bandsaw blunder w pics

[Tim Reagan]

I am new to resawing and have read quite a bit here about proper setup. Here is my most recent attempt to resaw 10" mahogany (previous stair tread given to me). The first pic is the entrance cut, but still shows it is not parallel. The second cut, well, enough said. At the very end of the second cut the side guide got loose thats why there is an abrupt curve at the end.
I am using a grizzly 0513p with a 1/2" 3tpi bimetal blade, that has very little use on it. It is tensioned by the flutter method, and on the scale on the saw is at almost 6 (on the 1-8 scale). I'm obviously very afraid to try to resaw again with any wood, especially something expensive.
Also when I attempt to correct for drift, my fence doesn't have enough adjustment in it, it is pointing more the the right that can be adjusted for (see pic with sliding bevel). I'm clearly doing something quite wrong, and would love to hear correction advice.
thanks.

[Jeff Bartley]

Tim,
I'd suggest looking into or making a 'resaw' guide. It's basically a 't' shaped thingy that gets clamped to your fence and it's job is to provide a single point of contact to the workpiece directly in front of the blade. It allows you to adjust the workpiece for drift as you cut. I made on out of two pieces of plywood, the two pieces are screwed together to make a 't' then the bottom of the 't' gets a slight radius. In use the center of this radius is positioned just in front of the blade.
Hope this helps! Jeff

[Kevin W Johnson]

Is the blade he's using proper for the work he has?

Edit: I missed it's a 1/2" 3TPI, in the picture it looks like a 1/4" 5-6TPI.

[Van Huskey]

Some people like Jeff have good luck with point fences, I don't, especially with a long havey board like this. Also if one looks at the cut following the center on the top of the board which you could see would still leave an poor cut since the the cut deviated within the board.

There could be a bunch of things wrong here and without more attempts to see the results it is hard to say. My first inclination (as usual) is tension is on the low side. I am not a fan of the flutter method since I usually find it is low for carbon blade and even farther off for bi-metal. I would try more tension, I know it is "high" on the saws scale but that blade needs a lot of tension. The final veer may well be from the wood itself but I can't see anything in the grain in the picture to indicate this. I do have concerns about the blade itself when you say you can not compensate for the drift completely. What brand of blade is it...

[glenn bradley]

This is the sort of thing that can get analyzed to death and by all means, if that's your thing, proceed. I should add that I am aware that hearing how someone doesn't have your problem is not a fix, it just adds credence to the possibility that there is a fix :). As Van points out the two pics don't give a lot to work with. Compound that with the fact that different people re-saw successfully with different methods and its game-on. I am not clear when you say "the side guide got loose". Was this due to it not being tightened down or did the blade jump the bearing? If the blade jumped I would tend to think there is a material control issue.

I see you have solid roller stands which often prove a problem for me on bandsaws (I prefer casters but some folks use roller-balls). I do not want anything influencing the path of the material and unless the solid roller is truly perpendicular to the path and remains that way, you can track poorly. I also do not see any featherboards (I prefer them stacked when resawing) to maintain pressure against the fence. I cannot see the bottom edge of the board but, if it is as irregular as the top (not jointed) you are again introducing influences that can foul a true feed path.

I have your saw's cousin; the no longer made G0513X. Assuming that there are no mechanical problems with the saw or blade, I think you can get much better results. I do not bother with trying to adjust for drift. I set the blade to track true, adjust the table to that path by using the miter slot as a guide (parallel to the feed path). I adjust the fence true to this same path. I run Timberwolf or Highland Hardware's Woodslicer blades so I am not sure about tensioning a bi-metal; I use the flutter method. With this setup I cut 1/16" veneer pretty reliably.

[John Lanciani]

One word, tension. The flutter method is dubious at best, even with "low tension" blades. Every bi-metal blade that I've ever used begged for high tension; Lenox reccomends around 30k psi for best performance and life. The side guides are like training wheels, if everything is working correctly you don't even need them so the fact that they moved out of alignment means that something else was wrong. (Most of the time when I'm cutting veneer I don't even have the guides in play on my MM20)

Crank up the tension, square the fence to the blade vertically and determine the feed rate that the blade wants and you'll have much more success.

[Myk Rian]

Show a pic of the cut itself. That will truly show what was going on.

[Alan Schwabacher]

The guide block should be gently restricting the movement of the blade. If a force is pushing the blade hard to the side, there's a problem. I'd start by pulling the guides, as well as the thrust bearings, away from the blade above and below the table. Make sure the blade is running smoothly, set tracking to run the blade just behind the teeth in the center of the tire to minimize drift, and adjust the table square. Then bring the guide blocks and thrust bearings close to the blade without deflecting it.

I suspect the speed of the cut might be a problem: you must cut more slowly when you resaw than when you rip thinner stock, and not just because of power limitations. What limits the speed of your cut is that sawdust quickly fills the gullets between the teeth, and when that happens the only way the blade can cut is to deflect to the side. When you cut thick stock, you need to make sure that there is still space for sawdust in the gullets near the bottom of the cut. Consequently, when you cut 10" of wood, your maximum speed is about 13 times slower than when you rip 3/4" stock with the same blade.

Your problem is the blade deflecting, and I've mentioned things that diminish the lateral force that causes deflection. Tension helps the blade resist that force, so increased tension can also help. If the bandsaw frame deflects at all with increased tension, you'll need to reset guideblocks and table after changing the tension.

[Myk Rian]

If the bandsaw frame deflects at all with increased tension, you'll need to reset guideblocks and table after changing the tension.
All so true. As the frame flexes, the upper wheel moves further from the spine centerline. If the frame twists under tension, then all bets are off.

You can check frame deflection by attaching a thin dowel to the upper wheel cover, and have the end just above the table. Put a piece of tape on the table, and mark where the dowel is located. Now tension the blade, and see how the stick moves.
If it moves from right to left, the frame is flexing.
If it moves front-to-back, or back-to-front, the frame is twisting.

[Tim Reagan]

great thanks. I will try to get another pic of the cut up today. Van, the blade is actually from the company you recommend somewhere in the midwest (spectrum supply, dont know actual blade brand), where they custom make it for you. The side guides on the grizzly are the round metal type, not bearings or blocks. The thumbscrew that I tightened came loose on the left one and it moved away. But there was obviously alot of pressure on it. I actually saw sparks a few times. Sounds like more tension is necessary amongst other things. The 1/13 slower suggestions opened my eyes, I'm also probably going too fast.

I lied. I just found out on the spectrum website it is the flexback carbon blade, not bimetal. Does that change anything, the blade is almost new.

[Andrew Joiner]

I actually saw sparks a few times.



That explains it . The blade got dull on one side so the cut wandered at the end of the pass.

It's even recommended to use your resaw blade only for resawing. Even gradual curve cutting can wear the teeth more on one side and cause drift.

[glenn bradley]

I actually saw sparks a few times.

Ouch. Like Tim points out; at the number of teeth passing a given point in space per second, if you got into something that sparks, the blade is probably done.

[Tim Reagan]

here are some cut pictures. The spark was toward the end of the cut, but duly noted about it being likely done.231962231963

[Myk Rian]

The rough cuts indicate where the blade got clogged, and started wandering around the un-cleared saw dust. Trying to cut too fast will do that.

[Jim Matthews]

My first two (or six, but who's counting?) attempts to resaw looked like this.

I followed Michael Fortune's treatise on setting up the saw to cut straight, with no drift.
I replaced the blade, to be factory sharp - and used an auxiliary fence.

I'm now comfortable resawing up to about 8" stock, with little deviation.

The only variant I employ is a Rockler gizmo (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18056&site=ROCKLER) - a thin rip jig, to allow for multiple plies without jointing each time.
The same jointed face is kept against the fence, the fence is moved each time to reach the wheel on the jig.

[Will Blick]

you got some great input.... assuming the 3tpi is true, that is acceptable.... however, the 1/2" blade width is not ideal, specially in hardwoods.... will it work? maybe, prob. if you get all the other variables right, such as tension. In most cases, tension is the weak link in the chain, as very few people actually check the tension on their blade. If they did, they would find out their saw is terribly low on tension. Specially if you are shooting for 30k psi, which really is ideal.

[Phil Thien]

First, the sparks. It sounds like your blade deviated enough from the cut that it was cutting into the bandsaw (the guides, or the frame) itself. Have you checked to make sure the saw is okay?

Hopefully it is all okay.

Now, no blade is destroyed until it is kinked, or broken. As long as the blade runs true, it is salvageable. You can sharpen bimetal blades with a diamond burr in a Dremel-type tool. You can leave the blade right on the saw. Just tuck the burr into the blade for a second, pull it out, move onto the next tooth. I know this seems nuts, but the results are a blade sharper than when it was new. Even Mark Duginske mentioned this (that sharpened blades are sharper than new) in one of his books.

If you really want to turbo-charge your blade for resawing, I suggest squishing the set. In a metal vise, simply squish the blade, release, reposition the blade, repeat. The teeth will spring back a bit, but the resulting kerf the blade cuts will be reduced. NOTE: If you squish the set, you need to perform this step AND THEN sharpen the blade. Don't sharpen before squishing, sharpen AFTER squishing.

Okay, now make sure the blade is mounted so that the blade rides in the center of the top wheel. You will need to first adjust your tension to where your saw suggests for that blade, plus a graduation or two. As you increase tension, adjust tracking to keep the blade running in the center of the top wheel.

When you're done getting the tension and tracking adjusted, you should notice the blade runs slightly forward of center on the bottom wheel. THIS IS NORMAL. Some people want the blade running in the center of both wheels. It won't.

Now you can adjust your guides. I use wood guides, and they just kiss the blade. Other types of guides (hardened steel, for example) may need a bit more of a gap (the thickness of a folded dollar bill is often quoted) between each guide and the blade. Make sure the trust bearing is also about the same distance behind the back of the blade.

Now, give it one more check, turn the saw on, and make sure it runs as expected. If everything looks good, continue on.

You need to check that the saw isn't drifting during cuts. Draw a straight line down the length of an 18" or 24" piece of wood, and cut it on the bandsaw. About halfway through the cut, make sure you're able to feed the line fairly straight, that you aren't having to angle the board to get a straight rip. IF YOU DO HAVE TO ANGLE THE BOARD, and IF THE BLADE IS CENTERED ON THE TOP WHEEL, and IF YOU DID NOT SQUISH/SHARPEN the blade, now is the time to squish/sharpen that blade. A likely reason for drift when everything else is setup correctly is a blade where the teeth set to one side are duller than the teeth set to the other side, or where the set isn't even from one side to another.

Once you can cut straight lines without angling your workpiece, you are ready to add a tall fence (you can make one our of a couple of scraps of plywood, and some clamps) and attempt resawing again. Before sawing, make sure the face of your workpiece that will ride your resaw fence is jointed flat. While you are still learning, I suggest getting a piece of 6/4 or 8/4 stock (maybe 6-8" wide and 24" long) and trying to cut some 1/8" thick slices off that.

Let us know how it goes.

BTW, my bandsaw is a Skil HD3640 with 10" wheels, 1/2-HP motor, and 7" resaw height. My blade squishing technique was an idea I had to increase the apparent horsepower of my little saw. Just like a thin-kerf blade will make a table saw seem to have more power than the same saw using a full-kerf blade, it stood to reason the same thing would be true of bandsaw blades. I found bimetal blades made from .025" thick stock, about as thin as the Woodslicer/Blade Runner blades. But the set was HUGE. So a lot of wood was being removed, and the kerf allowed for the blade to move quite a bit from side to side.

After I squished/sharpened my first bimetal blade, I realized I will never really need a more powerful saw. It cuts FAST, SMOOTH, and STRAIGHT.

ONE FINAL NOTE: A squished blade is no good for anything but ripping/resawing. It will never cut curves. Don't even try, it will bind for anything but the widest (I'm talking twelve or eighteen inches) radius.

[Curt Harms]

Isn't very little set one of the ingredients of the Wood Slicer/Blade Runner bands? It sounds interesting giving that treatment to a bimetal band. Phil, when you sharpen a band, do you grind the 'inside' of the tooth toward the gullet or the outside?

[Phil Thien]

Isn't very little set one of the ingredients of the Wood Slicer/Blade Runner bands? It sounds interesting giving that treatment to a bimetal band. Phil, when you sharpen a band, do you grind the 'inside' of the tooth toward the gullet or the outside?

I sharpen the INSIDE only. I orient the dremel so the rotation is such that it is grinding the tooth towards the back of the gullet, to prevent a burr.

[Mike Wilkins]

The outfeed roller that you have mounted may have contributed to the board moving or leaning one way. That happened to me when resawing some thick oak; the roller stand was actually pushing the board off to one side. Started off straight and ended up moving off the mark almost 75% of the way through the board.
The Michael Fortune article mentioned above is also a great aid. Also there are some books by various authors that describe bandsaw set up.

[Van Huskey]

Isn't very little set one of the ingredients of the Wood Slicer/Blade Runner bands?

Yep, little to no set. Carbide blades have zero set as well, but however good have a price to accompany their quality.

[Van Huskey]

OK we established it was a good blade (Lenox is what Spectrum sells) and it was carbon so the tension was good, if anything a little high.


This is what I see, sparks near the end equals guides vs teeth contact most likely. Guide vs teeth contact equals screwed up set of the blade. Screwed up set equals cut going haywire, the burning and deep gouges near the end tend to bear that out.

My guess one or a combination of the rear guide slipping back (allowing the teeth to touch the metal of the side guide) and/or getting over excited with the feedrate near the end causing the above to happen.

I hate to say it but I think your blade is probably toast (unless you bother with sharpening like Phil, which I don't).

I think I would approch this by doing some shorter resaws with the guides "marked" to see if they are shifting during the cuts, I think the guides betrayed you possibly helped by a little poor technique (over feeding). In any event I am not 100% sure what the issue is (thats a strange cut) BUT I think the way to approach it is start small and move up until you/we can identify exactly what the root cause is. Good luck and don't get disheartened most of that cut seemed to go well enough and it was a pretty significant resaw.

[Curt Harms]

I sharpen the INSIDE only. I orient the dremel so the rotation is such that it is grinding the tooth towards the back of the gullet, to prevent a burr.

Thanks. This is something I'll have to try.

[Michael Mayo]

OK we established it was a good blade (Lenox is what Spectrum sells) and it was carbon so the tension was good, if anything a little high.


This is what I see, sparks near the end equals guides vs teeth contact most likely. Guide vs teeth contact equals screwed up set of the blade. Screwed up set equals cut going haywire, the burning and deep gouges near the end tend to bear that out.

My guess one or a combination of the rear guide slipping back (allowing the teeth to touch the metal of the side guide) and/or getting over excited with the feedrate near the end causing the above to happen.

I hate to say it but I think your blade is probably toast (unless you bother with sharpening like Phil, which I don't).

I think I would approch this by doing some shorter resaws with the guides "marked" to see if they are shifting during the cuts, I think the guides betrayed you possibly helped by a little poor technique (over feeding). In any event I am not 100% sure what the issue is (thats a strange cut) BUT I think the way to approach it is start small and move up until you/we can identify exactly what the root cause is. Good luck and don't get disheartened most of that cut seemed to go well enough and it was a pretty significant resaw.

This is exactly what happened to me while trying to resaw a while back ago and Mr. Huskey put me back on the straight and narrow. I had done everything adjustment wise but the cut was totally wacky. I did not remember that I had not setup the blade guides correctly initially and they did actually contact the teeth of the blade which equals "blade toast". As soon as I changed the blade all was well in the world again. Also setting up the guides per Van's advice kept me from any further "toast". I have a much older Grizzly 18" saw that has the thrust bearing that the blade contacts the edge of the bearing instead of the rotating face of the bearing and I certainly did not have it setup properly as i did not realize it was supposed to contact the blade the way it was designed to. Once adjusted properly though I no longer had issues resawing and the saw is very accurate now. I may try "squishing/sharpening" the blade that was toasted though just to see if i can bring it back from "toastville"...............:D