Bandsaw drifting when resawing white oak
matt...@earthlink.net
Chicago and I need to resaw some 5/4 quartersawn white oak. I just
purchased a Delta 14 inch bandsaw, and thought it would be a
no-brainer to resaw some 6" x 48" x 5/4" white oak right through it...
well, then I discovered that my blade was drifting off center as I
pushed the board through. I built a right angle jig that I ran
parallel to my fence, thinking this would fix the problem.... nope. It
seems that the blade twists as I push the board through the path
created between the fence and my jig now.
How do I fix this?
Matt
Nova
Charlie B did a nice job in describing and information on overcoming this
problem at the following URL:
http://www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/Resawing1.html
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)
Thomas Satrom
freehand. I do it with a 14" Jet and an Olson blade and have much better
luck than I ever did using a fence.
"Nova" <noSPA...@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:3FA0550A...@adelphia.net...
George
I use a pivot board on the right side of the blade because I'm right handed,
and I want my best hand directing, my clumsy hand merely holding the wood
against the fence.
"Thomas Satrom" <tsa...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:d46dnSauG7N...@comcast.com...
Lawrence A. Ramsey
cool blocks or whatever. There are adjustments above AND BELOW the
table.
Edwin Pawlowski
>
> I just
> >purchased a Delta 14 inch bandsaw, and thought it would be a
> >no-brainer to resaw some 6" x 48" x 5/4" white oak right through it...
> >well, then I discovered that my blade was drifting off center as I
> >pushed the board through.
> >Matt
>
Yeah, I thought that also.
There are a few steps to take not just for re-saw, but all your work.
The right blade. The best are Timberwolf from Suffolk Machine (buy direct
for best prices) or Wood Slicer from Highland Hardware.
Saw set up. The blade must track on the center of the wheel. The guides
(get Cool Blocks) must be set for the blade; I like them just couching the
blade but set in back of the teeth. The bearing should be set just behind
it. Leave about the thickness of a dollar bill. Blade should be tensioned
properly
Table should be 90 degrees from the blade. Use a good square to check it.
Same with the fence. Keep pressure against the fence while pushing the wood
through the blade.
Take your time with the setup. You'll learn more about how a bandsaw works
and your end results will be much better. Consider a Quick Crank for the
tensioning. It is essentially a handle that replaces the knob on top that
makes it very easy to back off tension at the end of the day and put it back
exactly when needed.
Get the setup right and you can reliable slice very thin wood.
Ed
Bob Bowles
edge of 18" board and follow the lint without a fence that's about
halfway of the length. Turn off the saw without moving the board and
set the fence to that angle. Then try to resaw using the fence.
Bill Rittner
compensate for "blade drift". I do it on a 12" 1970's vintage Craftsman all
the time.
--
Bill Rittner
R & B ENTERPRISES
"Don't take this life too seriously.......nobody
gets out alive" (Unknown)
Remove "no" to reply
"Bob Bowles" <nosp...@vcoms.net> wrote in message
news:cqe2qv025dasl21ga...@4ax.com...
matt...@earthlink.net
wrote:
>
>Yeah, I thought that also.
>There are a few steps to take not just for re-saw, but all your work.
>
>The right blade. The best are Timberwolf from Suffolk Machine (buy direct
>for best prices) or Wood Slicer from Highland Hardware.
...OK.I don't have this particular blade yet, but I have a couple of
brand new 3/4" 3tpi blades from a very reputable saw sharpener here in
Oak Park, IL.
>Saw set up. The blade must track on the center of the wheel. The guides
>(get Cool Blocks) must be set for the blade; I like them just couching the
>blade but set in back of the teeth. The bearing should be set just behind
>it. Leave about the thickness of a dollar bill. Blade should be tensioned
>properly
>
OK... I seem to be having a problem getting the blade to stay on the
center of the wheels. It wanders to the edge where the teeth slightly
hang off the edge. This is what I'm trying to fix now...
>Table should be 90 degrees from the blade. Use a good square to check it.
>Same with the fence. Keep pressure against the fence while pushing the wood
>through the blade.
>
It seems to be right at 90 degrees.
>Take your time with the setup. You'll learn more about how a bandsaw works
>and your end results will be much better. Consider a Quick Crank for the
>tensioning. It is essentially a handle that replaces the knob on top that
>makes it very easy to back off tension at the end of the day and put it back
>exactly when needed.
>
>Get the setup right and you can reliable slice very thin wood.
>Ed
>
>
Thanks Ed....
Lawrence A. Ramsey
each other. Ifthey are not exaCTLY IN LINE WITH EACH OTHER, YOU CAN
HAVE ALL KINDS OF TRACKING PROBLEMS.
Mark Wells
saw for resawing.
The blade will drift much more dramatically when it's dull. It is
very easy, even with the imfamous Timberwolf blades, to overheat a
blade and make it useless, especially on a hard wood like white oak.
If you smelled any burning, you may have toasted the blade already.
I started using Timberwolfs at first because everybody says they are
the best. I found that they just have the best marketing. They cut
well at first, but became dull very quickly. I switched to a Lenox
4tpi bi-metal blade for most of my work and life is much easier. It
stays sharp much, much longer. (BTW, Bird suggests a carbide or
bi-metal blade for re-sawing, even on poplar.) The carbon steel Lenox
blades I have are just as good as Timberwolf and cheaper, too.
You can buy Lenox blades from http://www.carbide.com. Their website
is a little buggy, but I got my order quickly.
Mark
matt...@earthlink.net wrote in message news:<bsi0qv4idjl148iui...@4ax.com>...
Matt Zach
using are costing me just a little over !0.00 each for what looks like Carbide's
LNX-TRI.750X3X93.5 , which runs more than $100.00. I'll end up trying either the Lennox or the
Timberwolf here shortly, but I have to admit that I'm a little shocked at the price difference.
I am still trying to learn the setup on my new Delta 299A, and I was thinking that if I found
why the blade is not centering on the wheels, I would be close to getting my resaw where it
needs to be.
Are the serious bandsaw users all sold on these Timberwolf and Lennox blades? Do you think the
saw I am using is capable of doing a decent job of resawing 6 inch wide quartersawn white oak,
when teamed up with a blade like a Lennox?
I'll order a copy of Lonnie Bird's Band Saw Book also.
Thanks for the help.
Matt
Dan
in news:3FA3390C...@earthlink.net:
> Are the serious bandsaw users all sold on these Timberwolf and Lennox
> blades? Do you think the saw I am using is capable of doing a decent
> job of resawing 6 inch wide quartersawn white oak, when teamed up
> with a blade like a Lennox? I'll order a copy of Lonnie Bird's Band
> Saw Book also.
I don't think I qualify as a serious bandsaw user, unless you define it as
seriously intending to get serious. But everything I read and every
experienced woodworker I talk to says, yeah, you've got a saw that *should*
be capable of decent resawing when properly tuned and wearing the right
blade. Delta 14-inch, no riser block yet, right? Is it possible your fence
isn't canted correctly to compensate for the drift in the blade?
The only person on this group I've ever seen post anything bad about
Timberwolf is Mark. He might have a point about dulling quickly, I haven't
run mine through enough wood to know myself. But right now it cuts oak like
butter. Maybe a little slower than butter, but pretty smooth. The weather,
work, and family have combined to keep me out of the shop lately so I
haven't had a chance to try resawing.
I've got Lonnie's book. Like it. Good basic stuff, lots of pointers. Just
about all the photos are of Deltas :-) but there's one that looks like the
same model of Jet I bought used last month. It seems to be written early
enough so he doesn't talk much about low-tension blades like Timberwolf.
Otherwise it's great.
Dan
Matt Zach
Looking forward to reading them both. I think I need to get more familiar with
the adjustments on the bandsaw first. LOL... no riser block YET, but I'm
learning this thing one step at a time.
So, what does everyone use for resawing through 6 inch wide dense hardwoods
like white oak? I have been going with 3/4" 3TPI blades. When I went to
carbide.com, there were quite a variety of blades to choose from.
Matt
Edwin Pawlowski
"Matt Zach" <matt...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> So, what does everyone use for resawing through 6 inch wide dense
hardwoods
> like white oak? I have been going with 3/4" 3TPI blades. When I went to
> carbide.com, there were quite a variety of blades to choose from.
> Matt
My Jet 14" can take a 3/4" blade, but the folks at Suffolk recommended a
1/2" and it woks just fine. I've resawn Jatoba with it as well as other
woods.
Ed
201@yahoo.com john carlson
wrote:
>I started using Timberwolfs at first because everybody says they are
>the best. I found that they just have the best marketing. They cut
>well at first, but became dull very quickly.
Interesting. That was my experience, too. All in all, I'm not
convinced that they work all that much better than the Lenox blades
that cost a little more than half as much.
I'm currently using a Highland Hardware Woodslicer and I have to say
it's mighty impressive. It goes through 6" maple like it was soft
pine and the cut is incredibly smooth. But it's brand new and I don't
yet know how it will hold up over time. It cost about 4 times what
the Lenox costs so I've got to see whether it lasts 4 times as long.
-- jc
Published e-mail address is strictly for spam collection.
If e-mailing me, please use jc631 at optonline dot net
Mark Wells
I am a hobbiest as well. My bandsaw use is probably different than
most because I don't own a table saw. That means every (powered) cut
I do is on my bandsaw or compound miter saw. In that setting, I felt
like my 1/2", 3tpi Timberwolf blade dulled too quickly. After doing
more reading and Google searching, I found some other folks with the
same complaint. I also found some statements by Iturra Designs and
others who think this "low-tension silicon steel" craze is just that
-- a craze. Steve Knight on this group said that he switched to
bi-metal and was happy with them. That's why I tried them and I have
been pleased. If you don't find your blades go dull too quickly, then
I see no reason to switch to bi-metal.
A bi-metal blade is about $30, and will last much more than 3x as long
as a carbon steel blade. I don't have a carbide bandsaw blade because
a) they are expensive b) I'm worried that they are fragile c) they
require a lot of HP because the kerf is much wider than carbon steel
or bi-metal blades d) I haven't run through 3 bi-metal blades yet.
I'm not a Lenox zealot. I'm not saying the Lenox are better than
Timberwolf -- I think they are about the same except that Lenox is
cheaper.
Mark
Dan <s...@charter.net> wrote in message news:<Xns9425F4053EA...@216.168.3.44>...
Markm
termed as drift. I have resawn quite a bit of 8-10" Q/S oak with really
good results.
Since my saw is only 2hp it will struggle (slow down) if you really rush it.
I also use exclusivly carbid blades. I have a dozen or so metal and
bi-metal blades from 1/8" to 1" but they just collect dust. I could see
using ones in the 1/8" -1/4" range because they don't make carbide that
small.
I bought four Lennox blades from 3/8"-1" and have been using them for two
years (probably a couple thousand feet of resawing) , the cut just as if
they were new. I've also cut my share of nails and screws with these but it
seems to just wizz right through them with no ill effects that I can tell.
They also leave the nicest finish and before I bought a drum sander I would
resaw figured wood like birdseye and it only required light sanding when
done. This was after ruining a bunch on the planer.
So, carbide costs a lot more but I think it's well well worth it. I would
suggest getting them as long as you can and still have your saw tension so
if you break one you will have a better change of getting it repaired. I
broke my 3/8" trying to back out of cut and because of the teeth they can't
just weld them anywhere.
As for Timberwoolf, tried them in the beginning thinking I could get away
with only spending a little more. Haha, it's hype, I could not see any
difference between these and any of the other cheapass blades. They just
keep getting dull and duller.
mark
"Matt Zach" <matt...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3FA3390C...@earthlink.net...
Robert Smith
parts for a bunch of people who make hand woven baskets. I was asked to bend
them some handles out of Red Oak. The blanks are 3/16th. thick, 1 1/8 wide,
by 48" long. So I told my SWMBO that I had to have a bandsaw to cut the
strips with. I had gotten two pickup truck loads of rough sawn 2x8 red oak
given to me by my wifes uncle. So I figured with the bandsaw I would be able
to resaw a bunch of blanks for next to nothing. Grizzly is only about an
hour and a half from my house, so me and a wood working friend drove up to
get my bandsaw. Last week, I stuck a Grizzly 1" wide 2tpi blade on the saw
and began cutting 1/4 thick strips by 2" wide. While cutting the first strip
I noticed that the blade wasn't cutting parallel to the fence. So I stopped
what I was doing and found that the top and bottom blade guides weren't
adjusted the same. So I fiddled with it for a while. (no I don't play a
fiddle, but I wish I could). Once I got it adjusted, I tried it again and it
cut straight and true. I cut up one 8" worth of strips, then fired up my
homemade steamer. The point to this story was, I used a $14.95 el cheapo
Grizzly blade and it cut O.K. I would look more into your saw alignment than
at a blade problem. If you are interested in more of my basket handle
making saga, feel free to read on.
I already had made up three forms to bend the wood around, so like I said I
fired up my homemade steamer. Waited for it to come up to temperature, and
threw some blanks in. After 15min. I took them out one at a time, and put
them on the form. Then I stuck three more in the steamer, 15 min. later, I
took the bent ones out of the form, taped the legs so they would hold there
shape while they dried fully and stuck three more in the steamer. Till I was
all done, I had 30 handles bent.The next day, 24 of them had cracking around
the bend area.
So I figured I would cut some more blanks, with the grain running the
opposite direction. Did 15 more, the next day still lost 12 due to cracking.
About a month ago we had a really bad storm and I lost a few large oak
trees on my property. So this past Saturday, I took the chain saw down and
cut some 48" long pieces out of the straightest part of the trunk. I split
it down the middle with a sledge and a few wedges. Then I got another of my
rough cut 2x8 cut it to 5' long and trued up two sides, then I laid the
split log on top of the 2x8, and screwed it fast with 3" long screws. I
shimed it where I had to, and once it was fastened securely I ran it through
the band saw again. This gave me one flat side, then putting that side down
on the table, I cut the other side perpendicular to it. Then with one square
corner, I cut a bunch of 1/4 thick strips. Oh the reason I cut them to 1/4"
is that I run them through the surface planer to smooth both sides.
Half of these strips I tied in a bundle, hooked a brick to them, and
tossed them into the creek. Then next day, I started up the steamer, steamed
and bent all the ones that weren't in the creek. Then I retrieved the other
ones from the creek and steamed and bent them also. Then next day three of
the handles that weren't soaked in the creek were cracked. All the ones that
were in the creek survived. So looks like all my steaming wood will be
taking a swim before steaming.
All the wood I resawed so far was all cut with the same 1" Grizzly
blade. I was planning on getting some good blades for it, but I think it
will be hard to justify the added expense when this one blade has cut all
this dried and wet red oak.
I know you all think that I talk to much, but if you were sitting in my
shop I would be able to elaborate even further on the basket making saga.
Also, if any of you are from the Harrisburg, Pa. area or withing a few
hours either way and have a good cheap source for 3/4 pine boards I would
really be interested. I just got an order for 200 pcs. of 3/4 pine 8x11
rectangle, with a bunch of cutouts. I really need to find a source for wood
other than the borg or lowes. I have some rough cut pine, but once I get it
cut down to 3/4 thick, the next day it is severely cupped. This stuff has
been laying under a tarp for 12 years, but it evidently is still very damp
inside.
Michael Daly
> I stuck a Grizzly 1" wide 2tpi blade on the saw
> and began cutting 1/4 thick strips by 2" wide.
BTW, that blade is overkill for the wood in question. You could
do quite well with a 3/8 6tpi. Less tension and stress on the BS.
My biggest blade for resawing is a 1/2 3tpi.
Mike