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Grrrrr......I hate bandsaws

RogerS

RogerS

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I can't think of a more cantankerous, finicky piece of woodworking equipment.

I have a Record BS350S and a Tuffsaw blade. Chronic blade drift. Fuss about getting it right. You make a cut and it seems OK. Go back 20 minutes later and it's drifting just as bad as it was before.

Give me a table saw every day!!
 
Could not agree more Roger.

Bandsaws are not designed to cut straight, its a modern home woodwork way of thinking :shock: , a table saw everyday for me as well. There are so many factors to why bandsaw cuts drift off but don't worry so much about it, in industry bandsaws are not really used so much and really they are designed for curved work or short simple cuts, never straight , why would you when you have a table saw ?. Home woodworkers like bandsaws because they feel safe using them.
A table saw is so much more useful anyway, never understood why everyone gets so obsessed with bandsaws.
Good luck with it Roger.

thanks mark.
 
furnman":369j5hbx said:
........never understood why everyone gets so obsessed with bandsaws.......
Click to expand...

Space. You don't need half an acre around the machine in the way you do with a tablesaw.
 
Try ripping through a 12" green log to make bowl blanks with a table saw!
 
Rob":1hksviqt said:
Try ripping through a 12" green log to make bowl blanks with a table saw!
Click to expand...

Now why on earth would anyone want to do that ? :lol:

Mike, the footprint of my bandsaw is not that much greater than that of my table saw.
 
Roger, you probably know this, but just in case : Lots of setting up and tracking instructions refer to getting the blade centred on the wheel, but I've seen a very convincing video that says it should be the teeth that are centred on the wheel. Ever since I've done that, drift has been much less of a problem.

That being said, if you make one really heavy curved cut, you will have worn one side of the teeth more than the other and the blade is finished as far as really straight cutting is concerned.
 
David, you've eloquently proved my point for me! If you Google 'bandsaw blade drift' you will come up with a dozen and one different methods. The very word 'drift' implies something that is variable with time! Just like a bandsaw!!

I've not cut any curved work. Well, not intentionally ;)
 
My experience is almost 100% about either blade sharpness or blade tension. If either are off then those are the most common cause of drift. Tracking is often a red herring and the video being cited sounds like the Alex Snodgrass Piece on YT

Bear this in mind when considering tracking. The reason bandsaw wheels are crowned is to aid the blade to track centrally. Think about that, bandsaw wheels are DESIGNED to aid the central tracking of the metal blade. A bandsaw is in essence a ruddy great big pulley and instead of the belt being rubber that runs in a grooved channel, it has to run in an environment where the teeth don't get knocked off on each revolution. So they came up with the idea of crowned wheels and tyres. That little mountain in the middle of the wheel causes the bandsaw blade (the belt if you like) to want to run back to centre. So I think they should be centred on the wheel.

The manufacturers think they should be centred on the wheel because they say so in their manuals (every one I've ever read). When I do that with a new (Tuffsaw's) blade and the tension set accurately it cuts straight every time without fail. And it does so "without" the guides even in place....another red herring. The guides will of course help once you put some pressure on but for a simple, light cut, if the tension and sharpness are addressed it will still cut straight with no guides in place at all providing you go steady.

Now, I'm not in the business of selling one way or another of setting up one's bandsaw, all I can do is report what works for me. I'm afraid I'm with what Startrite say on this because I'm making a wild off the wall assumption that they know more about bandsaw design than I do. They say set the tracking so the blade is roughly in the middle of the tyre, they build their wheels humped so the bandsaw returns to the middle of the tyre. When I do that it works............ so I do that :-)

Tension and sharpness are the number one causes of blade drift.

And by the way, dispensing with the fence altogether and cutting to a pencil line by eye is often a way to keep cutting close to straight (pass or three on the planar afterwards) long after the sharpness of the blade has gone off the boil). I'm still experimenting with home sharpening of bandsaw blades.
 
You need one of these Roger :D



I was fascinated by the table saw blade attached to the bench with what looks like a hand crank, to facilitate sharpening I presume.
 
Mike G":22h2djif said:
furnman":22h2djif said:
........never understood why everyone gets so obsessed with bandsaws.......
Click to expand...

Space. You don't need half an acre around the machine in the way you do with a tablesaw.
Click to expand...

Maybe I am going mad, but surely bandsaws do not have tha ability to magically shrink things. If this is the case the space required will be determined by the work piece not the saw being used to cut it?

Terry.
 
I use a cheapo Draper bandsaw and set up with the blade running central on the wheels it cuts beautifully with a fresh blade in. I can slice some nice veneers with it. My biggest problem with it is it is a bit underpowered for deep work. I set the blade central on the wheels with the correct tension and then adjust the guides and that is all there is to it. Only time it drifts is when the blade is blunt or I have been doing a lot of curved work. ;)
 
Wizard9999":2e0mazkc said:
Mike G":2e0mazkc said:
furnman":2e0mazkc said:
........never understood why everyone gets so obsessed with bandsaws.......
Click to expand...

Space. You don't need half an acre around the machine in the way you do with a tablesaw.
Click to expand...

Maybe I am going mad, but surely bandsaws do not have tha ability to magically shrink things. If this is the case the space required will be determined by the work piece not the saw being used to cut it?

Terry.
Click to expand...

That is true Terry but your average decent quality table saw (with outfeed and side tables etc) has a much larger footprint than its counterpart bandsaw. So in a tight space, even when not in use, the table saw is hogging a lot of it. On the other hand, when you're cutting multiple repeat components like door rails and stiles where you want a dead straight edge, they're hard to beat. Oh to have both and limitless space eh....we should all move to America!
 
No, the crown is fine. In any event, there is a school of thought that says you adjust the tracking to fix drift - see Steve Maskery's DVD, for example. This means that the blade does not necessarily sit on the crown.

I'll dig out a new blade and give that a whirl but TBH the table saw works just fine.
 
I run my blades with the teeth hanging off the front of the wheel , this is the way i was taught at college and have done ever since, reason is that it will help protect the rubber wheels, but of course with very narrow blades its not always possible. I think it makes no difference the position of the blade on the wheel however my bandsaw is a 30 inch so the blade at point of cut is along way away from the wheels where a small bandsaw could be more critical .

"BANDSAWS DO LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT BADLY" :o

When I was talking about a table saw, I had in mind a small one 30 inch square 10 inch blade say so don't really take up much room at home, my question to you all is why did you all buy bandsaws in the first place.

thanks mark
 
deep ripping of logs for turning blanks and resawing (try buying 1/2" stock off the shelf). Also very handy for sawing in half frozen meat joints and all manner of other bits n pieces including tenons and obviously any radiused work. And...it was shiny....I mean REALLY shiny :-)
 
ghengis":1q0s6ea4 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

All you need to know to get a perfect cut, I had the same issues until i followed this guys advice.
Click to expand...

That's the one - works for me too !

Apart from resawing, which is where all this blade drift stuff starts to matter, mine is just for cutting curves AND for making stopped straight cuts such as tenon cheeks - something a tablesaw with its circular blade can only do in one plane, ie with the work vertical.

I should add that sharpness is essential too, if a blade is blunt it will try to go where the wood is easiest to cut, following the grain for example, rather than following a straight line. Change blades often and dont abuse them by cutting chipboard !

...oh, and +1 for following a pencil line by eye. When my bandsaw is nearing time for a blade change etc and not as good as it could be, that's what I do too.
 
All this talk of how best to set up a bandsaw reminded me that I have an old, quite blunt blade in mine, so when it got too cold to work in the garden, I stripped down the bandsaw, changed the blade, reset the guides etc. etc. following the advice of Mr Snodgrass as I always do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU

Of all the advice he gives my favourite tips are :

  • Take off the table so you can see what you are doing (it's only 4 easily accessed bolts on mine)
  • Make a shallow cut in a wide board, then turn it around behind the blade to check that the table is square to the blade

Just for the record (it's not a Record, it's a Metabo !) I finished by resawing a 1.5mm thick (thin ?) slice off a 120mm wide board 30cm long using a cheap blade from Screwfix, it's all I had in stock, and I cant see any deviation in thickness with the naked eye.
 
My several years old and much used Axminster 350n bandsaw fitted with a Tuffsaw's 5/8" SuperTuff Fastcut blade will cut reliably straight and true once I have initially set the fence to counteract for a very slight pull to the left.

I only need to do this when first fitting the blade. It's always been this way and doesn't concern because once set to compensate it cuts true for evermore.

UNLESS I push the blade to its limit cutting a very tight radius on thickish timber then afterwards it will no longer run reliably true however much I fiddly with the settings.

My "solution" is to have two blades. One for cutting straight and for veneers etc with the fence and the other for doing curved work without the fence.
 
Thanks Andy, no problem, I expected it on my first visit to the reincarnated forum. Nice to see it back :)
 
Hi RogerS,

I have only just joined the forum and see that you have had bandsaw problems a few months ago and wonder if I can help. I upgraded my bandsaw to the Record BS400 and tuned it according to the Alex Snodgrass video, which worked for me very well.

If you are still not happy with your bandsaw performance, I could easily pop down to you and se if I can help?

I also bought the Carter Stabilizer some months ago so that I could use a 1/8" blade, which I find very useful in making bandsaw boxes, which is my retirement hobby at present.

Alex
 
Hi Alex

That's very kind of you but I'm pleased to say that it's all sorted. A new blade from Tuff :oops:

Cheers

Roger
 
Anytime Roger, you are not far away and am always pleased the chat about woodwork! Likewise if your in my area, give a shout and pop in.

Alex

two left fingers!
 
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