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Thread: Band Saw Driving Me Crazy
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26th March 2021, 01:53 PM #1Senior Member
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Band Saw Driving Me Crazy
I have an old-ish 14” band saw bought second hand last year. Brand is Sherwood but I think it is a relatively generic Chinese import.
No matter what I just can’t get the damn thing to cut straight. Using the rip fence, the blade wanders. Using the mitre gauge the blade wanders. I made a cross-cut sled for the saw and the blade wanders with it. The straightest cuts I can get are freehand!
- I have done all the adjustments I know of such as:
- Rip fence alignment
- Mitre gauge alignment
- Cross-cut sled alignment
- Table to blade vertical alignment
- Blade guides adjustment - replaced bearing guides
- Blade tracking - blade centred on wheel as recommended and tried various other positions such as centring the line where kerf begins on blade
- Tried a number of different blade brands with varying widths and TPI – 13mm down to 6mm
- I have even tried to realign the table horizontally. There is an adjustment to move the table left/right and I have that centred fine but there doesn’t appear to be any real process to rotate the table in the horizontal plane.
Any suggestions that might help me stop going crazy with this saw?
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26th March 2021, 02:10 PM #2
Bandsaws are a learning curve so dont despair. Set up with the snodgrass method.
Band Saw Clinic with Alex Snodgrass - YouTube
Quite often just a but more tension on the blade makes a big difference because those tension guages are only a rough guide and of course the blade needs to be sharp. If after all that the cut still wanders then use a single point fence.
Pivoting Fence / Resaw Bandsaw Fence Using a Magswitch Jig - YouTube
Regards
John
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26th March 2021, 02:21 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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Wanders... is this a consistent left or right. You've changed blades, so that'd normally eliminate the problem.
My only thoughts would be tension, or the wheel bearings.
Watching this thread so as to learn more.
Hopefully you'll be able to sort this out.
Lyle
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26th March 2021, 03:41 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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My method.
Back off all guides
Tension and track the blade to the centre of the wheels
Loosen but do not remove the table that hold it to the trunnion mount
Attach a straight edge to the blade so the straight edge is not touching the teeth. I use a 300mm steel rule held by a magnet but a small clamp would do the same.
Align the mitre slot to the straight edge so it is exactly parallel by moving the table. After this is done tighten the mount screws and recheck it hasn't moved.
Adjust the fence to be parallel with the Mitre slot.
Adjust all the guides as needed.
If it now does not cut parallel to the fence the blades are the issue.
When it is set up properly a sliding sled is a very useful addition to any band saw.
Have a look at this link for some handy stuff for BS's. It is Italian video but that does not matter.
And this one is in German
CHRIS
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26th March 2021, 04:51 PM #5Senior Member
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Thanks Guys.
John. I've seen the Alex Snodgrass stuff but I'm still in trouble. I'm going to try the pivoting fence though.
Lyle. Reasonably consistent left turn (as I face the saw). I think the bearings are OK but I'll check again. I'll post here if I find a fix.
Chris. Thanks. I'll have a look at the videos. With your tune up method is there a way on your saw you can "twist" the table on the trunion to align it to the balde? With my saw there doesn't appear to be any adjustment leeway between the table and the trunion - the bolts are not in slots just normal holes the size of the bolts. There are slots for the bolts where the trunion mounts to the saw body but these only allow left/right table/trunion adjustment. I think I might be able to solve my problem (mostly anyway) if I had a way to rotate the table horizontally and fix it so it aligns with the blade using your straight edge idea.
Chris
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26th March 2021, 04:58 PM #6GOLD MEMBER
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Loosening the bolts that hold the table to the trunnion mount will allow the table to be moved. If there is not enough movement which is unlikely then take the table off and drill the bolt holes a bit bigger. It is the bolt head that clamps and holds the table to the trunnion when the bolts are tightened and not the bolt shaft itself so drilling the holes another 1mm bigger will not affect anything apart from allowing more movement. Pivoting the fence is a band aid to correct the underlying problem.
In this thread Bandsaw Drift and Correcting It you can see how I attached the rule to the blade using two magnets. A spacer between the rule and the blade held with a small clamp would do the same thing.CHRIS
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26th March 2021, 05:20 PM #7Senior Member
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Thanks Chris. Definitely don't have the movement so my next step may have to be to enlarge the bolt holes in the trunion.
Chris
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26th March 2021, 06:59 PM #8
Had problems with tracking on new bandsaw at Men's Shed until wheels were adjusted to make them coplanar.
You may have already checked this. If not, all you need is a long straight edge.
See simple instructions starting from 4min:30sec mark in this video.
How To: Bandsaw Tracking & Coplanar Adjustment - YouTube
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26th March 2021, 08:36 PM #9
I have the same Bandsaw as yours and have no problem with cutting straight as long as the blades are sharp,
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26th March 2021, 08:49 PM #10
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26th March 2021, 08:55 PM #11Senior Member
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26th March 2021, 09:00 PM #12Senior Member
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Thanks Neil and Skew. I'll check the coplaner issue but I'm starting to wonder if this whole band saw business isn't some kind of dark art. One expert tells you coplaner isn't an issue and not to mess with it. Snodgrass even says some manufacturers build in non-coplaner alignment because that's how their saws work. Another says wheels must be coplaner. I'll give it a go but I'm not sure about the issue.
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26th March 2021, 10:08 PM #13GOLD MEMBER
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More tension, new blades stretch, need more tension.
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26th March 2021, 11:47 PM #14GOLD MEMBER
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26th March 2021, 11:50 PM #15GOLD MEMBER
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