Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: Bandsaw and Blade Questions

  1. #1

    Bandsaw and Blade Questions

    Hi, I picked up a new to me italian Laguna LT18 and it came with 3 different blades. The blade installed currently looks to be a serious blade with carbide teeth and 1" from back to gullet. I can't tell what brand of blade it is. The other blades are normal steel 1" blades that I haven't tried yet.

    I was trying to resaw an 8/4 piece of cherry that is about 9" tall and I was getting some serious drift. I setup the euro-style guides per all of the instructions I found online but I am having a couple of challenges. There is a hump on the back of the blade that won't allow me to set the rear guides as close as possible to the blade without that small hump hitting the guides everytime it comes around. I am also not sure where I should put the teeth of the blade on the top wheel, if I try to get it closer to the center of the wheel the back will hang off quite a bit. The tires are flat rubber that look to be in good shape. Lastly, the blade looks like it was run with the guides touching by the previous owner because it looks pretty beat up to my untrained eye.

    I am trying to figure out if I should keep trying at setting up the blade to get rid of the drift, send the blade off to be sharpened, or just buy a new blade. Preferably, I'd like to get some pointers and hopefully the drift is from my lack of experience in setup. Any pointers are greatly appreciated. I have posted some pics of the setup.


    IMG_20211206_230919100.jpg

    IMG_20211206_231009544.jpg

    IMG_20211206_231020403.jpg

    IMG_20211206_231034669.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    When you say "drift" do you mean the tendency to cut in a line that doesn't align with the fence? Or do you mean the cut wanders, sometimes back and forth?

    If not familiar with the method, check the drift: draw a straight line parallel to one edge down the center of a fairly thin piece of wood, follow the line freehand without using the fence, and stop 1/2 way through the board and without moving the board turn off the saw. Adjust the fence (or table) to match the angle of the edge of the board.

    If the wheels are crowned it's best for the center of the blade to be centered on both wheels. If not, the blade may be "tilted" inwards or outwards and aggravate drift. The guides won't make much difference with drift. I have no experience with truly flat tires. (Note that even crowned tires may appear flat) The side guides should be adjusted so they are right behind the gullet.

    As per the experts I follow, I make sure the top and bottom wheels are coplanar with the blade fully tensioned. If not, the blade may run in the center on the top wheel and off-center on the bottom wheel for crowned tires.

    Make sure the blade is sharp (and the teeth are not dull on one side.) If there is any doubt use a new blade.

    If the blade is wandering left and right, insufficient tension may be the cause. I'm not familiar with that saw but not many saws of that size can correctly tension a 1" or wider blade. Many try and some get by. Note that the tension indicator on most bandsaws are not useful. I use a tension gauge that measures the stretch of the steel, but these are expensive. An accurate tension gauge can be made in the shop.

    You can carefully grind off a hump on the back of the blade. Another way is to hold a stone on the table and against the back while the saw is running. Use caution, of course. This is also a good way to round the back of the blade a bit, recommended if for a blade used to cut curves.

  3. #3
    I have a MiniMax 16" saw with flat tires and the blades (except very narrow ones) are meant to run on the front of the wheels with the teeth overhanging.

    If the hump is just a local bump you can grind it off. If it is a bend caused by a misaligned weld you could have it cut and re-welded accurately or braze it yourself if you want to try. Very few carbide blades can be resharpened, so make sure the teeth are sharp by close inspection before messing with the weld.

    That saw should be able to tension a 1" blade adequately. Post #2 in this thread explains a simple method for checking the tension https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....-Blade-Tension

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,660
    I would buy a new blade and try it, that is the quickest and easiest way to tell if the problem is in the saw or the blade. Today I resawed an 8x8x2 zebrawood bowl blank on my 18" Parks bandsaw, which only has a 1/2" 3 TPI blade and 1 horsepower. I wanted to make two thin slices and end up with a piece that was 8x8x1.5" thick to make banjo armrests. It cut fine because the blade is pretty new and sharp. I have never bought a used bandsaw that had a blade on or with it that was worth messing with, they have always been dull, rusty, or both. If the blade is dulled unevenly (more on one side than the other) it will pull to one side like a ) mark and leave two fairly useless pieces of wood behind when trying to resaw.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Alberta
    Posts
    2,162
    Like Kevin said above first and foremost the blade teeth should be hanging off the front edge of the tires on a flat tire bandsaw, especially a one inch wide blade. Secondly getting that blade tensioned to the proper amount for that band width and thickness is very important. I own and would recommend buying or making a tension gauge to accomplish this. There are lots of threads here about tensioning. With the beam strength a one inch blade properly tensioned provides the guides will be largely a non factor. This is most evident on the thrust bearing behind the blade, your blade probably will not even touch it.
    Last edited by Mike Kees; 12-07-2021 at 7:11 PM.

  6. #6
    Thanks for the input. I have the tension cranked almost as high as it will go.

    If moving the blade to the front of the tire does not resolve my issue I will buy a new blade.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Kees View Post
    Like Kevin said above first and foremost the blade teeth should be hanging off the front edge of the tires on a flat tire bandsaw, especially a one inch wide blade. Secondly getting that blade tensioned to the proper amount for that band width and thickness is very important. I own and would recommend buying or making a tension gauge to accomplish this. There are lots of threads here about tensioning. With the beam strength a one inch blade properly tensioned provides the guides will be largely a non factor. This is most evident on the thrust bearing behind the blade, your blade probably will not even touch it.
    Are there any benefits to sticking with flat tires or should they be swapped out with crowned tires?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    3,739
    The first pic the op shows with tire looks like a very dirty blade. Too me that indicates a dull blade when my carbide bands gets dull it builds pitch. I think because of no set. Someone might have been cutting green wood it’s carbides kryptonite.
    Aj

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Alberta
    Posts
    2,162
    Quote Originally Posted by Karl Loeblein View Post
    Are there any benefits to sticking with flat tires or should they be swapped out with crowned tires?
    I think it is more of a different design thing. Flat tires are predominately found on Euro machines designed with Resawing in mind where wider bands will be the norm. Crowned wheels are more often found on "general purpose" or smaller saws where narrower (1/4'' to 1/2'' ) bands are used. I own and use a 14"Delta with crowned wheels and a Centauro CO 600 with flat wheels. I use 3/4'' or wider bands exclusively on the Centauro while 3/8'' bands run on my Delta. It is possible to run narrow bands on my Centauro but is more work changing blades than it is worth. Same with the Delta,I could run a wider band but the saw is not really capable of tensioning a much wider band so I stick with what works well in it. Both tire shapes do what they are designed for very well. There are also some larger saws made with crowned tires that perform well with wider bands as well.

  10. #10
    Reporting back that I tried more tension, I tried cutting on the fence side, and I tried moving the blade forward on the wheel......still was getting drift.

    Changed the blade and that was the ticket so my blade was dull. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Peoria, IL
    Posts
    4,445
    Feed speed is super critical and from what I read, carbide teeth don't cut that quickly. They also have less set to the teeth than steel blades. To judge your feed speed, check for sawdust left on the surface of the wood. If it's clean, the gullets are removing all the sawdust. If there is sawdust left in the kerf, the gullets are full before they come out of the wood and you need to slow up. It's my opinion that the side guides make no difference for resawing, just when cutting curves. I've taken off my top guides to gain a little capacity and don't have any issues.

  12. #12
    I'm not a bandsaw expert BUT also picked up a used Laguna LT24x17. I had to take the table off twice to move it and went to use it and I had major drift. I do think the blade is dull BUT don't forget to check the table. It's bolted on by 4 bolts and there's a good amount of adjustment in the table itself. My blade looked like it was tiled in but my table was not square. I loosened the 4 bolts and positioned the table so the blade is square and dead center of the blade slot. Then adjust the fence accordingly. It's not 100% but getting close.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •