Bandsaw tuning

[Keith Downing]

Of all the tools I own, I feel like I get the least out of my bandsaw (which was a decent sized investment at around $2k).

It's a jet 18" bandsaw, less than 10 years old. It seems like no matter what i do I can't get straight cuts, either ripping or even simply sawing 1" to 2" lumber.

I've tried tightening the blade tension up a mark and a half higher than the actual blade thickness. And also moving all the bearings, above and below the table, to touch the blade completely. This helped a little, but now the bearings "hum" pretty loudly when I'm cutting.

And my cuts still go sideways, even in softer wood like pine. And I don't mean a fraction of an inch. I'm talking half an inch or more on many cuts, even using the fence. Virtually useless results in wood thicker than 3/4".

I mostly use a 3/4" blade, and I'm going to go ahead and order a new one since this one is getting up there in age. Though it probably has only done an hour or so of actual sawing.

Any other tips or tricks the more experienced can offer? I'm about out of ideas if a new blade doesn't work miracles.

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Check this link:

https://youtu.be/wGbZqWac0jU

[Keith Downing]

Great video.

Safe to say I was pretty much doing everything incorrectly. So I guess that explains it. I'll wait for the new blade and report back if I'm still having issues.

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Great video. Safe to say I was pretty much doing everything incorrectly. So I guess that explains it. I'll wait for the new blade and report back if I'm still having issues.

Glad you liked it. Just use the tips and tricks from the video when your new blade comes in. Report back here and let us know how it works out for you.

[John K Jordan]

...It seems like no matter what i do I can't get straight cuts, either ripping or even simply sawing 1" to 2" lumber.
...
I mostly use a 3/4" blade, and I'm going to go ahead and order a new one since this one is getting up there in age. Though it probably has only done an hour or so of actual sawing.

Keith,

I have a Rikon 18" and don't know anything about the Jet, but what I've found in the last 10 years of use is a 3/4" blade is a little too big to tension properly. After various issues and guessing at the tension (yes, setting it higher than the built-in indicator) I bought a good bandsaw blade tension gauge and actually measured the tension. Even at the full tension possible, a 1" blade was woefully under-tensioned and the 3/4" blade was marginal.

Now I stick to 1/2" blades for most of my use. I use this bandsaw a lot to process thick green wood into turning blanks so I use a 3 TPI blade made from Lennox stock, much of it approaching 12" thick. This works well. If you haven't tried a 1/2" blade lately, you might and see how that works. Even with the 1/2" blade, I have to crank the tension almost all the way up to get the right amount of tension. This isn't just a mark or so higher on the saw indicator, it needs to be set for a blade over twice the width of the 1/2" blade.

Perhaps there is someone in your area, perhaps your dealer?, that has a tension gauge you can borrow. I bought a Starrett from Itura Design but a cheaper gauge should work just as well.

BTW, I sharpen the blades several times before replacing them.

JKJ

[Erik Loza]

...what I've found in the last 10 years of use is a 3/4" blade is a little too big to tension properly...

My first thought as well.

Erik

[Bob Cooper]

How old is your blade? I'm guessing it's just now sharp. Get a 1/2" 3 TPI blade and see if that helps

[glenn bradley]

Bandsaw threads are always interesting. I love Alex but, his take on coplaner wheel requirements is 180 from my experience with multiple saws. His take on they myth of "drift" is in total agreement with mine. I think you will find this disparity in many facets of bandsaw setup discussions. We all tend to recommend what has worked for us and that experience is the value of having so many member's input. Take it all in and render it down to what works for you.

All of this is, of course, based on my experiences so, grain of salt. The behavior you are describing sounds like blade trouble. The hours of use don't matter as much as how it was used or what it was used on. A dull blade will exhibit symptoms caused by much more serious problems and I always eliminate that first. By the way, bandsaw blades are wear parts just like abrasives. Trying to squeeze more life out of one that is "done" just leads to frustration and loss of material and time. Order more than one at a time.

I use the flutter method (https://youtu.be/chyo9chuwJs?t=204) for tension on steel blades. If you have to force your blade to track well something else is wrong. I get the blade where I want it, I then align the table to that path. A magnet and a steel rule can help with this. If the blade is narrow a small spring clip will do. You will need a spacer to assure the rule clears the teeth so that you are aligning to the band and not the tooth set. You can then use the same setup to align your fence.

341242

The amount of effort one puts into setting up their machines is a personal choice. A well aligned machine will pay you back much more time than you would ever spend setting it up. Once you are setup you can cross cut or angle cut reliably with the miter gauge and take 1/16" slices off with confidence.

341243

Let us know how you do and what things worked for you.

[John C Bush]

I have a 21" BS and keep a 1" Lenox Woodmaster CT on all the time for rersawing. I am doing more turning now and am wondering what radius a 1/2" blade allows. 3/8" better?? Best TPI? I am spoiled by the performance and durability of the CT and not sure if standard or bimetal blades would better choice. Need some expert suggestions. Thanks.

[Erik Loza]

I have a 21" BS and keep a 1" Lenox Woodmaster CT on all the time for rersawing. I am doing more turning now and am wondering what radius a 1/2" blade allows. 3/8" better?? Best TPI? I am spoiled by the performance and durability of the CT and not sure if standard or bimetal blades would better choice. Need some expert suggestions. Thanks.

I made a set of drink coasters with a 1/2" blade. But I doubt I could do a bandsaw box with the same diameter curves. The answer probably has more to do with each of our skills than with the machine. And the particular size of the workpiece.

To answer your question, I would start with any skip-tooth 1/2" blade and see how it does for you. Adjust from there. I would not use a carbide blade for any type of curved work and especially not on any green wood.

Erik

[John Gomes]

Here is a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

[John TenEyck]

The intentions of the guy in the video are good but he does a complete disservice to people by saying not to check if the wheels on their machine are coplaner. Perhaps most new machines are perfect, but I'll wager not everyone is. And I know from personal experience that a used machine can be in any condition imaginable. It takes less than 30 minutes to check so why endure another 10 years of frustration when you will know if that might be the root of your problem with so little effort?

If the wheels check out OK, great, then you can move on. A dull blade ranks very high on the list of suspects, as does blade alignment. Tension is important but not as important as the other two. Wheel guides are way down the list, almost not even on it. A well centered, sharp blade with equal set and adequate tension really doesn't even need guides to cut straight.

Good luck. Getting to the bottom of the issues is worth the effort. A well tuned bandsaw is as pleasurable to use as any of your other machines. Keep at it until your saw will cut straight and parallel with the miter slot.

John

[John K Jordan]

The intentions of the guy in the video are good but he does a complete disservice to people by saying not to check if the wheels on their machine are coplaner...

I've heard a lot of controversy on this. My experience with my first bandsaw (a 14" Delta with riser block) was making the wheels coplanar made all the difference. All it took was moving a couple of washers.

I always run the blade centered on the crown, top and bottom. If the wheels are not coplanar the much of it is likely to be supported unevenly on one wheel or the other and guess what happens - the blade flex and the cut can wander. (Especially if the tension is not enough.) Just my own experience.

JKJ

[Ray Newman]

Colleagues: like many others, I have a (circa 1988) Delta 14”band saw with ¾ HP motor. Great littlesaw, but about 13-14 years ago, I ‘upgraded’ the Carter guides and blue urethanetires and that made it shine! Saw the Carter demonstration at one of lastPuyallup WA wood shows and have not regretted the purchase. Before these upgrades,the saw worked, but I always seemed to struggle getting the adjustments and thecuts just right. And re-sawing did not work out well at all.

Now that I gave kudos to the Carter products, I agree withseveral posters about the need for coplanar wheels. Maybe it is just my saw’squirk, but I found coplanar wheels increased the overall performance. As posterGlenn Bradley said “The amount ofeffort one puts into setting up their machines is a personal choice. A wellaligned machine will pay you back much more time than you would ever spendsetting it up.”

[Andrew Hughes]

Funny thing about bandsaws is one day everything is cutting great.Then the next day it's seems slow or the surface is wavy.
My first thought is what's wrong with my saw now.
Ill check my guides add more tension look at the tires.
When everything thing check good I put on a sharp blade and my saw is like new again.
I have no idea if my wheels are coplane on my bandsaws and I'm not going to check.
Last thing I need right now is something to rent space in my mind.
It would not be unusual to find myself taking apart a perfectly running machine.
Some stuff we read on the internet doesn't apply to us or is just straight out baloney.

Aj

[michael langman]

My little band saw was doing the exact same thing Keith, and I replaced a bad bearing on the lower support arm and made sure the saw blade guides were supporting the blade all of the way up to the gullets in the blade.
The saw cuts straight and clean now.

[Keith Downing]

Finally got the blade in and had time to do the tuning.

Overall we went from horrible to "reasonable". Certainly not perfect though, so I had a few follow up questions/observations.

1. My saw screams with this new blade when it starts to cut. Is that normal? I mean, it's pretty darn high pitched and loud. I thought one of my bearings had gone out at first.

2. I went ahead and followed the recs of most of the posters here and went with a 1/2" Timber Wolf Bandsaw Blade (137" x 1/2" x 3 TPI Positive Claw) for the new blade ($36 via amazon). It looks like a good blade, but now I'm questioning if it isn't too small. Most of what I use the bandsaw for is ripping large pieces down to manageable pieces. The reason I'm concerned is that the wood is sawing slowly and coming out looking pretty rough on the sawed face (albeit mostly straight now). And again, this is just some soft pine, not even trying anything difficult yet. Should I be sawing pieces 8-12" thick on a 1/2 inch blade?

3. I noticed that with this blade properly tension-ed, the closest I can get my top right bearing is about 1/4 (maybe 1/8" if I'm being really generous) away from the blade. Is that normal? It's almost like the blade is off center in between the top guide bearings. But I didn't see any way to adjust the entire upper guide left to right. Obviously I already have the right bearing "tightened" as far left as it will go.

4. Finally, my top wheel really looks strange when the saw is running. Admittedly, I can't see any noticeable wobble in the outer edge of the wheel when looking at the blade on the tire, but if you look towards the center you can definitely see something is crooked our not built perfectly balanced. Is this a major worry? Or should I just assume that they shaved down/balanced the outer edge of the wheel properly when they assembled the saw?

Thanks again for all the help so far guys. Definitely a learning experience.

[John TenEyck]

Are you sure it's the blade screaming and not a bearing? A cutting blade makes noise, but it doesn't scream.

Are you saying that if you set the guides when the blade is at low tension and then increase the tension that the guides shift out of alignment with the blade? If so then the frame is flexing and it sounds like a lot for the guides to move that far. An 18" saw should have no trouble tensioning a 1/2" blade especially a Timberwolf which is designed to run at low tension. If the frame really is flexing that much then you definitely can't go to a wider blade.

Does the machine vibrate when it's running? If it does take the blade off and then turn the machine on. Is it still vibrating? If so, something is wrong in the drive system/lower wheel. If it only vibrates when the blade is on, put another blade on. Still vibrate? If so, then it's something in the upper wheel/tire/bearings.

John

[Thomas Canfield]

I find after doing a lot of radius cutting that the blade tends to become dull on one side. I can still do reasonably well doing radius cuts since I am continuously feeding to the curve, but there is a tendency for the cut to drift when doing a straight cut. I try to keep a dedicated "straight cut" blade on hand and change blades for the few times that I am making straight cuts or trying to resaw.

[Keith Downing]

Are you sure it's the blade screaming and not a bearing? A cutting blade makes noise, but it doesn't scream.

Are you saying that if you set the guides when the blade is at low tension and then increase the tension that the guides shift out of alignment with the blade? If so then the frame is flexing and it sounds like a lot for the guides to move that far. An 18" saw should have no trouble tensioning a 1/2" blade especially a Timberwolf which is designed to run at low tension. If the frame really is flexing that much then you definitely can't go to a wider blade.

Does the machine vibrate when it's running? If it does take the blade off and then turn the machine on. Is it still vibrating? If so, something is wrong in the drive system/lower wheel. If it only vibrates when the blade is on, put another blade on. Still vibrate? If so, then it's something in the upper wheel/tire/bearings.

John

I don't know how to specifically test the bearing correctly, but all move fine when I spin them; and the noise only occurs when the blade is advancing in the wood.

On the top guide, maybe it happened when I changed the tires and I never noticed, but the left bearing adjusts to where it will touch the blade. The right bearing, will not contact the blade. At it's max adjustment (towards the blade), it is still at least 1/8" away. I will look up tonight to see if the entire upper guide can be moved left to right, but I didn't think it could be.

[Susumu Mori]

I'm completely with Andrew. Bandsaws are still mystery for me; there are good days and bad days. Maybe the species and sizes of the wood. Or maybe just my perception about the noise, vibration, and the roughness of the cut.

In any case, I think it is a good exercise to strip down your bandsaw and see what happens by putting back the parts one by one.

> Take the blade out and run just the lower wheel, or even take the V-belt out and run the motor. It should be smooth with almost no noise.

> Turn the upper wheel by hand and see if it rotates freely without wobble. Some people check if the wheel stops at random locations, which means the wheel balance is good.

> Put the blade back and set the blade guides far away. Crank up the tension and see if it runs smoothly and quietly. The level of the sound heavily depends on the type of the blade, in my experience.

> Set the blade guides and see what happens. I guess the noise could be from the guides and this test will tell you.

> Cut woods. If you hear shrieking noise when you push the material, it is likely from the thrust bearing.

I really like the video by Mr. Wandel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK9m5PadmiI), which brings quite a different view of bandsaw from the Alex's lecture. One of the critical points starts at around 3:00.