Help with Bandsaw Drift

[james bell]

My blade started washboarding - tried a few things but came to the conclusion that I needed it sharpened (1" Lenox TriMaster) so replaced it with a regular 1" blade. Naturally I got drift.

Tried everything - Laguna's looking at the back of the blade and adjusting the fence and also cutting a flat board free hand and measuring the angle.

I have a MM16 with Carter guides, and after many hours of adjusting I"think" they are correct. Previous blade cut perfectly in the past until the washboarding.

Anyway, I set the fence for 1/4" on a 2x4 (4" up) and it goes from 1/4 to 3/8 in the first two inches and then stays true. The blade is 'bowing out' the extra 1/8". I have tightened the tension as much as I feel safe doing (where the MM16 tension guide says the tension should be for a 1 1/2"). The guides are a few inches above the wood as the fence is higher than the wood, so they just clear the fence. (I haven't tried using a scab on the fence to get the guides lower, maybe tomorrow.)

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Spent 6 hours today in 100 degree shop working on it, and at my wits end.

[Mike OMelia]

I guess I do not understand. Are you trying to "dial out" the drift, or set your fence for the drift? Or, both (the best solution IMHO)?

Seems to me you want the blade as close to center on the tires first. You know you are close when the freehand cut indicates a small drift angle. Then, set your fence to that angle (assuming you have a pivoting fence like the driftmaster). Make some test resaw cuts on cheap wood and you should be good.

I have the laguna 1" resaw blade and have never had to over tension it. Is this a carbide blade or carbide tipped blade?

[james bell]

using a 1" blade and it is basically centered on the wheel - maybe a little towards the front.

trying to correct via the fence.

this is not a carbide or carbide tipped blade - need to send that one off to be sharpened. it is my backup which i have used for pine.

[Mike OMelia]

I guess I do not understand. Adjust the fence for the angle. You do that and you still have a drift problem? You did square the freehand board, correct?

[Jim Rimmer]

It sounds like you know how to set up a BS so I'm hesitant to give advice. However, since you asked. Take a squared up piece of scrap several inches long (pine, if you got it) and draw a line parallel to the squared edge. Cut along the line freehand (no fence) for about 4-6 inches. Stop the saw. DO NOT move the board. Clamp it down and align your fence to it. That should align for the drift.

Check out the wood whisperer dot com or do a search here for some more detailed instruction. wood whisperer has a video I think.

[Steve Costa]

Suggestion:
Joint & plane a pine or similar board, 3/4" to 2" thick.
Draw a line down the center of the board.
Set up you bandsaw and freehand cut the line about 6" into the board. This will give you the drift angle. Draw a pencil line on your table parallel to the drift angle using the the board edge as your guide.
Align your fence to the drift angle and rip or resaw.

[Myk Rian]

Try a 1/2" or 3/4" 3tpi blade.
In my opinion, (for what little it is worth) a 1" blade is more than any saw needs, unless you have a 20" or larger saw.

[Tim Put]

Assuming your fence is to the left of the blade (as is pretty standard), try tracking the blade a bit farther forward (closer to the front of the saw).

IMO, no fence should have to set for drift. Compensating for drift with a fence instead of fixing the drift in the setup leaves you with a miter slot and gauge that are next to useless.

[Pete Bradley]

My blade started washboarding - tried a few things but came to the conclusion that I needed it sharpened (1" Lenox TriMaster) so replaced it with a regular 1" blade. Naturally I got drift.


Drift gets a lot of discussion but with good band selection it really shouldn't be a big issue. Likewise, adjusting your guides shouldn't take hours. Don't let yourself overthink it.

My first reaction is that your band is worn or damaged. How old is it? Did you catch it on the insert by any chance? What's the TPI? For your 2X4 you want a wood cutting band with a 4 TPI or coarser tooth pattern.

Pete

[Eiji Fuller]

Your blade is dull and over tensioning a blade will only cause negatives like premature wear on the tires. A sharp 1" blade will not drift.

[james bell]

Went out this morning and clamped a shorter board to the table so I could get the guides riding just above the piece I am cutting and it worked great.

I had not had this problem with my Lenox TriMaster, but maybe the cheap (comparitively so) blade had much more flex which caused the initial drift.

Thanks for all the input - will file away for future reference.

[Pete Bradley]

Your band is on the way out. It's better to have the guides close to the work of course, but shouldn't be necessary to avoid the band bowing.

[Bob Wingard]

IMO, no fence should have to set for drift. Compensating for drift with a fence instead of fixing the drift in the setup leaves you with a miter slot and gauge that are next to useless.


+1 .. .. Track the blade properly and leave the fence alone.

[John Lanciani]

+1 .. .. Track the blade properly and leave the fence alone.

-1. The Mini-Max saws have flat wheels and they don't respond to tracking like a saw with crowned wheels. The correct setup with a 1" blade is to have the teeth riding off of the front of the wheel so that the front edge of the tire is even with the bottom of the gullets. If the OP ran the blade centered with the teeth on the wheel and high enough tension it is quite possible that the set of the blade has been affected and it will never cut straight.

Also, to the OP, according to Lenox the Trimaster is not really intended to be sharpened; they say that by the time it's dull the band is at the end of it's life. If you do get it sharpened please keep us posted on the results as several of us are using them.

John