Any Bandsaw Guru's Out There?

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I'm having some band saw issues and need some expert guidance. I have decided to start cutting pen blanks from my bowl cut-offs and scraps. I set my saw up and followed the instructions to adjust the blade. As I started cutting the blanks I noticed the blade bowing out away from the stock guide I had clamped on as I cut. Then I looked at the bottom wheel where the saw blade travels and noticed the blade running over the front edge with the tire pushed over the back edge. I reset everything and manually turned the wheel for about 10 revolutions and all seemed well then I turned on the machine and it ran well so I continued cutting. Half way into the second blank it did it all over again. I have a Jet 12" open stand. What am I doing wrong?

[Jeff Fritzson]

Chris I am far from a band saw guru but based solely on the information you provided there are two things that I would check. They would be to see if your band saw wheels are coplanar and if your wheels are straight. What I mean by straight is that your bottom wheel could be like this "|" and your top wheel could be like this "\".

Checking for coplanar will be a little more difficult but your top and bottom wheels should theoretically be lined up like this

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Yours could be like this
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I am sure other people will have some additional ideas.

Regards,
Jeff

[Andy Hoyt]

You should be able to check for co-planar by removing table, opening the doors, and laying a four foot level (or some other thing with a known straight edge) against the wheels. Don't mean to insult your smarts, but be darned sure your guides and bearings are adjusted correctly; and that the saw is thoroughly tensioned, too. Beyond that, my smarts are challenged. Good luck.

[Richard Madison]

Christopher,
Assuming the tires are correctly installed on the wheels and the blade tension is set correctly, if the blade is tracking too far forward on the wheels (toward you), the cut will tend to move to your left. If tracking too far back, the cut will tend to move to your right.

[Joe Tonich]

Never had the tires move on the wheels.......you may need some new ones. As for co-planer.......mine aren't. I have a Delta 12" with the riser, and when I made the wheels co-planer the blade wouldn't square with the table. Put em right back where they were and have had no problems. Make sure ya lock down the tracking adj. screw..........maybe that's backing off.

Just tossin out ideas.........

[Christopher K. Hartley]

You should be able to check for co-planar by removing table, opening the doors, and laying a four foot level (or some other thing with a known straight edge) against the wheels. Don't mean to insult your smarts, but be darned sure your guides and bearings are adjusted correctly; and that the saw is thoroughly tensioned, too. Beyond that, my smarts are challenged. Good luck.

No problem Andy, a "Band saw for Idiots" book would be welcome at this point. I did pay close attention to the guides and bearings but I may have to re-adjust them again after I get this co-planar thing resolved. Don't ever worry about insulting me with this kind of stuff. I've still got a ways to go to get to newby status. Thanks

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Chris I am far from a band saw guru but based solely on the information you provided there are two things that I would check. They would be to see if your band saw wheels are coplanar and if your wheels are straight. What I mean by straight is that your bottom wheel could be like this "|" and your top wheel could be like this "\".

Checking for coplanar will be a little more difficult but your top and bottom wheels should theoretically be lined up like this

||
||

Yours could be like this
||
.||

I am sure other people will have some additional ideas.

Regards,
Jeff

Jeff thanks I kinda wondered if it might have something to do with this adjustment. I think it is set more like the first pic you show. I had no idea what it was called. I'll check it according to Andy's instructions. Thanks

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Christopher,
Assuming the tires are correctly installed on the wheels and the blade tension is set correctly, if the blade is tracking too far forward on the wheels (toward you), the cut will tend to move to your left. If tracking too far back, the cut will tend to move to your right.

Thanks, this explains the blade moving.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Never had the tires move on the wheels.......you may need some new ones. As for co-planer.......mine aren't. I have a Delta 12" with the riser, and when I made the wheels co-planer the blade wouldn't square with the table. Put em right back where they were and have had no problems. Make sure ya lock down the tracking adj. screw..........maybe that's backing off.

Just tossin out ideas.........

Joe I think I may have a bad tire it comes off way to easy. It has ever since it got hot when I was sawing Oak. Thanks

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Thanks everyone I'll let you know what happens. You guys are GREAT!!

[Robert E Lee]

Are you allowing for drift? Draw a line parallel with the edge of a board, saw part way in on the line free hand, don’t let the board move and shut the saw down and clamp your guide next to the board you just cut. It probably will not be square with the table but will be square with the blade. It sounds like you are forcing the blade off of the wheel by trying to make it go straight with the table.
Bob

[Joseph N. Myers]

About a month ago, my BS blade would come off the top wheel in front and the top tire off the back of the wheel. Tried all sorts of things and finally glued the top tire to the wheel. Been working fine ever since. (Glue used was one of those types used for rubber, paper, foams, etc).

No matter how I would position the blade, it did and still comes forward to around the 1/4 of the width of the wheel and then stays there. Maybe the blade pushing on the loose tire had something to do with it.

Did forgot about the co-planer thing and maybe that was/is my problem. Will check it this afternoon and report back.

Regards, Joe

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Thanks guys, I'll look at both of these fixes as well.

[Bill Boehme]

The tires should have lots of stretch and fit very tightly on the wheels. If they come off, that means that the rubber has gotten hard and lost its resilience. It is time to replace the tires. While it is possible to glue the tires down with rubber cement this is not the best thing to do for the following two reasons:

1. When you change tires the old rubber cement will cause bumps in the new tire.
2. A worn out tire is hard and will lead to early blade problems. The hardness of the rubber will gradually flatten the set on the side of the blade that runs on the tires and lead to the blade not cutting in a straight line.

Refer to Mark Duginske's book, "The Band Saw Handbook" for more information.

I am not a proponent of trying to make the wheels co-planer because it can only be done for one size blade. When you change to a different sized blade, the flex in the frame will be different an unless you want to go the whole procedure every time that you change blades, it will not be coplaner anyway. I don't believe that Lonnie Bird, author of "The Bandsaw Book" is a proponent of setting the wheels coplaner.

Bill