Craftsman 22401 bandsaw rip fence problem

[Texas splinter]

I just bought and set up my new Craftsman 22401 14" bandsaw and really like it so far. So far that is, till I tried resawing some wood.
I tried to resaw a peice of 3/4" pine, about 6" wide and amybe 18" long. It came out wedge-shaped. I rechecked the blade for being square with the table, found it wasnnt quite square, reeadjusted ti and tried resqwing again. Worse yet!
Then I got looking at the fence and found it isn't square with the table. I can't find any instructions in the manual (what a joke the manual is :~( ) so am comming here to see if anyone has a suggestion. The wood came out 3/8" on the top, about a 1/4" on the bottom of the piece next to the fence.
Otherwise, it was a straight cut, front to back.

Thanks in advance.

[cgallery]

I'm sure someone will be along w/ instructions for adjusting the fence soon (I have a different saw w/ a different fence). Due to the nature of the beast, bandsaw blades are likely to "drift" during the cut. Some adjustment of the fence is typically allowed for so you can compensate for this drift.

The way this is typically done is to draw a straight line on a 12-16" scrap of wood. Manually (no fence) saw to the halfway point on this line and then turn the saw off w/o moving the workpiece. You may find that the workpiece is angled w/ respect to the blade. This is due to the blade drift. You want the angle of the fence to match the workpiece angle as it sits on the table during this test.

[ragswl4]

Blade Type and Tension

What type of blade in installed? Need at least 1/2" and 3-4 TPI. Blade tension is very important when resawing. If tension is too light, the blade will bend and/or twist. Suggest you look for some threads on this sight and also on the internet. Lots of good info out there on settin up bandsaw for re-sawing, fence alignment, etc... I recently bought an Iturra 1/2" 3-4 TPI blade to replace a Timerwolf 3/4" 3TPI and was very satisfied with the blade. The original blade that comes with most bandsaws is not suitable for re-sawing. My 2 cents.

[New Guy]

I have the 12" saw, but the fence is the same. I adjust for the drift with the fence. But I use a piece of 8/4 stock clamped to the table against the fence, that is square to the blade.

[hermit]

Thats what the big red knob is for, adjusting vertical squareness to the table. You have to adjust this together with the 2 small black knobs that attach the fence to the bracket. In your case it sounds like the top of the fence needs to move to the right. You'll have to slightly loosen the small knobs and take up the slack, by tightening the red knob. This will move the top to the right. Once you do it you'll see how it works. The problem is when you adjust this, you have to go back and check parallelism to the miter slot again. Its a little finicky to get set up initially, but once you do it, it should be fine.

I actually modified mine a bit. I had bought the Craftsman universal bandsaw fence for my old Jet 12", but kept it when I sold the Jet because I found it fit right on the 14" bracket. It is a heavier extrusion and has slots for jig attachments, and can be mounted for a couple different heights. You might want to keep your eye out for a sale.

Todd

[Uncle Hook]

Bandsaws are fussy and work best with careful set up and so you need to get educated on how to do it correctly. As you observed, the craftsman manual is not helpful in this regard. A couple of suggestions:

Search this site and Yahoo / Google for "bandsaw", "bandsaw set-up", "setting up a bandsaw", "bandsaw resawing" etc. and see what you find. There is usually good information posted for free.

Borrow or buy a Bandsaw book or two. It is time and money well spent.

Attend a local woodworking show if the opportunity presents itself. I recently attended an Bandsaw session at the NJ woodworking show. The excellent instructor was Kelly Mehler, who runs a woodworking school in Kentucky and is author of "The Tablesaw Book". I got the following tips from him:

For resawing use a 1/2 inch or wider 3 TPI hook tooth blade.
Use Pam cooking spray to prevent sawdust from sticking to your saw blade.
Use dust collection to prevent build up of sawdust on your wheels.
Track the blade on the center of the top wheel to correct any blade drift.
Don't worry as much about tracking the blade on the lower wheel unless your saw does not cut well.
Set the upper guide post just above the work.
Set the upper and lower side guide bearings just back of the saw gullett.
Use a dollar bill to set spacing of all bearings so that they are as close to the blade as possible without touching the blade.
Run the 2 speed craftsman saw at high speed.

Kelly Mehler recommended the Band-Saw-Handbook by Mark-Duginske. According to Kelly a new edition is in the works.

http://www.amazon.com/Band-Saw-Handb.../dp/0806963980

Another good book is by Lonie Bird:

http://www.amazon.com/Bandsaw-Book-L.../dp/1561582891

http://www.woodcentral.com/books/bird.shtml

I find both books to be useful.

[Texas splinter]

"Thats what the big red knob is for..." Little red knob? I went out to look at my saw again, couldn't find a little red knob on the fence, then found a red knob laying on the bench, behind a rag. Looked at he book again, found where the knob went, installed it and Sucessfully resqwed another piece of pine and a piece of scrap walnut, same size as the origional piece of pine!
Lesson learned: RTFM!
BTW, the pine and walnut both came out within 1/32" of being 3/8" thick. Pretty good with the factory blade. Have ordered a Timberwolf cataloug tonight.

Thanks again for all the great answers guys, and especially thanks to you, Hermit!

[hermit]

Glad you got it figured out. Sounds like your knob is smaller than mine! Anyway, I bought 3 Timberwolfs for mine. A 1/2" 3tpi for green wood (its a heavier guage & real fun to adjust tension on) another 1/2" 3 tpi for resawing dry stock, and a 1/4" 4 tpi for general use ( I like an aggressive cut). I was going to go the full 3/4" for resawing, but the guy on the phone at Suffolk was honest enough to tell me for that size saw, 1/2" is all you need. Call them and they'll help you figure out what is best for your needs.

Have fun,
Todd

[Texas splinter]

Nah, mine is a big red nob too, I have just been having brain farts the last few days. When I unpacked the saw, my first thought was that they had sent an extra knob for the doors. I also have an extra bolt, about 8 x 45 mm, with a nut. Don't have a clue where that goes.

[aluminumfury]

Check to see if that nut and bolt is the 90 degree stop for the table.
I remember finding an extra nut and bolt,and I think that was what it turned out to be.

There should be a tapped hole in the center of the table and the bolt head rests against the frame of the saw as a stop.The nut locks it down.

here's a pic:

[Texas splinter]

I'll bet that is it! Thanks again to all, you guys are GREAT!