Bandsaw Setup

[Paul Ruud]

Bandsaw setup is one of the great mysteries for the beginning woodworker. This forum has many individual requests for help with a particular bandsaw or blade choice. Van Huskey started a very helpful thread on bandsaw blades (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?149862-Lets-talk-bandsaw-blades!) that is available in the "General Woodworking Forum Sticky Threads." I suggest that a similar thread on how people set up their bandsaws would be great too. Except I don't feel that I have Van Huskey's level of experience and knowledge to kick things off.

So I'll offer some sources of initial confusion and ask others to share the details of how they set up their bandsaws. For me, the differences between Alex Snodgrass' and Michal Fortune's setups illustrate how the beginner can be confused. Snodgrass, a representative for Carter Products, sets up bandsaws in various videos; the definitive video may be the one produced by Marc Spagnuolo on the Wood Whisperer (https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/best-way-set-bandsaw/) called "The Best Way to Set Up a Bandsaw!" Michael Fortune, a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking, has a bunch of videos on finewoodworking.com; one needs to go through several of them to get all the parts of his setup (one can appear to be complete but it actually isn't).



These two professionals agree on at least three things, (1) that coplanar wheels is the least important issue (still it seems that this is not something one should ignore), (2) leveling the saw's table, and (3) guides should not touch the blade but be as close as possible.
Snodgrass and Fortune give different advice about where the bandsaw blade should track on a crowned wheel. Snodgrass says put the bottom of the saw blade's gullet at the center of the wheel. Fortune says center the blade on the wheel.
Snodgrass ignores the squaring the miter slot to saw blade. Fortune aligns the fence to the miter slot and then squares the table.
Snodgrass uses the blade to align the fence. Fortune makes test cuts with jointed pieces of wood run along the fence to find the position of the table where the blade path agrees with the fence.
Fortune mentions adjusting the blade tracking to fine tune the blade path. Consistent with his advice about the position of the blade, Snodgrass is silent about this.
Blade tension? I don't remember. Maybe that's a fourth thing that these two agree on: 1/4" give with mild finger pressure on the inside travel of the blade where there are no guides to interfere. I have seen comments about tuning the flutter of the blade.


This is a big ask, explaining your complete bandsaw setup. Maybe you comment on only one aspect or give a link to something you follow. Still, it would be helpful to know what works for you and why. Maybe not so needful to say why somebody else's approach does not work for you. Perhaps an article for sawmillcreek.org summarizing everything could be an outcome. It would be nice to have all the information in one place.

Thanks in advance.

[Rod Sheridan]

This is what I do and teach during seminars.

1)stay off the internet for band saw advice:eek:

2) I've never had to adjust a band saw for coplanar wheels, neither my own or customers

3) rolling element blade guides should almost touch the blade, ceramic and organic guides can touch the blade

4) Table is adjusted so mitre slot is parallel to the blade, fence parallel to the mitre slot. Note that on many saws this is not adjustable as the saw trunion has locating dowels. Table must be square to the blade in both planes.

5) Blade tracking on crowned wheels, blade centered on wheel, blade on non crowned, teeth off front edge of tire except for small blades. On crowned wheels blade tracking can be adjusted for parallel cut, I don't normally have to do this.

6) Blade tension, I verify it once by measurement then calibrate the scale or use as is if it's accurate enough.

7) Use as wide a blade, with as few teeth as possible for the work required. Most of the time I have a 1/2" X 3 TPI blade on the saw. Wider or narrower as required, most home saws may even struggle to tension a 1/2" blade properly.

Regards, Rod.

P.S. A band saw is accurate enough to make cabinet grade bridle joints, here' s a photograph.
429775429776429777

[Mike Kees]

I agree with everything Rod says,except....:D No seriously in my experience coplanar wheels are important. I have had to adjust one of the three bandsaws that I have owned in this area. It made the saw sing. I do think this is over hyped at times and believe that most saws are built very close to coplanar so it is not an issue that everyone has to address with every saw made.

[Edwin Santos]

I've concluded that with regard to bandsaw setup, there are numerous ways up the mountain, and any one of these methods does not have to be wrong for another to be right per se.

For me, I use Fortune's methods, and this is because I took a two week long class with him at Anderson Ranch and we had the time to go through his entire bandsaw tuning procedure. It was helpful to see it in person. When I got back home, I tried it, it worked very well for me, and since then I've been out of the market for bandsaw setup advice.
But there are people who speak very highly of their results from following the Snodgrass video too.

Maybe the answer is to try a few of the setup procedures and see what gives you the results you want.

One other thing- a bandsaw is a tool you can overthink. Don't let that happen, just get to using it, and with some time you'll get a feel for the machine and instinct will become part of your guide.
Edwin

[Erik Loza]

I agree with everything Rod said and will add this: Almost always, if the operator is not getting good results, it's because they are asking too much of their saw. Like, trying to resaw huge pieces with that 14" machine, trying to get a 1" blade to run right on that lightweight 18" saw, owning only one blade (or worse, sticking with the OEM blade that came with the saw) and expecting it to scroll/rip/resaw perfectly on both green and dry wood, both soft and hard. No voodoo or witchcraft required. Realize that small bandsaws are best with small blades and small projects. If you find yourself fighting with your machine all the time, then maybe time for a bigger bandsaw. And the coplanarity-thing is only an issue if your bandsaw happens to have crowned wheels.

Erik

[Andrew Hughes]

Monday I put a new resaw king on my Aggazani. I don't know if it's just dumb luck but it cuts faster and smoother then my table saw.
Much better then any /woodmaster ct blade I've tried.
I wish I could say with confidence do this it or that and enjoy the best your / mysaw has to offer.
Sometimes we just get a darn good blade that works well with the wood we are cutting. For me it's beech at the moment.
Good luck everyone

[John K Jordan]

If it were only simple. The problem with creating a definitive article is people have different experiences and have decided different things are important. And some of the things may not be important for certain uses of the saw but vital for other uses. I read several books and as much advice as I could find before experimenting with my saws and forming my own opinion about what is important. To me and how I use my saws. Note that my most common use for the bandsaw is to prepare turning blanks, often as thick as the saw will allow (about 12") and from green and dry wood, from soft to very hard. I occasionally resaw thick wood to get thin pieces.

My opinion is Snodgrass is a showman/salesman trying to impress people. I don't agree with everything he says.

Here is what I can think of at the moment.

- When you say "leveling the saw's table" I think you must mean making the table square with the side of the blade. Unless you want to balance marbles on the surface it doesn't matter if the table is not level, as in "aligned with the earth's gravity."

- Blade sharpness and proper tension are high on my list of necessities.

- From my experience, adjusting the miter slot and the fence to the blade after adjusting for drift is important.
However, before adjusting those I think centering the blade on the crowns of BOTH the top and bottom wheels will make it easier to adjust the table and fence for drift. If the blade is not centered (on crowned wheels) it can twist a bit and throw the tracking off. But making the wheels coplaner under tension for the most used blade will make it easy to center the blade on both wheels. All these work together. IMO. (Note, my experience is with crowned tires and with 1/2" and wider blades.)

- The right number of teeth per inch for the wood (and the purpose of the cut) is important. For some uses too many teeth can be worse then too few.

- Setting the guides, both the side and rear, correctly is absolutely important or the blade can wander. If proper guide adjustment was not important there would be no need for guides on the saw. On my saw with ball bearing guides I want the side guides to just barely clear the blade and the rear thrust bearing set back enough so it doesn't touch the blade when the motor is running and no wood is being sawn. Setting the guides on my saw is the most time-consuming operation since they don't have micro-adjustment. Be careful - some guide posts are poorly made or adjusted and do not remain aligned with the blade as the guides are raised or lowered. Check for this and fix it.

- My opinion is the blade tension (along with a sharp blade, of course) is extremely important for a quality cut in thick wood. People like Snodgrass who set tension by finger pressure never explain how to teach the pressure needed to someone else. They also ignore the differences in beam strength and the need for higher tension for some blades and circumstances. The same with the flutter and tone methods. A subjective method may work well for them for the blades they have experience with. I use a tension gauge. After setting the blade I can develop a feel for for that blade but I simply make a mark on the saw's indicator so I can return to the same tension without using the gauge every time. Note that the importance of enough tension increases with the thickness and type of wood and blade and the type of cuts made.

- For me, good dust collection is important in that it makes the sawing experience more enjoyable.

- In my experience, the horsepower of the saw is not that important. I worked for years with an older Delta 14" bandsaw (underpowered by some accounts) with riser block. And now use a more powerful Rikon 18" saw. I cut the same types and sizes of wood with both. The biggest difference is how fast I could cut. An example of using the small saw effectively occurred the day a friend showed up with a 12' long 2x12 douglas fir board and after building a tall fence we resawed the plank into four equal pieces, accurate enough so only a single pass through the planer was needed. He only had one board so we had just one chance to do it right. I had previously spent hours tuning the saw as mentioned above.

JKJ


Bandsaw setup is one of the great mysteries for the beginning woodworker. This forum has many individual requests for help with a particular bandsaw or blade choice. Van Huskey started a very helpful thread on bandsaw blades (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?149862-Lets-talk-bandsaw-blades!) that is available in the "General Woodworking Forum Sticky Threads." I suggest that a similar thread on how people set up their bandsaws would be great too. Except I don't feel that I have Van Huskey's level of experience and knowledge to kick things off.

So I'll offer some sources of initial confusion and ask others to share the details of how they set up their bandsaws. For me, the differences between Alex Snodgrass' and Michal Fortune's setups illustrate how the beginner can be confused. Snodgrass, a representative for Carter Products, sets up bandsaws in various videos; the definitive video may be the one produced by Marc Spagnuolo on the Wood Whisperer (https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/best-way-set-bandsaw/) called "The Best Way to Set Up a Bandsaw!" Michael Fortune, a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking, has a bunch of videos on finewoodworking.com; one needs to go through several of them to get all the parts of his setup (one can appear to be complete but it actually isn't).



These two professionals agree on at least three things, (1) that coplanar wheels is the least important issue (still it seems that this is not something one should ignore), (2) leveling the saw's table, and (3) guides should not touch the blade but be as close as possible.
Snodgrass and Fortune give different advice about where the bandsaw blade should track on a crowned wheel. Snodgrass says put the bottom of the saw blade's gullet at the center of the wheel. Fortune says center the blade on the wheel.
Snodgrass ignores the squaring the miter slot to saw blade. Fortune aligns the fence to the miter slot and then squares the table.
Snodgrass uses the blade to align the fence. Fortune makes test cuts with jointed pieces of wood run along the fence to find the position of the table where the blade path agrees with the fence.
Fortune mentions adjusting the blade tracking to fine tune the blade path. Consistent with his advice about the position of the blade, Snodgrass is silent about this.
Blade tension? I don't remember. Maybe that's a fourth thing that these two agree on: 1/4" give with mild finger pressure on the inside travel of the blade where there are no guides to interfere. I have seen comments about tuning the flutter of the blade.


This is a big ask, explaining your complete bandsaw setup. Maybe you comment on only one aspect or give a link to something you follow. Still, it would be helpful to know what works for you and why. Maybe not so needful to say why somebody else's approach does not work for you. Perhaps an article for sawmillcreek.org summarizing everything could be an outcome. It would be nice to have all the information in one place.

Thanks in advance.

[Doug Garson]

Not sure how you can keep the wheels coplaner when the upper wheel tilts to adjust blade tracking? How do you adjust blade tracking without adjusting the upper wheel tilt which changes the upper wheel plane? Don't most (if not all?) bandsaws use upper wheel tilt adjustments to adjust tracking?

[Mike Kees]

Doug in my experience when you have a saw set up so the wheels are coplanar under tension, it helps to get the blade to the center of the wheel quickly when adjusting tracking. Once the blade is adjusted it will be in the center of each wheel at the same time. Think of a flat plane going right through the wheels from top to bottom. In my mind the tracking adjustment is just the means to get the blade to the center of the wheels quickly.

[Alex Zeller]

Part of the problem is "band saw" is a very broad term. It can mean anything from what Harbor Freight sells all the way up to as much as your budget will allow. No different than saying the best way to set up a car is blank. A pickup and a sedan will most likely be set up differently. Getting the wheel coplaner on a HF saw is a must as the factory making them doesn't bother even getting close. In fact I've found that the two piece cast iron saws allow for lots of adjustment where as you are much more limited on other styles. So a one size fits all approach is unlikely to be the answer. As for setting up tension. Those who use a finger or the flutter test is like saying I torque down my bolts with a regular ratchet. You could get it perfect every time but you can't accurately teach someone else. Obviously doing it in person will have better results that watching a video to learn. With a good tension gauge being kind of expensive most people forgo them with varying results.

[John K Jordan]

... With a good tension gauge being kind of expensive most people forgo them with varying results.

I think the turning and woodworking clubs should have one to loan to members. I've taken mine to other shops and set their tension, after which they can reset it without having a meter on hand.

I use a Starrett which is a bit pricey, but Iturra Design sells one for MUCH cheaper and it will work as well. There's was redesigned and improved last year. It is also easy to make one and to improvise one with a digital caliper and some clamps. There have been designs and instructions posted here.

I think nowing the tension is right removes some variables and allows focusing on other things that may need tuning.

JKJ

[Paul Ruud]

[Just a note: I have written this reply already twice. The site timed out on me before I hit post and I lost the entire message both times. This time I am composing off-line so that if I get distracted I won’t have the same problem. That’s why it took me a while to respond. I just had to walk away the second time all my typing disappeared. :(]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I don’t think we should try to make bandsaw setup simple if it isn’t. Describing each situation and its peculiarities is why I called this a big ask. If every case were completely unique, then there would be no point in talking. Surely there are lots of folks who would benefit from hearing about special cases. Yes, this forum is full of posts about special cases. I guess I could try to summarize them all myself. I will bet you that if I did that, I would still get comments. Why not just put them here?

Blade Tension
All the emphasis (Rod, Mike, Alex, John) on blade tension is helpful, to me at least. I searched for sawmillcreek.org posts about diy blade tension gauges and came up empty. I’m sure they are there somewhere. So I found a few on other sites. Matthias Wandel has a good discussion (https://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/tension.html) on his woodgears.ca and finewoodworking.com has a really simple version (https://www.finewoodworking.com/2001/02/01/shopmade-tension-gauge). Also a nice one on garagewoodworks.com (https://www.garagewoodworks.com/BS_Tension.php). All of them measure the stretch in the blade as tension is applied, like the (expensive) commercial ones. As you might expect, Wandel checks that the accuracy is reasonable. I’m going to make one myself.

Rod notes that “most home saws may even struggle to tension a 1/2" blade properly.” I noticed that Wandel says “From my measurements, given the limitations of a typical bandsaw, it's just about impossible to over-tension any but the narrowest of bandsaw blades.” So those comments suggest that lots of us should just crank to maximum tension. Is that right? Where is the line between typical, or home, saws and the rest?

Coplanar Wheels
Getting the saws wheels coplanar got some discussion too (Rod, Mike, Erik). Clearly, this is something to keep in mind and one of those “not simple” things. It might be helpful to hear more about the conditions that one thinks make adjusting the lower wheel especially worthwhile. Erik ties the issue to crowned wheels. Mike talked about getting the blade to the center of the wheels. Alex mentions HF saws and the adjustability of two-piece cast-iron saws. Like with the class of saws that cannot tension a blade sufficiently, can anyone describe the class of saws that cannot be adjusted to make the wheels coplanar? Like, if you have one of these saws then don’t bother to worry about coplanar wheels. If you don’t have them, you cannot get them.

Snodgrass vs Fortune
Now that it has been discussed, I am convinced that I should listen to Fortune and not Snodgrass. Thanks for this. I only want to tease Rod back: this is the internet too! ;-)

Common Sense and Clarity
Some of you shared some common sense that is well worth noting. Erik said, “Almost always, if the operator is not getting good results, it's because they are asking too much of their saw.” Edwin said, “a bandsaw is a tool you can overthink. Don't let that happen, just get to using it, and with some time you'll get a feel for the machine and instinct will become part of your guide.” Edwin said, “try a few of the setup procedures and see what gives you the results you want.” Yes to all of these.

John, yes, I should not said leveling the table when I meant squaring the table to the blade. Thank you for adding clarity. These discussions work much better when we say what we mean.

You can probably see why I timed out a couple of times writing this response. It’s long. And you can see that I am making a case for more comments. I get that bandsaw setup is complicated. I have been experimenting and listening and this has already been helpful to me. Additional comments won’t change someone else’s past experience, but they will open doors.

[glenn bradley]

This is probably one of the reasons Rod stated to stay away from the internet for bandsaw advice. Like any subject, there is good advice out there it's just that no one is vetting the bad advice. I found bandsaw nirvana when I made the wheels on my 17" bandsaw shaped TaiChi (Grizzly) saw co-planer. Because of this I feel it is important. It may be less important on a 20" Agazzani but, I have no experience there. This adds credence to the 'stay away from the internet' theorem.

[John TenEyck]

Paul, here is a link to the tension gage I built and have discussed here several times so I'm surprised you couldn't find it when searching: https://sites.google.com/site/jteneyckwoodworker/current-projects/bandsaw-blade-tension-meter

My 14" Delta cannot apply more than about 12,000 psi on a 1/2" blade without the frame starting to distort badly. It still cuts OK at that tension, and I can even slice veneer 10" wide with it if it's tuned perfectly, but there's not much room for error compared to my larger Grizzly bandsaw that easily runs 25,000 psi on a 1" blade. With that saw I can just push lumber through it w/o much thought and it will come out straight, even after the blade starts to dull. But back to the 14" Delta, 12,000 psi on a 1/2" blade is 24,000 psi on a 1/4" blade, and 48,000 psi on a 1/8" blade. So you don't want to just crank up the tension to full load on even a light duty saw because you can in fact over tension narrow blades. And as I mentioned earlier, cranking up the tension on a 1/2" blade won't over tension the blade but the frame will distort so much that the blade guides don't stay in alignment with the blade as you move them up/down. Even worse, I have an Iturra spring on my saw and at full compression it will apply about 18,000 psi on a 1/2" blade BUT the upper wheel axle cannot support that stress and can bend or break. Manuals are written with guidelines for good reason. And has often been recommended here, you will get better overall performance with a narrower blade that allows you to put more tension on it than trying to tension a wider blade the saw is not capable of doing. I run a 3/8" blade most of the time on my 14" Delta, which allows me to comfortable put 16,000 psi on it (12,000 x 0.5/0.375).

I mentioned in at least one of my recent posts, likely in response to one of yours, that if you have done everything you can and still can't get the saw to cut straight and parallel with the miter slot then it's time to check to see if the wheels are coplaner. I could not get my 14" Delta to cut straight until I shimmed out the upper wheel to get it in line with the lower wheel. It wasn't hard to do and made all the difference. And I think I also mentioned that the manual for my newer Grizzly G0636X, which you can view online, describes in detail that the wheels need to be coplaner and how to adjust them if they are not. In my mind, there is no logic that to support good performance if the wheels are anything other than coplaner. If a saw cuts well when the wheels are not coplaner, great, good on you, but if it doesn't adjusting them to make them coplaner will likely solve a lot of problems.

Bandsaws aren't some mysterious machine but they do require a little thought to diagnose problems. Well written manuals do a good job in describing how to adjust a saw to prevent problems to begin with, but also in addressing common problems that do occur. Take a look at some of Grizzly's manuals. I can vouch for the one for the G0636X.

John

[Paul Ruud]

Thanks, Glenn. Lesson learned (I hope).

John, thanks for your input (again). First, I searched again for a post of yours and I discovered three things: (1) I still did not come across a post about your gauge, (2) the default search gives me a Google search with the site: parameter but the advanced search gives a different search, and (3) there are a lot more bandsaw setup threads on this site than I realized. My previous searches were with the default Google version and that does not seem to work as well as the "advanced" search, even if you use the same search terms. So now I see that my motivation for this thread is uninformed. For example, your post about setting up your Grizzly is really helpful.

I have a Grizzly tablesaw. The manual for that is okay, but definitely has a misleading statement about setting up the fence. Writing good manuals is harder than it looks. I read the adjustment instructions for coplanar on your Grizzly bandsaw. Very clear. They add nicely to my Rikon manual instructions. Now I think I can check and, if necessary, alter my machine. So thanks again.

I am going to make a version of your tension gauge. Thanks for sharing it. I guess the cost of the commercial versions is in the precision of the dial indicator. Seems like every bandsaw owner should make and use one. My Rikon manual just says check for a 1/4" give in your blade. The manual should include instructions for a gauge like yours.

Okay, I won't just crank my tension to the max. ;) I have not found anything in my manual about the forces the saw can handle. The blade width versus tension trade-off is another great tip. Much appreciated!

[Mike Kees]

Paul of the three bandsaws I have owned so far,I have worked extensively on two of them. Saw #1 Delta 14'' with a riser block. On this saw I changed out the motor,installed the riser block,switched pulleys to machined sheaves and installed isolation mounts between the motor and frame. Then tuned and adjusted including making sure it was set up coplanar. This saw still cuts great after about 5-6 years. Saw #2 was a Steel City 18". This one was made in Taiwan,steel framed machine. Excellent saw ,it had adjustments built into it for everything you would ever need to adjust. I really went to town on this saw,spending about 3 days getting it perfect. I built a fence from old Unisaw scraps ,squared the table to the blade in two dimensions,lined the blade up to the miter slot and the fence to same miter slot. Adjusted the guide post to move parallel to the blade in two planes. Then dove into coplanar adjustments with my bottom wheel,this took awhile it was mostly trial and error because the manual sucked. I adjusted until it was coplanar under tension with the blade size that I used the most (1/2''). When I was done that saw literally sang. I still regret selling it. Saw#3 is a Centaauro Co 600 built in Italy in 1980. This saw is a lot different than the other two,first of all flat wheels compared to crowned wheels. It was rough when I got it. I replaced all the wheel bearings and had the motor cleaned and bearing done. Installed new belts. I had to fabricate a new dust chute,pedal for the brake ,handle for the fence and tracking adjustment levers and lock. Then I cleaned it up and painted it. When I started checking it out to set up and tune I discovered that the Italians build and think differently than the Taiwan saw. There are no adjustments for the guide rod or wheels (other than tracking). This saw is built to tight tolerances and lines up properly to begin with. The wheels are coplanar,put the blade on and go. It also easily tensions blades properly,I am running some 3/4'' lennox blade stock that is.032 at 25000 psi tension. I use it to rip and resaw lumber all the time. Three different saws that fit in three different niches in the bandsaw world and I have learned different things from all of them,both setting up and using them to make sawdust.

[Lee Schierer]

I had my 14" Delta band saw working pretty well for the majority of what I do with it. I only resaw occasionally. After watching Michal Fortune's video on squaring the table to the blade I decided to check my band saw. The first thing I discovered was that my fence was not parallel to the miter slot, so I adjusted the fence to be as close as I could get it to being parallel. I had to shim one end of the guide rail away from the cast iron pad. Then I tried cutting apiece of wood as shown in the video. The piece pulled significantly away from the fence in a very short cut. I loosened the six bolts holding the table in place and started checking alignment by cutting a piece of wood. It took several attempts before I could get it to cut better, but not perfect, and I was against the stops on the mounting screws. It was still pulling away from the fence more than I though it should. I did some resawing and still had the wood pulling away from the fence. The only way I could make a straight cut in the 6" tall black walnut was to mark a line on top and do it free hand. I was getting frustrated so I let it set over night.

Today I went back to the saw determined to figure out why I couldn't match the cut I had seen in Michal Fortune's video. I decided to try a different blade. I put the new blade on and the very first cut was perfect on the 3/4" thick test piece. I got another piece of black walnut 6" tall and marked a line for the thickness I wanted. I set the fence to align with the mark. With the piece against the fence, I was able to cut off a blank that was over 18" long with the blade following the line perfectly. This was some of the same wood I had to free hand cut yesterday.

I have never checked the wheels to see if they are coplanar. The blades ride perfectly centered on the upper wheel. I don't even look at the lower wheel. Changing blades from a 1/2" blade to a 1/4" blade required no tilt adjustment on the upper wheel and the test piece still cut perfectly staying against the fence.

Thank you guys for pointing out how to square up the table and fence to the blade. I'm a happy woodworker with my band saw.

[Paul Ruud]

Mike, all I can say is, "Wow!" What a great description of a range in bandsaw setups. And some really impressive investments on your part. The fundamental issues are the same, but one saw is infinitely adjustable and the other is built to tight tolerances (so some issues are non-issues, if that makes sense). Italians just put on a blade and cut.

Thanks for taking the time to explain!

[Paul Ruud]

Lee, that is one sweet story.

[Lee Schierer]

Lee, that is one sweet story.

I put the original blade back on and the cutting error returned, so it is a blade problem not the saw.

[Paul Ruud]

I put the original blade back on and the cutting error returned, so it is a blade problem not the saw.

You are demonstrating the value of experimenting, something Edwin advised.

[Alex Zeller]

When I started money was tight and I owned two blades for my bandsaw. A narrow one for cutting curves and a wider one for resawing. Of course that makes setting up a saw harder because you just can't throw a new blade on to see if it's a blade problem.

[Doug Garson]

I put the original blade back on and the cutting error returned, so it is a blade problem not the saw.

Lee, if you put the original blade on and adjust for drift can you get good quality cuts?

[Myles Moran]

I agree with everything Rod says,except....:D No seriously in my experience coplanar wheels are important. I have had to adjust one of the three bandsaws that I have owned in this area. It made the saw sing. I do think this is over hyped at times and believe that most saws are built very close to coplanar so it is not an issue that everyone has to address with every saw made.

I agree, I adjusted my wheels to be coplaner on my Hitachi bandsaw when I put a homemade riser block in. It cuts unbelievably better with them aligned. I shouldn't ever have to mess with that again, but it went from a 10° drift to measurable drift.

[Lee Schierer]

Lee, if you put the original blade on and adjust for drift can you get good quality cuts?

It cuts about 15 degrees off from the miter slot. I suspect the teeth on one side are dull. I also tried a 1/4" blade and it tracks the same as the second 1/2" blade, exactly parallel to the miter slot and fence.

[John K Jordan]

Paul,

Coplanar wheels: The 14" delta saw I have provided no means to adjust the lower wheel. I had to try various shims to get it right. The 18" Rikon saw I have has adjustment bolts to adjust the alignment of the lower wheel. I had to do that when I first got the saw.

Some info in this thread about bandsaw blades and tension.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?149862-Lets-talk-bandsaw-blades!

Another long thread about bandsaws. I saved these to links discussing a way to use a digital caliper to measure tension.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?250388-Bandsaw-blade-tension&p=2640804#post2640804
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?250388-Bandsaw-blade-tension&p=2640833#post264083

You can damage a bandsaw by trying to tension a blade that is too bit for that saw, even though the manufacturer says it's ok. They lie. I had to buy a new and stronger tension bracket after bending the stock bracket on the 14" cast iron Delta bandsaw. Fortunately, Iturra had some stronger brackets made since so many people were bending them.

I was surprised at how much confusion and lack of understanding was out there about setting up and using a bandsaw effectively. I started hosting classes in my shop and until the virus put them on hold I had six classes, all filled from members from our woodturning club, with a waiting list. The focus of this class is cutting thick green wood (from log sections) into useful turning blanks while keeping all fingers.

JKJ

[Doug Garson]

It cuts about 15 degrees off from the miter slot. I suspect the teeth on one side are dull. I also tried a 1/4" blade and it tracks the same as the second 1/2" blade, exactly parallel to the miter slot and fence.
That's a lot, maybe try sharpening it and if that doesn't fix it, toss it. I sharpened 105" 3 tpi blade in about ten minutes using a cut off wheel on a Dremel (first time I ever sharpened a bandsaw blade) dramatically improved cut, haven't checked out if it affected drift but the blade was nearly useless before sharpening so nothing to lose.

[John K Jordan]

It cuts about 15 degrees off from the miter slot. I suspect the teeth on one side are dull. I also tried a 1/4" blade and it tracks the same as the second 1/2" blade, exactly parallel to the miter slot and fence.

My blades often get dull on one side and can give me grief with a slight bow, even with high tension as per the gauge. I suspect the reason it dulls on one side first may because I do a lot of "skimming" cuts to trim up both wet and dry blanks. A bit of sharpening time with the Dremel and life is good.

(A chain saw will cut at an angle like that too if you dull the points on one side and not the other, perhaps by touching a stone or a piece of embedded steel.)

JKJ

[Mike Kees]

Hey John I grew up in the North and we cut about 8-10 cords of wood a year for heat. If I sharpened the saw the blade would cut slowly right. If Dad did it it would go slowly left. I am right handed,he was left. We sharpened old school with a hand held file. One side of the chain is easier than the other (natural) . If Dad did his strong side and I did mine on the same chain,that would cut straight. Never thought about this before but makes perfect sense that a bandsaw blade would do the same.

[John K Jordan]

Hey John I grew up in the North and we cut about 8-10 cords of wood a year for heat. If I sharpened the saw the blade would cut slowly right. If Dad did it it would go slowly left. I am right handed,he was left. We sharpened old school with a hand held file. One side of the chain is easier than the other (natural) . If Dad did his strong side and I did mine on the same chain,that would cut straight. Never thought about this before but makes perfect sense that a bandsaw blade would do the same.

That's funny! I used to sharpen right-handed with a file but these days only when I'm a long way from the shop. Since I switched to a good electric sharpener life is easier! (When I recently to a Stihl carbide chain on one of my smaller saws life got even easier. :))

[Randy Heinemann]

Alex Snodgrass is, in fact, probably a showman, but a showman that is absolutely correct with regard to bandsaw setup for resawing. I've set mine up according to his outlined steps for the past several years and I get the best results I've ever had when resawing. I can find nothing wrong with is recommendations at this point. I don't do a lot of curve cutting with the bandsaw; mostly cutting blanks and resawing. For that, his method gives me the best results that I've had in 30+ years of woodworking. If it works for you, then use it; don't question it.