New bandsaw, drift during regular cuts (no resawing)

I just got the Ridgid 14" bandsaw and set it up a couple weeks ago. It all went together nice, and then I wanted to test it out. I took a couple scraps of wood (no thicker than 3/4"), put a spare miter gauge into the slot, and tried running the wood through. I expected that the cut would be more or less perpendicular to the back side of the wood (where it rides on the miter gauge), but no dice. The cut "veers off" or "drifts". If I drew a straight line across the wood in the direction where I was making the cut, I could start out on the line at the beginning of the cut, then I'd end up about 1/2" or more (on a 3" wide piece of wood) above the line. Sorry if I'm over-explaining, but does this make sense?

I checked the blade tension according to the instructions. I also DAGS, but the only things I could find re: blade drift were either old blades (this is a brand spankin new machine) or resawing (which I'm not doing). Is it just the blade tension, and is there a better way to gauge it than just looking on the tension indicator on the back of the machine?

Any help y'all could give would be appreciated...

Jim

Reply to
PC Gameplayer
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snip All band saw blades are not created equally, a better quality blade than the one that came with the saw will likely solve most of your problem. If the teeth on the blade are not set the same on each side the cut will wander. If you are ripping and only have that blade, instead of using the guide that came with the saw clamp a straight edge on the table at an angle to the blade equal to the run-off, unfortunately this will not help with a cross cut.

For what its worth, I used to use a Stanley Mitre Box and when I had the saw sharpened I would take the box to the sharpener as well as the saw. He would check the saw for perpendicular cutting and adjust the set to obtain a 90 degree cut. FrankC

Reply to
Frank Campbell

Almost all bandsaw BLADES do this some degree. It is more a property of the blade than the bandsaw itself. It's also called "drift" and you generally adjust the fence to compensate for it. The following will help:

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Reply to
Swingman

Every bandsaw blade has drift based on the unique physical characteristics of the blade. You need to adjust your rip fence to the drift angle of the blade. Take a 2' x 6" piece of wood and draw a line down the middle lengthwise so that it is parallel to both edges of the board. Start the bandsaw and *slowly* freehand the cut down the center line. Stay *exactly* on the line adjusting as necessary. Once you're cutting straight on the line withing needing to adjust the angle of the board, you've found the drift angle of the blade.

Stop the saw and hold the piece of wood in the exact position where you stopped. Using a pencil or marker, trace one of the edges of the board on your bandsaw table. Then take your rip fence, align it to this line, and you're done.

I'd recommend picking up a good bandsaw book that explains this and other aspects of using bandsaws.

Tim Henrion

Reply to
Tim Henrion

Since you describe just the one issue with blade drift, which occurs to some degree with most any bandsaw, I can only assume that you have scored a much better unit than I.

I bought one this past weekend. Yesterday, I went back to HD to ask how they would like it returned (they said just as it is... assembled... which is cool with me).

In addition to the problem you describe, my saw exhibited the following:

  1. The top wheel is not circular. The blade therefore wobbles left to right about 1/4" for each revolution of the wheels. Needless to say, the machine vibrates considerably, and it is impossible to achieve a clean cut. Since it is the wheel's dimensions, and not simply a weight issue, balancing would be fruitless.
  2. When shutting down, the motor makes a noise not dissimilar to a rooster's early morning crow. The whole machine also moves enough to make me stand-back in fear of it flipping.
  3. The casting of the table is ragged.

  1. The lateral blade guides (steel block guides) are not all the same size.

  2. Two of the thumb nuts are bent about 45 degrees.

  1. Other quality issues that demonstrate why the machine is priced so relatively low. But since I did pay such a low price, with my eyes open, I can't really complain on this point alone.

It looks like YMMV.

/rick.

Reply to
RickS

OK, I also have a Ridgid 14" BS and have few problems. Mine is was made in St. Louis by Emerson, not overseas. It has a LIFETIME warranty, and I have had the wheels and tires replaced without any hesitation by Ridgid. It does not drift hardly at all. Blade guides are fine. Vibration is minima. Using Timberwolf low tension blades.

Improvements I would and will get:

1) change existing rubber tires to neoprene 2) replace belt with linktwist belt.

That being said, I do not buy Ridgid now that the lifetime warranty has been reduced, and now that mfring has been sent overseas. Too many other reliable brands around.

Reply to
Chris Carruth

On 26 Aug 2004 10:01:20 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (PC Gameplayer) calmly ranted:

1/2" in 3" is one hell of a hefty "drift", Jim. Is the table aligned to the blade at all? Flip the board over and make another cut. Is the second cutoff the same width? If so, it could be a combination of table and miter gauge offsets. Calibrate 'em.

Are your guides set properly? If not, tighten them to spec up to the blade. Ditto the rear blade support bearings. And slow down the feed rate. You're probably pushing it.

I heartily recommend Mark Duginske's "Bandsaw Book" as a bandsaw tune-up reference.

- Inside every older person is a younger person wondering WTF happened. ---

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

The stock blade sucks. It is purely for throwing away.

You can walk into any Home Depot and go over to the display BS1400, and run your finger up the side of the blade. It has a set on one side but not the other. As near as I can tell, they die cut it and did not sharpen or set the teeth at all.

A new Timberwolf (not too pricey if you go to suffolkmachinery.com, or one of those high-end Olsons (Olsens?) they sell at Woodcraft or Rockler, will change things completely.

My BS1400 is OK (and it was priced quite low last Christmas), although I thought the motor mounts were a pretty disgraceful design, the wheels were somewhat out of balance and the belt was shipped with a bandsaw laying on top of it, which didn't help the vibration situation too much. A link belt, wheel balance and altogether re-engineering the motor mounts helped. If I had it to do over I would save up and get the Grizzly "ultimate" 14, which has a fence, more motor, better dust port, more solid looking base and ball bearing side guides.

Reply to
Martin McCrorey

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nospambob

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