9" Bandsaw adjustment

I am using a Delta 9" benchtop bandsaw. I bought it years ago to just make some rather small cuts quickly.

I made what I thought were the right adjustments. I noticed that the guides are a bit coarser than my 18" Jet, but again, it's simple cuts I'm making.

Anyways, I'm trying to make a simple straight cut. I noticed the blade drifts dramatically. More so than I thought. Over a simple 4 or 5 inch cut, it drifts about 1/4 inch or more. I'm using a straight fence. That's a lot of drift. I'm cutting 3/4" ply.

Is this much drift t to be expected with these smaller saws? The blade is very small as well.

I know I could get a straighter cut with the JET, but I'd like to use the smaller one for this work that I'm doing. Would a larger blade help?

Help!

MJ

Reply to
mjmwallace
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Is your top guide very close to the work being cut?

I made what I thought were the right adjustments. I noticed that the guides are a bit coarser than my 18" Jet, but again, it's simple cuts I'm making.

Anyways, I'm trying to make a simple straight cut. I noticed the blade drifts dramatically. More so than I thought. Over a simple 4 or 5 inch cut, it drifts about 1/4 inch or more. I'm using a straight fence. That's a lot of drift. I'm cutting 3/4" ply.

Is this much drift t to be expected with these smaller saws? The blade is very small as well.

I know I could get a straighter cut with the JET, but I'd like to use the smaller one for this work that I'm doing. Would a larger blade help?

Help!

MJ

Reply to
Josepi

Recheck the tension. My first thought is dull blade.

Sonny

Reply to
Sonny

Check the set of the teeth on the blade? If they've been flattened on one side, it will result in the problem you're experiencing. Tom

Reply to
tom

Even though that's an itty bitty saw, it should still have a tracking adjustment mechanism; you should follow the procedures in the manual to make sure the blade is tracking correctly. Basically, the blade should be tracking directly in the center of the upper and lower wheels to give it the best chance of being resistant to drift. The wheels are crowned, so if it's riding in front of or behind the crown, the vertical section of the blade in the cutting area will be slightly "turned" to the left (or right), contributing to drift. Other factors will play into this, such as the "set" of the teeth or the tension on the blade, but the tracking is the most significant contributor.

You don't mention the exact model of the saw so it's hard to guess at the exact procedure, but the basic steps are to loosen the upper and lower guide and thrust bearings and get them out of the way, mount the blade, tension it, adjust the upper and/or lower guide wheels so the blade tracks in the center of the wheels, then bring the guide and thrust bearings back into place so they're just "kissing" the blade (or a RCH shy of that). If everything is correct and you have a fresh SHARP blade, those guide bearings should hardly ever need to spin, and unless you're force feeding the work into the blade the thrust bearings needn't see much of a workout either. If all these things are true, then you know the blade is tracking as well as can be, and any "drift" you have at this point is simply a function of that particular blade, and you just need to account for it by changing the angle of your rip fence to match the drift angle.

Hope this helps.

Reply to
Steve Turner

mjm, you're never going to get that sucker to track. Wood just scares that little thing to death. The only thing it'd cut true for me, in all the years I've had mine, is foam sheet.

Throw away your fence, and just get used to chasing the kerf by hand.

Tom

Reply to
Tom Dacon

So why not use the Jet for the somple cuts??? I do somple cuts with my 16" Laguna.

Reply to
Leon

Thanks to all who responded.

To move my project along, I just cut the damn things out with my JET. No problem with drift over a short cut.

Anyone want a 9" Delta? Cheap!

MJ

Reply to
mjmwallace

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