Bandsaw Help!

[Chris]

I'm having trouble adjusting my bandsaw blade.It was cutting fine yesterday, I was resawing some old pine with no problems. Then later I noticed the wood being pulled away from the fence as I sawed. I tried adjusting the fence for drift using a piece of wood a bit longer the table with a squared edge. I draw a line parallel to the edge, saw it free hand about halfway , then adjust the fence. I noticed while doing this I had to swing back & forth just to get it to saw straight. Each time the fence is not adjusted correctly. When I try & use it the wood is pulled away from the fence. When I try to resaw with it, it nearly makes an "S" shape. Can't figure it out, really feel like pulling my hair out as I'm in the middle of something & need to resaw a few more boards. The blade is a 1/2" wood slicer. I've had no problem with these, can a blade just get bad but still be sharp? Any thoughts?

Chris

[eclipsme]

Possibilities that come to mind: dull blade loose guides not enough tension

good luck, Harvey

[fireant]

Pine has lots of pitch, which leads to high heat. Possible damage to blade from excess heat.

Perhaps you can change blades to test . . . .

[Curran Copeland]

Check to see if your blade still has the proper set. If one side has lost all or part of its set (from hitting a nail or some other object) it will act like you discribed. Cure for this is to reset the teeth on one side of the blade or lose the set on one side of the blade until both sides match. If it were me I would get a new blade.

[mac davis]

Are you SURE that the blade's still sharp, Chris?

The 1st sign I notice if I use a "less than sharp" blade is that it starts wandering..

Personally, I'd change the blade before I messed with a saw that was well set up/tuned..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Twayne]

Yes, it can. If there's been a consistant pressure, it could be moving the set of the teeth on one side til it finally starts to wander. Or if you nicked a staple or something with one side of the blade. When only some of the teeth are dull and/or lose set, it'll still feel sharp but actually isn't. Check it more closely.

Got a spare blade? Make sure a machine setting didn't slip while you were futzing with it. Top wheel is famous for misalignment on some. How about the guides? Guides can strip a set in a hurry if maladjusted too far forward.

HTH

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