Please help an ***** out with cutting straight (with pics)

[m1ke_a]

Chaps, I'm struggling making straight cuts on the bandsaw. Using the included metal mitre gauge that I'm very happy is at 90', when I feed a piece through, the blade wanders off line.

I will eventually make cross cut and mitre sleds but need to get my feeding technique right first. Here are some macro pics to illustrate.

70mm wide piece of planed scrap. At the bottom the thickest part is 2mm from the pencil line

Obvious with a bright light behind

Blade is definitely vertical

However it's off side on (4tpi 1/2" blade BTW)

Yes these are extreme close ups of small variations but the inaccuracy is bugging me. What am I doing wrong? (hammer)

TIA

 

[deema]

Looking at the close ups of the blade it appears to be dull and needs to be replaced. For any form of accuracy start off with a new sharp blade, if your doing straight cuts go for the widest your saw can take and ensure its got the right number of teeth for the job. Too higher number of teeth will cause the cut to go off line as the teeth become full of saw dust. Most people highly rate tuff saws [email protected] for their helpfulness and quality of their blades.

 

[m1ke_a]

Looking at the close ups of the blade it appears to be dull and needs to be replaced. For any form of accuracy start off with a new sharp blade, if your doing straight cuts go for the widest your saw can take and ensure its got the right number of teeth for the job. Too higher number of teeth will cause the cut to go off line as the teeth become full of saw dust. Most people highly rate tuff saws [email protected] for their helpfulness and quality of their blades.

Cheers

I should have said the bandsaw is new and only a couple of weeks old. Does that really look like a duff blade as I have no point of reference?

 

[deema]

The very tips of the teeth look rounded, and generally speaking any blade supplied with a new band saw is likely to need immediate replacement with a quality blade. If you search on the forum you will find lots of posts of people with similar problems initially. There is a superb utube video by mr snograss on how to setup a bandsaw that's highly worth seeking out.

 

[adidat]

its a band saw, lots of variables. I doubt you will ever get much better accuracy than that, you need a chop saw or table saw!

adidat

 

[dzj]

I think you have blade drift and so it's not parallel with the miter slot.
There are ways to eliminate drift, but most people live with it and use a table saw
for precise crosscuts.
The blade looks a bit dull to me too.

 

[PAC1]

Whilst you may need to set up your bandsaw (of which there are many threads on here), it is only a bandsaw and you will not get much better than you have achieved. If you want a perfect 90 you need to make a shooting board and plane your bandsawn face perfectly square. alternatively use a mitre saw or table saw to cut the wood.

 

[m1ke_a]

Thanks very much guys.

I'd recently posted a "what bandsaw?" Q and immediately looked at Tuffsaw blades. Will defo order a couple ASAP.

Don't have room for a table saw and have got by with a Fesy TS55 for most cutting, which is defo straight. Doesn't really work with 45' angles or curves though, hence the bandsaw.

 

[CHJ]

A few things come to mind looking at the pics.

There is not a great deal of set on that blade, hence increased problems from sawdust clogging teeth, with increased set the blade width has little influence on blade guidance only the tooth balance and sharpness as the blade body is in a wide slot and not influencing direction.

If blade is sharp then very little pressure should be required to cut, if undue pressure needs to be applied then the blade can twist and run off-line.

As a matter of interest try sharpening the blade you have, may take you 30 minutes but it would be a good exercise should you be stuck and need to recover a blade to complete a job.

See this post Not a well produced video but dramatic demonstration of results.

 

[lurker]

I trust you are aware we are all mega fans of Ian at dragon saws.
Get a new blade from him and see what happens

The problem might still be there but sooner or later a new blade will be required

 

[blackrodd]

I agree with the previous replies, the teeth and set do look as if they have caught something, particularly the R H Side.
You have possibly hit some grit or debris by the looks of the blade shown.
When any timber is in you're care or use, NEVER put it on the floor, particularly if it's concrete, put timber bearers
or strips down first and then the treasured timber stock on that.
As mentioned get a TUFFSAWS Blade, and set up the saw, track and guides according to mr Snodgrass's teachings
Don't throw the old blade away, instead find the recent bandsaw blade sharpening thread and use it for ripping or whatever.
HTH Regards Rodders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

 

[Steve Maskery]

Appropriate blade + proper setup = happy bandsawing!

 

[adidat]

Appropriate blade + proper setup = happy bandsawing!

Steve certainly not second guessing you, as i'm sure you have forgotten more about bandsaws than I will ever know

Can you get a similar cut from a bandsaw that I would expect to get from a table saw/chopsaw?

adidat

 

[Steve Maskery]

In terms of accuracy, yes, pretty much. In my film I think I show a cut that varies by just 0.1mm over its length, IIRC.

Where a TS wins out easily is smoothness of the finished surface. I've never found a BS blade that will give a surface that doesn't need a swipe with a hand plane. But in terms of dimensional accuracy, yes, a BS can be as good.

The main difference between the two machines if that if the TS is not set up perfectly you can still use it, but if a BS is not set up perfectly, you get the frustration experienced above. The good news is that it is not actually difficult to tune properly, you just have to do the right things in the right order, starting with getting the right blade for the job from Ian!

That reminds me, I need to fettle my own machine, it's not cutting as straight as it used to do.

 

[Trigs]

Get some tuff saw blades and if your not confident setting up your band saw get steve Maskerys DVDs, excellent advice and jigs.... I was pretty handy with a bandsaw before and I definitely learned a lot watching his DVDs. I've managed to set mine with no drift

 

[m1ke_a]

Thanks again chaps.

Rodders
I may not have been 100% square to the blade when I took shot 5. Thanks for that video link, which was very informative and concise. Which leads me on to

Steve
Have you considered providing your videos for download instead of DVD? Obviously these would need to be via a secure purchase system.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well if I were starting from scratch now, I wouldn't go down the DVD route, of course. But when I started, that was the norm. It's not trivial to get there from where I am, and this is a micro-business, I'm not Taunton! Resources, resources.

I'm currently writing Series 2 of Workshop Essentials and that will be either download or streaming, I've not sorted that out yet. Long way to go before that decision has to be made.

 

[beganasatree]

Hi Chas ,
Is the above photo a photo of your bandsaw?If yes is it a sip-14"??

Peter.

 

[CHJ]

Hi Chas ,
Is the above photo a photo of your bandsaw?If yes is it a sip-14"??

Peter.

Yes & Yes, with a bit of butchering to get a few more millimetres of cutting depth.

 

[Markvk]

I'm currently writing Series 2 of Workshop Essentials and that will be either download or streaming, I've not sorted that out yet. Long way to go before that decision has to be made.

DAMN! i was going to order your whole bundel when i get paid..... (despite your use of the domino machine ) does this mean i need to wait for the bundle offer on essentials 2 ??? :lol:

Mark