Bandsaw blade drift.

[WD]

I checked my new 1/2", 14" bandsaw blade for drift and found it was perfect. Using the same blade I tested my new circular jig, cutting 4-1/2" hole on a 1/2" thick plywood. The saw jammed twice, I have to removed it manually.

I checked the saw blade drift again, this time the drift was very excessive. Can anyone tell me why, maybe I should I have use 1/4" blade instead?

Thanks

[Kevin B]

The 1/2 inch blade was probably too wide for the size of the circle you were cutting (smaller the circle, smaller the blade needs to be). I use a 3/8 blade for my curves and semi-circles, though I do not cut curves that are very small. You should also make sure that your blade is tensioned correctly. Binding up the blade probably threw it off track.

I have noticed that larger blades (1/2 to 3/4 on my 14 inch Jet with riser) tend to drift very little or not at all.

Regards,

Kevin B.

[WD]

Thanks for the info. I probably should not have saw such small circle, but I'm eager to test my new bandsaw with a new blade in a new circular jig. I estimate the blade now have over 25 degree drift. Can I undrift it or it is now "trash"?

By the way have you use woodslicer blade and how good is good?

Thanks again.

[Bernard Randall]

Check the min cutting radius at the bottom of this link:

was some other useful info on the page as well.

Bernard R

[mttt]

I don't have the chart in front of me - but I'd have not attempted that small of a circle with that wide of a blade.

I tried it. DAGS on a topic of something akin to "WoodSlicer Convert". I found the results dramatically better than the Timberwolf blade I had.