Bandsaw set up problem

[Johnnyy Johnson]

I have a Jet 14' band saw that is driving me crazy. I have worked about 3 hours trying to get it to cut straight. The blade drifts to my left when pushing the material in. On a 10" cut it will drift to the left almost a 1/4". When doing this it pulls off the fence on the out feed side by the same amount. The saw has a riser block and carter bearings.
Here is what I have tried so far.
* Made sure the table is 90 to the table.
* Made sure the fence is adjusted correctly and not a 1/4" off in relation to the blade.
* Tried as best I could to make sure the table is setting on the saw so it is square to the blade. ( there is a little slop when bolts loose)
* Made sure all bearing guides are set correct.
* I have new orange tires on
* I though I had the blade to tight. Loosened got same result.
* Put a level on the wheels. When I adjust the top wheel so the blade runs in the center, the bottom wheel blade is to close to the front on the wheel. When I adjust it to the center on top the level shows at least a 1/4" gap at the top of the top wheel.(level gap) When checking the bearings like you would on your car for a bad wheel bearing they check good. I thought I had the blade to tight and it was causing the teeth to turn inward. Loosened and no change. I have checked everything and can not find anything out enough to cause this. Just the wheels off some. To me a 1/4" to my left in under 10" would result in the problem jumping out at me. It does it with no carter bearings installed and when free handing I have to move the end of the piece to the right to keep it online. It must be the wheels.

Bottom Line...Has anyone corrected a saw cutting to the left and how.
BTW. It has a new wood slicer 1/2" 3 to 4 on it...Please help.

Thanks
Johnny

[Chuck Isaacson]

I think that you need to adjust your fence for drift. There is a video on setting up a bandsaw on TheWoodWhisperer.com (http://thewoodwhisperer.com/bandsaw-setup-tuneup/) that might help. Check it out.

[Paul Atkins]

Try a new sharp good quality blade.

[John Powers]

I have a 14" delta and just put on the same blade your using. I have a Kreg fence with the micro adjuster. I watched that folksey older guy and the video referenced above. Made the cut, adjusted the fence and I think I'm doing a lot better. After I freehanded the pencil line I clamped the wood down and moved the fence to it having loosened up the lateral adjustment bolts. Canted the fence and torqued them down and again I think I'm doing better. That blade alone was an eyeopener. I thought my 3/4 hp motor was too under powered till I put that blade on. Good luck.

[Chip Lindley]

You will find few blades which do not have their own amount of drift. And each is different. Once the fence is adjusted for a blade's drift, (as referenced above) resawing should be painless.

[Johnnyy Johnson]

I searched and found a set up guide. I added a washer to the top wheel and adjusted from one extreme to the other with no change. Next I dug out an old blade and put it on..Problem Solved...I made several cuts and they were perfect. I plan to call/email woodslicer tomorrow to get a replacement.

In conclusion: I worked several hours on my saw. I have a much better understanding of it now. I am trying to make this a positive outcome and since I learned so much it's OK. I hope their C/S department is as good as Grizzly.

Thanks
Johnny

[Johnnyy Johnson]

Thanks Chuck...I watched the clip and learned alot...I hope that my saw will not require a fence adjustment each time I change a blade. On my band saw I hope to use mostly straight cuts , so maybe I can slip by.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Johnny....you are adjusting the fence for the drift of the blade. Each blade will be different. If you are lucky you won't have to adjust the fence....but I wouldn't expect to get that lucky.

[Heather Thompson]

Johnny....you are adjusting the fence for the drift of the blade. Each blade will be different. If you are lucky you won't have to adjust the fence....but I wouldn't expect to get that lucky.

Johnny,

Ken is right on the money, each blade will be different even if they are the same manufacturer, size and TPI. It would be like playing the lotto one week and winning, then playing the next week with the same numbers and expecting to win again because it worked the week before, not going to happen. :D On the bright side you got alot of good feedback and sounds like you have come along way in just a day, hang in there, sleep on what you have learned today and I be it will get better next time in the shop.

Heather

[Keith Westfall]

Besides, how long does it take to set the drift?

10 - 15 minutes?

Quicker with practice!!

[Van Huskey]

Setting drift for each blade is pretty much standard. It is one thing that makes a fence (ie Driftmaster) that adjusts for drift very easily worth the money if you change blades often.

[Derek Hansen]

I think you might not have your guides set up right. With Carter guides, I don't think you should be getting any drift. I don't with mine, and I believe that it is one of their selling points in their promo video.

It also sounds like your wheels are not co-planar (though I'm not sure if that would cause the type of cut you are seeing).

[Johnnyy Johnson]

I understand what you guys are saying about the drift, however, I do not think that a drift of 1/4" on a 8 to 10" cut is acceptable. I would not expect to have more than a 1/32" on say a two foot board. I tried some free hand before I change the blade and had to fight the drift as well as stay on the line I drew on curves.

So..how much of a drift would you guys be willing to adjust out before you scrap the blade? Also remember that when I changed the blade it cut with zero drift with the way I had my carter bearings set. I plan to contact Woodslicer and get their take on how much drift to except.

Thanks for all the help
JJ

[John Thompson]

I agree you should call and get a replacement as you say you are doing Johnny. I think the one you got has a tooth or teeth knocked out of set which will cause wander. Forcing the feed rate wil also. A dull blade will generally bow in the cut. I got a brand new WS once when I used to re-saw on a 14" that had the tooth knocked out of set out of the package which resulted in a poor cut.

BTW.. when installing blades.... try to avoid bumping the teeth on the metal components of the BS. May not seem like much but that can knock a tooth out of set. On some BS's that is hard to avoid so do the best you can to avoid it.

[Myk Rian]

Johnny;

You said you thought the blade was too tight, so you loosened it. That's not the way to do it.

Make sure the blade tracks center wheel.

The flutter method:

Bring the guide bar all the way up.
Adjust all guides away from the blade.

Loosen the blade till it starts to flutter. You will notice it easily.
Tighten 1/4 turn at a time till the flutter is gone. Tighten 1/4 turn and leave it.

[Johnnyy Johnson]

I called Highlander Woodworker and their C/S was very nice. I explained the problems I had and what had been done to correct. They agreed that 1/4" drift was excessive in a 10 " cut and offered to replace the blade.

Thanks

[Michael Panis]

* Put a level on the wheels. When I adjust the top wheel so the blade runs in the center, the bottom wheel blade is to close to the front on the wheel. When I adjust it to the center on top the level shows at least a 1/4" gap at the top of the top wheel.(level gap)

I'm not exactly sure what you are describing, but on my Rikon 18" the blade was pretty close to the front of the bottom wheel when it was tracking to the middle of the top wheel. There was a note on their website that explained how you could adjust the tilt of the bottom wheel to adjust for this. Once I tweaked it a bit, the blade tracked to the center of both wheels. I suppose it is possible that if your lower wheel is slightly off and you have to adjust the tracking a lot to account for that, that you would see more blade drift than normal.

Good luck!

---Mike

[Johnnyy Johnson]

The Mfg. is going to replace the blade for me and I sent it back yesterday. I know that my bottom wheel, unlike the top is pressed on and has a key way. I'm going to check it out to see if I can get a washer behind it, to move it forward a little. Also, since my backup blade cut straight, I believe the worst is behind me.

Thanks
JJ