Thread: BP-16A, adjusting for blade drift

Clint,

The rip fence on my BP-16A has three threaded knobs at the top front. Two have captive nuts in the fence and the third (middle one) does not. Does yours have these?

To adjust the angle of the fence, you loosen the middle knob and wind the back one (closest to the blade) in or out, then tighten the middle one to lock it in place. The front one (closest to you) allows you to adjust the angle of the fence in relation to the table. It's a bit hit and miss but you'll get the hang of it.

Regarding the thrust bearing, I've got mine set so that the blade runs closer to the edge of the bearing but I'd be interested to hear other's opinions on this.

thanks for that , I'll give it a shot. I already have some packing under these in order to get the fence vertical to the table

Thought I would drag up an old thread, seeing as though my issue fits in perfectly.

Today I got around to adjusting my rip fence to the blade drift, as I have already snapped one blade due to not adjusting to the drift and putting the blade under unnecessary twisting forces.

Take a look at pic, and you can see the table is way out.
A few questions;

does the width of the blade effect drift? I currently have a 6mm 1/4" 6TPI skip tooth

does blade tension effect drift?

If the blade runs on the wheels more towards the inside or outside rather than in the centre effect drift?

Termite, resident BP 16A expert, was your table this much out?

I always thought that blade drift was measured in mm - not Cm!

Mate, with that much offset, there has to be something seriously adrift (sorry!) with the setup. Are the upper & lower blade guide rollers (or blocks as may be the case) snickered up to the blade less a poofteenth, and the blade tensioned so that you can only get about 5 ~ 6mm of lateral movement with moderate finger pressure, i.e. all the usual stuff?

I don't know how many times this has been discussed but people still insist on doing it #### about. What the hell do you think the tracking adjustment on the top wheel of the bandsaw is for......decoration?
Set the bloody fence square to the table and adjust the tracking.:mad::mad::mad:

Originally Posted by Termite

I don't know how many times this has been discussed but people still insist on doing it #### about. What the hell do you think the tracking adjustment on the top wheel of the bandsaw is for......decoration?
Set the bloody fence square to the table and adjust the tracking.:mad::mad::mad:

hmm.......well the adjustment on the top of the bandsaw is actually for blade tension and the hand wheel on the back is the tracking adjustment.
Anyway, I digress....and take the high road

I just tried tracking the blade to the centre of the wheel (blade was towards the front of the wheel due to guide limitations with 6mm blade) and cut a straight parallel line and the difference is still the same.

Guides are set accordingly.......this has absolutely nothing to do with the guides.

Originally Posted by Termite

I don't know how many times this has been discussed but people still insist on doing it #### about. What the hell do you think the tracking adjustment on the top wheel of the bandsaw is for......decoration?
Set the bloody fence square to the table and adjust the tracking.:mad::mad::mad:

Termite
You are totally wrong, the tracking adjustment on the top wheel is for setting the position that the blade runs on the wheels, not for correcting blade drift or lead that Matrix is referring to.

Originally Posted by Sprog

Termite
You are totally wrong, the tracking adjustment on the top wheel is for setting the position that the blade runs on the wheels, not for correcting blade drift or lead that Matrix is referring to.

Sprog, before you say that someone is totally wrong, be very sure you are totally right. In this case you are not.
As demonstrated by his smartasre reply to me, Matrix can't even read properly, so I haven't even bothered to elaborate on the correct technique for setting up a bandsaw.
Due to a medical condition I have been less active on this forum over the past 6 months, but those that know me will attest that, at 62 and having spent half my working life in the game, I just might have more woodworking and machinery knowledge than you could ever dream of.

Sorry if I offended you Termite, but I was a little taken aback by your reply to my rather innocent question..Anyway, hope your condition is improving, I know what is is like to have an ongoing illness.

So for all newbies like me to Bandsaw setup, here is a tutorial on Blade drift setup and a load of other Bandsaw Information

Originally Posted by martrix

Sorry if I offended you Termite, but I was a little taken aback by your reply to my rather innocent question..Anyway, hope your condition is improving, I know what is is like to have an ongoing illness.

So for all newbies like me to Bandsaw setup, here is a tutorial on Blade drift setup and a load of other Bandsaw Information

Just because you see it in a book doesn't mean it's right, particulary if written by a yank, some of the worst advice I have ever seen has come from them. Have a look at the angle compared to the protractor slot, how could you use a protractor with that set up.
If you do a search under BP16A you will find how to set up your saw correctly. I've had a BP16A for a few years now and have helped a couple of other owners get it right.
The approach of adjusting the fence to the blade is like the bloke who had an outboard powered boat that was riding nose high, so he loaded sandbags in the nose to keep it down. When someone suggested that he used the tilt and trim adjustment instead of sandbags he said no, the tilt and trim adjustment was just for lifting the motor up when he was putting the boat on the trailer. Do you see my point? It's treating the symptom, not the cause.
If you want the frustration of adjusting the fence every time you change a blade then carry on. If your wheels are co-planar, and I havent seen a BP16A that didn't need adjustment out of the box, then small adjustments of the tracking will get your blade cutting in line with the fence, the main words being "small adjustments". This of course assumes that you have a good quality blade to start with, and your guide gaps really are correctly set.
It will suprise you how much you will use a properly set up bandsaw, many people use their bandsaw much more than their table saw, in fact at least one member of this forum only uses a bandsaw.

Originally Posted by Termite

at least one member of this forum only uses a bandsaw.

Guilty as charged

Well, I do use a Japanese pull-saw as well...

Matrix, if everything else chacks out, I'd seriously be looking at another blade. That's an awful lot of adjustment!

woodbe.

Ok, well it seems I have answered some of my own questions after some thorough searching.

Originally Posted by martrix

If the blade runs on the wheels more towards the inside or outside rather than in the centre effect drift?

Answer by Silentc from another thread on Resawing:

Originally Posted by silentC

There's two schools of thought on that. The other is that you set your rip fence at 90 degrees to the front of the table and adjust your tracking to compensate for drift. I've tried both ways (after a suggestion from Termite) and had much more success with the latter. If the cut starts to wander, a small adjustment to the tracking puts it back on course. I don't bother adjusting the rip fence any more and I can also use the mitre gauge.

Originally Posted by silentC

Chook,

As you know, the tracking adjustment works by tilting the top wheel. This moves the blade towards the front or back of the wheel. Because the tyre is curved, this has the affect of twisting the blade to left or the right as it comes off the side of the wheel and travels down to the guide blocks. If you tilt the wheel towards the front, it twists the front of the blade to the left - tilt towards the back and it twists the blade to the right.

So if your blade is drifting to the left, causing the stock to move away from the fence to the right, if you adjust the tracking very slightly so the blade is further back on the wheel and twisting to the right, you can compensate for this.

So, at present my blade is running at the front of the wheel, so assuming I run it at the rear of the wheel it should hopefully correct enough of the drift so I don't have to adjust the table( and hopefully not the fence either ).

The reason why I have not tried running the blade on the rear of the wheel yet, is because the blade guides don't adjust back far enough to clear the teeth on the 6mm blade I have on it. So I will have to remove them to test this.. If it works I will have to modify the blade guides.....I want to try some Pink Ivory timber guides anyway

Originally Posted by martrix

The reason why I have not tried running the blade on the rear of the wheel yet, is because the blade guides don't adjust back far enough to clear the teeth on the 6mm blade I have on it.

I've always had the same problem which is why I was so interested in the new guide setup on your model. On my rig, you can only move the blade back so far and it never seemed to be enough to correct the drift on most blades UNTIL I tried adjusting the table itself recently. Didn't realise just how much adjustment was in it and how far the table was off-square to the blade/machine. Solved all my problems in just a few turns of the 3 adjusters that hold the table to the body.