Any tips on blade drift?

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  • drumpriest
    Veteran Member
    • Feb 2004
    • 3338
    • Pittsburgh, Pa, USA.
    • Powermatic PM 2000

    Any tips on blade drift?

    I've crowned my woodslicer nicely, and when doing the 2" test, I get my supposed drift angle. Then set my fence to it, all is well, right?? I made some test cuts on some 3-4" wide red oak, perfect slices come off that are within 10 thousandths front to back. Now switch to purpleheart, and the blade veers off and destroys some nice wood. The purple heart was also only about 3" wide. I tried a couple of different pieces of purple heart, thinking the grain might be pulling the blade sufficiently, no success, so I'm not sure.

    I know it's a bit harder than the red oak, but the difference in cut is just astounding to me. I'm trying to dial it in for some veneers that I need to cut in some curly maple that will need be about 7" wide.
    Keith Z. Leonard
    Go Steelers!
  • Ken Massingale
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 3862
    • Liberty, SC, USA.
    • Ridgid TS3650

    #2
    Tried cranking the tension up and trying the PH?

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    • mpc
      Senior Member
      • Feb 2005
      • 979
      • Cypress, CA, USA.
      • BT3000 orig 13amp model

      #3
      Where is the blade tracking on the wheels? Moving it slightly forward/aft will steer it a little. And if the wheels aren't lined up (coplanar) then the tracking has to be over-done to compensate and that makes the blade want to drift a bit more...

      ...at least according to one of the two bandsaw books recommended by folks on this site... I'm still getting the hang of mine. So far though, following the rec's of those books, blade drift hasn't been an issue. This is on the little Rikon 10 inch saw sold as the Craftsman model for about $160. I set it up according to its instructions, then checked the alignment according to the Byrd/Duginsky books and tried a 2 foot long rip of softwood - trying to rip about 1/32" off as my first cut. Piece-o-cake. I was amazed actually... So far every cut using the straight fence has come out straight - no signs of blade drift for me. I haven't really cut any significant hardwoods though; I'm still very much a bandsaw newbie. I don't even have one of those resaw fence posts - just the factory straight fence.

      After reading about it, and trying it, I wonder if some bandsaws have too much wheel crown for their larger blade sizes. Smaller blades will "sit on the crown" better; wide resaw blades may try to actually crown a tad too leading to angularities between the cutting teeth and the middle/back parts of the blade. Especially with harder tires.

      mpc
      Last edited by mpc; 05-26-2007, 02:42 PM.

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      • bmyers
        Veteran Member
        • Jun 2003
        • 1371
        • Fishkill, NY
        • bt 3100

        #4
        Originally posted by drumpriest
        I've crowned my woodslicer nicely, and when doing the 2" test, I get my supposed drift angle. Then set my fence to it, all is well, right?? I made some test cuts on some 3-4" wide red oak, perfect slices come off that are within 10 thousandths front to back. Now switch to purpleheart, and the blade veers off and destroys some nice wood. The purple heart was also only about 3" wide. I tried a couple of different pieces of purple heart, thinking the grain might be pulling the blade sufficiently, no success, so I'm not sure.

        I know it's a bit harder than the red oak, but the difference in cut is just astounding to me. I'm trying to dial it in for some veneers that I need to cut in some curly maple that will need be about 7" wide.
        Purple heart is tuff stuff, very hard. Thing is, you really have to setup your saw with the type of wood you'll be cutting. What kind of blade are you using? How many teeth? How wide?

        When I've had to resaw PH, I had to go extra slow to give the blade plenty of time to cut and remove sawdust. The window between a good cut and burnt PH was pretty small. But at 3" wide, you should be able to do it. IIRC I was using a 3 or 4 tooth 1/2" blade. Practice makes a big difference too.

        Listen to the bandsaw as you're resawing, if the PH starts to drop the RPM very much, you're pushing too hard. If you haven't done a complete BS tune-up in a while, it may be time again to check and make sure everything is adjusted correctly (both top and bottom cool blocks and blade stops), aligned wheels, proper tension, clean tires, square table, etc..

        HTH,
        Bill
        "Why are there Braille codes on drive-up ATM machines?"

        Comment

        • hermit
          Established Member
          • Dec 2002
          • 379
          • Somerset, PA, USA.

          #5
          For what its worth, I have been told not to center the blade on the bandsaw wheel. When I had my 12" Jet, I couldn't cut anything straight. Then one of the guys at Woodcraft talked me into buying my first Timberwolf blade. It was only 1/4" 4 tpi, but he said thats all I would need. He also told me to set it up so the TEETH of the blade were centered in the tire, not the entire blade. Supposedly to give the teeth the needed support or something. Anyway, I tried it and the thing cut everything beautifully straight. Thats what sold me on the Twolf blades. However, on my Cman 14", I have a hard time doing it with a 1/2" blade, so its still pretty close to center with the entire blade. Just thought it may be something to consider trying.

          Todd

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          • SARGE..g-47

            #6
            Evening Keith...

            Considering all bearing are properly adjusted.. guides.. tires.. wheels co-planular.. blade sharp.. and all the little things that make a BS a piece of work, I will join Ken M. in "crank it up" and Bill in "slow it down". I would try it just to see what happens and then go down the check-list till you find the cure.

            How long have you had tha WS on there and has it seen heavy duty? I love my WS'ers but......... they won't last forever with heavy use. And if you haven't run into this scenario.. don't use one for green wood. I keep a bi-metal on hand to rip and the "greenie's" to save that WS for what it does best and that is re-saw cured wood.

            Regards...

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