Band saw trouble

[razorsharptokill]

I'm having trouble getting my accents cut into my riser blocks. I don't know if it is my jig or the way my bandsaw is set up.

It is cutting closer to the jig at the top of the block than at the bottom. I can see the blade getting pushed further away from the top of the  block the deeper I get into the cut. I have a 1/4" blade and the guide set as close the block as possible.

Once the cut is made, i have about 1/8th more material on one side of the block than on the other. Make sense? What is the fix?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

assuming the blade is good and sharp.....check your tension first, try and tighten it just a fuzz. if that doesn't do the trick... it could be you need to go with a different kind of blade with fewer teeth per inch, or even jump up to a 3/8" blade. cutting dense hardwoods can be tricky sometimes....

[**DONOTDELETE**]

One other thing to check out is your lower guides....some people forget to check those out. if there is too much flex between the blade and the bearing in the guides it will allow the blade to track like you dicribed. The back of the blade should hit your top and bottom bearing guides evenly too. Check you lower guide, it might have losened up.

[Sneakypete]

What Kirk says. Except I've had the opposite experience with blade thickness. Thicker blades, even 1/4" which is sort of the standard, tend to flex as you describe and don't want to follow the curve when cutting. A little 1/8" blade solved the problem. But I suspect that your lower guides are loose, as Kirk says.

[aromakr]

Razor:
I would suggest you invest in a book on setting up a bandsaw. The Eighteen dollars is well worth the time and money. Its almost impossible to tell whats wrong without seeing the saw. The one I have is called "Band saw Handbook" by Mark Duginske. Bought it at Barns & Noble.

 
Bob

[Crooked Stic]

Good quality sharp blade. Guides and trush bearings need to be set right. Check before each days use. be sore the blade is plenty tight. The marks on most saws leaves them too loose. Be sure table is square with the blade. Also if the saw has some age on it you might chek the wheel bearings and tires.

[BenBow]

This site addresses this problem and indicates it has a lot to do with direction of feed.   Slicing Wood

[KyGal]

I second the vote on Duginske's book. IMO you need a wider blade. There really are 2 dimensions to worry about, horizontal and vertical. In the vertical, a thicker blade helps hold a straight line while cutting thicker stock, and is less prone to twist or deflect. In the horizontal, a THINNER blade permits tighter curves without backing.

The thrust bearings and guides are critical to good setup. You want the thrust bearing to not spin when freerunning, but begin to spin as you start the cut. Your saw should have come with directions on correct spacing for the guides. You might also wish to replace guide blocks with either Coolblocks or bearing style blocks.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by BenBow:
This site addresses this problem and indicates it has a lot to do with direction of feed.   Slicing Wood  

This is an EXCELLENT web site!  Great post my man!

[razorsharptokill]

Thank you all for your input I'll post again when I have had a chance to try again.

[razorsharptokill]

Nuther question... should my upper blade guide be as close to the wood as possible or should I allow some space?

[dino]

I keep it within a 1/4" of the material that I am cutting. dino

[razorsharptokill]

Well got in the shop and worked on nothing but my cutting jigs. I noticed that the lower guide was doing ziltch.. adjusted that. Noticed that the cutting base was drooping at the pivot point end away from the balde(ah-ha!).Propped up until it was level. Tightened blade a little and cut a 2x2 of pine scrap. Cut was great! Gotta go slow though. Cut was a little off, maybe a 64th but I think the sanding jig will take care of this. Thank you all for the help and guidance.