can you change the alignment of a band saw blade, i.e. bend it to the left?

[Jay Jones]

I'm on the verge of buying a different band saw. I have a Delta 14" and don't do a lot with it but have some 2x6 black cherry that I want to cut into 1x6. So far I've destroyed 6 feet of it and have 166 feet to go.

I set the Kreg fence parallel to the miter grove and then attached 2 tall feather boards to the miter grove. The boards go fine for about 1½ inches and then start to cut to the left. I just want to set up something that will allow me to just push the boards through, I have not skill at following a line.

I put a steel rule in the blade and determined that it's twisted in relation to the miter slot. I found Carter has some $50 setup tools that you affix to the blade and then I guess you adjust your fence to that angle. Seems Mickey Mouse to me, plus expensive for a ruler with a magnet deal.

I wondered if there's a way to force the blade to be parallel to the miter slot.

I'm using a ½" Wood Slicer blade from Highland Woodworking.

I'm looking at a Grizzly G0513X2BF

[Bill Dufour]

Metal cutting horizontal bandsaws bend the blade 90 degrees so it can be done. I thought the fence was set more or less parallel to the mitre slot then adjusted so that blade, at that tension, cut parallel to the fence. Lots of trial and error. It is called the lead angle. I think.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

Blade drift is often a factor with bandsaws due to their nature. You really can't do much for it "at the blade", but you can adjust the fence to be parallel to the natural cutting path (which may not be parallel to the miter slot) or use a point fence system and follow a line manually.

[Mike Kreinhop]

Without going into a lot of detail, here is the way I was taught to setup a bandsaw:

1. Use a quality blade.
2. Make sure the tension is correct for the blade.
3. Make sure the blade is tracking properly on the upper and lower wheels.
*** I don't touch the blade guides yet and I make sure they are out of the way
4. Check alignment of the fence to the miter tracks on the table. Make any adjustments needed for the fence. This includes making the fence is square to the table.
5. Check alignment of the table to the blade. This is the tricky part, but set the fence, which is properly aligned to the miter tracks, close to the blade. If the blade is angled away from the fence, loosen the hardware the holds the table to the trunnion and turn the table in the correct direction. Tighten the hardware and check the table alignment to the table.
6. Using a square, ensure the blade and table are square on the sides and the back. Depending on the bandsaw, the back angle adjustment can be a pain.
7. Set the upper and lower blade guides correctly.

This is a big hand, little map description of a process that can take a while to accomplish, depending on how out of alignment your bandsaw is.

I have a Record Power BS350S, which is also a 14-inch bandsaw. I was ready to haul it to the river and throw it in before I finally used this process to set it up. Now it resaws thick timber like it was butter.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Sounds like you are dealing with Bandsaw "Drift". Search it on Youtube, lots of solutions.

Hopefully your saw will allow you to dial /adjust this out.

It not, there are products (Magnetic Fence) from Carter than will allow you to cut parallel. I actually went this route, when faced with the same problem, before I discovered the Drift problem.

[Rod Sheridan]

The band saw should be setup so that the fence is parallel to the mitre slot.

Put a new blade on the saw, and I do mean new.

Adjust blade tracking on your saw so the blade is centered on the upper wheel, without blade guides.

Using a ruler placed gently against the blade without moving the blade, adjust the table so the fence is parallel to the ruler.

Now, adjust the thrust guides so that are almost touching the rear of the blade, using the fence, saw a few inches to see if the saw cuts straight.

If it doesn't adjust blade tracking slightly. Repeat the cut test.

Once the saw cuts straight, adjust the guides and you're good to go.

The saw should be fine now, if the saw cuts funny again, replace the blade, you may need to adjust tracking however not normally.

Bandsaws should be accurate enough to make bridle joints and tenons that fit correctly..........Rod.

[Jay Jones]

Thank you.
I just put on the new blade and set up the saw as they recommended.
It didn't occur to me to move the table. That's the obvious solution. My Kreg band saw fence is adjustable too so I can move the fence and still keep the fence parallel to it. This blade is 3 hook teeth per inch with a hard back, made specifically for resaw on the 14" band saw.
Bottom line, thank you for awakening me to the obvious answer, I feel like it was a duh moment for not considering to move the fence, especially since I just had it off to adjust everything and put on the new blade.

[John TenEyck]

Everyone should print out what Mike and Rod said and post it next to your BS. Drift is something you adjust for only when you have a dull blade or one with unequal set, as a crutch until you can install a new one. Otherwise, there's no place for drift on a saw that is set up correctly.

Jay, the 14" Delta is capable of resawing pretty well with a tall fence and feather boards but it has to be set up just about perfectly to do so because you can't apply very much tension to the blade. FWIW, the Woodslicer cuts great until it doesn't which can be a surprisingly short distance. With cherry that ought to be quite far, but I'd still be surprised if one blade could manage 166 ft of 6" wide stock before it's shot. Also FWIW, the Grizzly G0513X series saws are very well thought of around here.

john

[Floyd Mah]

There is a tracking knob on the bandsaw that adjusts the angle of the upper wheel and hence the position of the blade on the upper wheel. Turning it will move it relative to the crown of the upper wheel. You have to be careful of this adjustment, since it is possible to have the blade fall off of the wheel. I just did that recently. If that were to happen, you risk damaging the blade. But back to the pertinent question, why would you want to fiddle with this adjustment? Since the upper wheel has a crown which helps keep the blade on the wheel, repositioning the blade forward will cause the blade's leading edge (the teeth) to deviate to the left and moving the blade backwards will do the opposite. In any case, it has bearing on your question whether there is a way to angle the blade. Remember what I said above, that it is possible to make too much correction and have the blade fall off the wheel. It's worth a try if you want to experiment.

[Bert McMahan]

I watched this video 3-4 times before I set up my very first 14" bandsaw:

https://youtu.be/wGbZqWac0jU

Got it dialed in bang on after an hour or so. No drift at all.

[John K Jordan]

This may have been covered but I didn't see it: the way I know to check for drift is to draw a line on a board or a piece of plywood, parallel to one edge, then follow the line by eye without the board touching the fence. Stop about halfway through the cut and turn the saw off. Without moving the board, bring the fence up to the parallel edge of the board and see if it aligns perfectly. If not, there is drift which must be corrected. (All this must be done with the blade, tension, and guides adjusted properly.)

[Chip Byrd]

Jay, I just ordered that grizzly. As Jon said, that model has a pretty good reputation on this site. At least it contributed to me buying it. If you give me about a week, I’ll let you know my impressions. One of the reasons I upgrade it is that I have a good bit of 12/4 maple that I want to cut down. Best wishes, Chip.

[Floyd Mah]

By the way, I've found that the deeper the cut, the more the deviation. I'm always amazed at people who claim to cut veneers thinner than 1/8" when resawing wide boards. They obviously have a trick that the rest of us (well, me) don't understand. Besides the blade deviating to the side, the blade can bend when undergoing a lot of pressure (too fast a cut), so that your product is a triangle or worse.

Despite my relative lack of success (why are you listening to me), the things that seem to help are to use a wide blade with a low pitch, (variable pitch is good), moderate feed rate and forego the feather boards. One of my best feathering tools was to clamp a large, workbench brush to a support and use that to exert pressure on the work to keep it against a fence. The fence should be a vertical edge that keeps the board vertical, as tall as the work but is short horizontally( preferable just a corner and not used as a guide like a rip fence). Use a marking tool and draw a cutting guide on the edge of the work that are two lines, demarking the waste portion of the cut. A single line, unless it is as wide as the kerf, only gives you a chance to meander across it, resulting in a wavy cut. It's easier to center your blade between two marks. The brush as a feathering tool allows you to modify the feed angle as the blade inevitably wanders. Also, wear a mask and hearing protection as these procedures are dusty and noisy. Cut while watching the guide lines. Forget about automating the process with a set-once and push technique because that has never worked for me.

[Alex Zeller]

I have the slightly bigger brother to the G0513X, the 514X2. I had no problems setting it up and as long as the blades are sharp it cuts with no drift at all. In fact I was being lazy and didn't want to swap blades and used my 1/2" 3tpi circle cutting blade to resaw some 8" maple with no problems. The main reason I'm posting this is that the saw had a lot of vibration when new. There's several complaints about it if you do a Google search. It turned out to be a bad batch of urethane tires. I'm sure Grizzly would have sent me a replacement set but I just bought some from Blue Max. Now I can balance a dime on edge, start it up and then shut it down without it falling over.

After reading up on the internet and trying all sorts of "internet fixes" and some frustration I decided to remove the tires and put the (what I figure is disposable) blade that came with it back on the saw. With the guides out of the way (and do not try to cut wood) turn the saw on. If the vibrations are gone you've found your problem. I suspect that this could apply to any of the Asian imported saws. Just wanted to possibly save some people some frustration.

[Jay Jones]

John,
I think you must have provided me with my laugh for the day, . . . after I reread your post and though about it.

You said next to your BS. I thought wait, what? What did I say? Why is he saying "your' BS?

It did remind me too of the time I took my dad to the ER because he was having breathing problems and the wrote on the chart, patient is SOB. My dad said he was surprised, he didn't think they even knew him.