'. I then checked the left /right 'set' of the 6TPI teeth . They had all been manufactured with slightly more set on one side. The manufacture replaced the blades and all was well. Unusual maybe, but worth checking if ever a new blade proves a pain to set up.

 

[Niall Church]

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

The original question was,if I twist the table in same direction as fence is presently,AND then realign the fence parrallel to table channel,will drift still be eliminated! To be clear,there's no drift with fence at present angle!

 

[--Tom--]

The original question was,if I twist the table in same direction as fence is presently,AND then realign the fence parrallel to table channel,will drift still be eliminated! To be clear,there's no drift with fence at present angle!

If the fence to blade alignment stays the same then you shouldn’t introduce any drift.

 

[cmoops2]

If the fence to blade alignment stays the same then you shouldn’t introduce any drift.

Tom - while your answer is fundamentally correct, may I suggest that it should be qualified by a statement along the lines of: " providing the set of the teeth is correct ..." ie: a blade that has been regularly used to cut bowl blanks WILL drift !

PS: I'd also like to echo the words of Michael Fortune who frequently reminds those who own a bandsaw mounted on a mobile base/wheel kit, DO NOT, REPEAT DO NOT, move the saw around the workshop using the table as a handle - you WILL lose your previously-set fence/blade/miter slot parallelism and, surprise, surprise, the blade WILL drift ...