How to stop a bandsaw wandering?

[Niall Church]

Other than the blade not being tracked properly, what else can cause a band saw to wander to the right like this? (I know, a table saw would be ideal but I don’t have one.)

It’s Iroko wood so very hard but it’s dry. The one piece I have cut was under a lot of tension and warped straight away when I cut it. That won’t help either.

View attachment 161775

Could be your table,loosen the bolt for the table,snd

Other than the blade not being tracked properly, what else can cause a band saw to wander to the right like this? (I know, a table saw would be ideal but I don’t have one.)

It’s Iroko wood so very hard but it’s dry. The one piece I have cut was under a lot of tension and warped straight away when I cut it. That won’t help either.

View attachment 161775

Could be the table,loosen the bolts underneath and twist the table in same direction as line is 'curving'!

Other than the blade not being tracked properly, what else can cause a band saw to wander to the right like this? (I know, a table saw would be ideal but I don’t have one.)

It’s Iroko wood so very hard but it’s dry. The one piece I have cut was under a lot of tension and warped straight away when I cut it. That won’t help either.

View attachment 161775

Could be table,loosen bolts underneath and twist or turn table in same direction as line is 'curving'!!

 

[DiyAddict]

I had a relatively new blade wander as described when I was new to bandsawing. It turned out that the teeth on one side were pressed in, ie the set was asymmetrical. This was my fault - I'd put too much pressure feeding in the wood, forcing the blade backwards, which caused the teeth to make contact with the guide bearings for a few revolutions.

if I knew what I was doing and had the right tools, I could have reset the teeth - it was an expensive blade - but instead I just scrapped it and have been a lot more careful with feed ever since.

 

[johnny]

my first thought was not the blade condition or its setting, although they could obviously be contributory factors, but was the wood being forced into the blade at all ? First thing I was taught about cutting /drilling etc was let the blade do the work but when there is a lot of work to do and tight deadlines its so easy to apply a little more pressure than optimum in any task

 

[stuart.grimshaw]

I tried quite hard to set up a ferrex saw for a neighbour, with the original blade and without success. No matter what I did I could not get the blade to track in the centre of the wheel. His saw does exactly the same thing.

Did a fresh blade help?

 

[stuart.grimshaw]

Although he has used it to cut stuff rather badly for some time, including nails. I would start by buying a decent blade from Ian at Tuffsaws.

It’s on the way

 

[pgrbff]

Did a fresh blade help?

I'm afraid he wasn't too bothered and buying a new blade from Tuffsaws here in Italy means 2 lots of postage and two lots of VAT so it never happened. What I found when trying to get the blade centred on the top wheel and under tension was that it would either pop to the back or pop to the front but never wanted to stay in the middle. I'm afraid I gave up, especially as he didn't really care.

 

[stumorse]

Hi there, I've just read through this and thought there might be a couple of suggestions I could offer.
Does your fence have a faceplate that prevent pinching behind the blade and allows the cut piece to escape outwards? See pic 1.

Check your blade isn't too far back on the wheel shouldn't be an issue if wheel is flat but if the tyre is rounded then the slightest bit off and the back of blade can wrap and warp backwards and inward and the front outwards thus a wonky cut.


Get yourself a bandsaw buddy. Great for getting the fence true to the blade face. That's your datum edge essentially so all things should face off from that. You basically place the magnetic bandsaw buddy onto the blade where its gullet allows for the kerf of the teeth. Bring your fence in close but not touching and lock in, that's important to lock on my machine as the fence shifts when locked. Adjust the fence angle to run in line with the bandsaw buddy.

Other things to check are blade tension, table leveling and blade speed.

 

[worn thumbs]

I'm afraid he wasn't too bothered and buying a new blade from Tuffsaws here in Italy means 2 lots of postage and two lots of VAT so it never happened. What I found when trying to get the blade centred on the top wheel and under tension was that it would either pop to the back or pop to the front but never wanted to stay in the middle. I'm afraid I gave up, especially as he didn't really care.

It might only be a small relief but UK goods for export should be zero rated for VAT.

 

[stuart.grimshaw]

Quick update for everyone, my blade from TuffSaws arrived and I fitted it this morning, reset everything from the blade tension to the guide wheels and we’re cooking with gas!

Thanks everyone who offered advice, it is much appreciated.

 

[Spectric]

When you need blades for mitre and table saws it looks like you are in the right place for getting them being in Sheffield.