Bandsaw Pounding

[Dave Fritz]

I have a 14 inch Rikon bandsaw and typically used 1/2 by 3 tpi flex steel blades mostly for prep work on my lathe. I found that if I fed the wood to fast it would bounce and pound, in fact sometimes I could barely feed wood at all without that happening. On a friends advice I purchased a 1/4 by 6 tpi flex steel blade and the problem went away. I still don't feed too fast depending on the thickness of the piece and hardness. Does this seem like a reasonable explanation? Curious if others have had a similar experience.

[Tom Trees]

Is it an issue with crosscutting or does the same thing happen whilst ripping along the grain?

Tom

[Myk Rian]

Bounce and pound. Hmmm.
Could be a badly welded 1/2" blade.

[Richard Coers]

Number of teeth depends on thickness of material. Having a flat wood surface on the table makes a big difference, and finally feed rate. If there is sawdust left in the kerf, you are feeding too fast and the gullets are full of sawdust and are unable to clear it out due to feed rate. If kerf is clean, feed rate is fine. https://www.dakin-flathers.com/blog/...inch-tpi-chart

[Robert L Stewart]

Thinking the same as Myk Rian. I have had a few badly welded blades. One broke and would have done serious damage if I had been in its path

[Andrew Hughes]

It also could be a few teeth were not sharped. By the manufacturer

[Dave Fritz]

Ripping ususally.

Is it an issue with crosscutting or does the same thing happen whilst ripping along the grain?

Tom

[Tom Trees]

I had that happen on my machines, due to wheels not being in alignment, especially noticeable when cutting taller stock in my case.
Matthias video describes it here,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4GZlKWgWM

Just noting that crosscutting material can be quite hard on a skip tooth blade, compared to ripping.
Might be worth trying another blade as you can't be sure if it's the problem or not.
I wouldn't cut curves aswell as rip on the same blade, as the set will get compressed on one side and it won't cut straight.

If you notice that happening, and you're sure you didn't mix your blades up,
then that suggests its the wheels that are misaligned.

Mr Wandel also had videos on bandsaw vibration, which suggests misalignment to me also.
I had that issue, and notably with the thin kerf blades I was using didn't tolerate that, which was a snowball effect in blade life, as fighting it only makes it worse.

A long straight edge with a block taped on would do the trick, but nobody wants to hear that when they hear the table has to come off to check.
It might take a few blades for one to have had enough of that.
I watched a Grizzly video on wheel alignment recently, which involves a beam to check,
which left me with the impression that it was more of a scripted publication rather than a proper demonstration, as I couldn't get a measurement
with a block also taped on the bottom of the beam, so took it off.

Record your jacking measurements beforehand, and test without a blade on first, notice any vibration, suggests the pulley and wheel could be aligned better.
Make sure you're belt is loose if adjusting your lower wheel, as the motor takes absolute preference, especially if the track on hub for the belt is large, it compounds the issue and one can ruin motor bearings in a jiffy.


If you need move the lower wheel, then sight down the length of it whilst adjusting, it will be evident when its lined up.
Hopefully the top wheel will match with the bottom when you place the straight edge either side of the wheels.


Just saying for again, to note the thin gauge blades being more delicate than a thicker gauge if you use em,
as most folk don't like working on machines and need to get the job done.


Hope that helps
Good luck
Tom

[Karl Loeblein]

I think you’ll be better off using blades having a little more than 3TPI unless cutting really thick stock with a decent size motor. Also, a zero clearance plate that’s flat with the table top can make a big difference.

[Myk Rian]

Lay the blade on a table, or floor with the teeth up. It should lay flat.