bandsaw issues

[snakey]

Hello all

i'm having an issue with my recently purchased ryobi 400w bandsaw. When i'm cutting the blade bend and doesn't cut straight. when i've got the guide up it pushs right out to one side and gets jammed . i've ajusted it right out to it's end and i've adjusted all the guides and track. i've broken 2 blades already.

thanks you.

[kiwigeo]

Hello all

i'm having an issue with my recently purchased ryobi 400w bandsaw. When i'm cutting the blade bend and doesn't cut straight. when i've got the guide up it pushs right out to one side and gets jammed . i've ajusted it right out to it's end and i've adjusted all the guides and track. i've broken 2 blades already.

thanks you.

1. Is this a 14" bandsaw or something smaller? I assume its one of these: http://www.ryobi.com.au/Products/PowerT ... 4023L.aspx Probably a bit underpowered and small for alot of luthiery work. I wouldnt go smaller than a 14".
2. What size blade is it? 6mm I assume.
3. what wood and how thick is the piece you're trying to cut. My 14" bandsaw struggles sometimes with mahogany.
4. is the guide adjusted so its sitting just above the wood?
5. what sort of blade guides do you have? Block or bearing?
6. is the blade reasonably sharp? A worn blade will bend and track badly.
7. have you checked tracking on the wheels?

Cheers Martin

[Dominic]

Sounds like a blunt blade, not enough tension and you are pushing too hard. Also new blades are different quality from not worth it to brilliant. I got a few blades from Carba tec with the saw and they were absolute shite and could not do any useful work. Got good blades for only a few dollars more and the saw improved massively. With a sharp tensioned blade should be able to use light pressure to feed the wood and let the blade do the work and it should cut straight (assuming you have followed Martins set up tips).
So try a decent blade and set your saw up properly.

And in the long-run as Martin suggested, get a decent 14inch band saw and you won't have any of these problems.
Cheers
Dom

[snakey]

Yeah its that piece. um the blade is brade new, i'm using about 80mm thick maple and its got block guides with a thrust bearing behind.

[kiwigeo]

Yeah its that piece. um the blade is brade new, i'm using about 80mm thick maple and its got block guides with a thrust bearing behind.

Cant really give an accurate assessment without seeing the machine Snakey but IMHO given the size and power of your machine it may just not be up to handling 80mm thick maple. If youre using the blades that came with the machine then they may be the issue....the blades that came with my Carbatec 14" were pretty average.

[snakey]

ah sweet so where would you recommend i get a blade from? bunnings wants 34 buck for the same blade i have now and thats all they have

[kiwigeo]

ah sweet so where would you recommend i get a blade from? bunnings wants 34 buck for the same blade i have now and thats all they have

$34!!! Tell 'em theyre dreamin'!

Because its a small hobby machine youre probably stuck with either the Ryobi blades or getting a custom blade made up. I havent used Henry Brothers but they come highly reccomended. I use Norwood Sawworks in Adelaide for my blades.

Just out of interest have you tried sawing something a bit thinner than the 80mm thick maple you were using? Try some thinner stock and see how you go. Set your upper blade guide so its sitting just above the piece youre cutting.

[snakey]

hmm ok sweet i'll check it out . um i've tried 60 mm with the guide right above and it went ok. but not great. i think i'm stuck with this crap till i can sell some ukes and buy a good one

[kiwigeo]

hmm ok sweet i'll check it out . um i've tried 60 mm with the guide right above and it went ok. but not great. i think i'm stuck with this crap till i can sell some ukes and buy a good one

Check the Ubeaut woodworking forums and ebay. Theyre's usually a few 14" bandsaws going for a decent price. Ive got a Carbatec 14" bandie that's ok bit I'm upgrading to a 17" when I get the chance.

[kiwigeo]

Something like this machine is what youre after:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bandsaw-14-t ... 3cba49ded8

[snakey]

yeah i was looking at that one but i'm in newcastle and melbourne is too far. i'll have to keep my eyes open and snavel one when i can. . Thanks for the help dude. I appreciate it.

[Alastair]

All the above

However, just a quick question: Are you using the rip fence to do your resawing? If so, and unless the blade is both perfect and tracking straight, any blade drift can act to squeeze the timber up against the fence, and then cause the blade to "bulge" away from the fence until it jams/breaks.

Try cutting freehand, (without the fence) following a line, or else make up a "single point" fence on which the timber can pivot to follow the cut, and allow for blade drift.

[kiwigeo]

All the above

However, just a quick question: Are you using the rip fence to do your resawing? If so, and unless the blade is both perfect and tracking straight, any blade drift can act to squeeze the timber up against the fence, and then cause the blade to "bulge" away from the fence until it jams/breaks.

Try cutting freehand, (without the fence) following a line, or else make up a "single point" fence on which the timber can pivot to follow the cut, and allow for blade drift.

Good point on the wood jamming against the fence. Looks like you discovered blade drift the same way I did!

[snakey]

Thats exactly whats happening . i dont think the blade is straight. might need to make up a single point fence thank .

[Nick Payne]

Try these people for blades: http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/band ... ories.aspx. A friend has one of their resawing blades and it works really well. And shipping from the US on a couple of bandsaw blades shouldn't be much.

[kiwigeo]

Thats exactly whats happening . i dont think the blade is straight. might need to make up a single point fence thank .

Does your machine have lower blade guides as well as upper guides?

I still think its probably just a matter of the machine being underpowered for the job youve presented it.

[snakey]

well i've got a new blade on it the replacement 1 get get when i take it back for warrenty and its cutting heaps better but resaws are a bit much for it. . i'll have to take it really slow which is going to be painful but i don't want to break another blade.

[kiwigeo]

well i've got a new blade on it the replacement 1 get get when i take it back for warrenty and its cutting heaps better but resaws are a bit much for it. . i'll have to take it really slow which is going to be painful but i don't want to break another blade.

I wouldnt be trying resaws with this machine......resawing is getting close to the limits of even alot of 14" machines.

[snakey]

Another quick question,Whats the difference between a resaw blade and a normal blade. obviously ones for resawing and ones for general use but physically whats the difference? Also when i bought my new bandsaw i got 2 new blades with it. they look sharp and good but they have a break. so the ends don't connect it will sit flat on my bench. is it usual to join them up or did i get jewed? how to i join them if that's the case? i have mig access and most metal working tools .

[rocket]

My opinion is that you've been ripped, the blade should come as a band!! If however it is the correct length, you simply grind the two ends on a 45 degree angle so that when bought together they fit each other snugly and silver solder the join, grind off the excess solder so the flat part of the blade is nice and even and hey presto!! you have a band saw blade.
Good luck.
Rod.

[kiwigeo]

You didnt buy the saw from Bunnings did you??

[snakey]

ah sweet i'll join em up . nah its a homemade job from ebay. Its pimp when its working . heaps better then my bunnings saw

[fullerbass]

Sounds like you sorted this problem already...with a new saw : )
However thought I would share...
I purchased the same band saw from Bunning's about a year ago and being totally new to Lutherie a friend advised me to cut some chicken wings with it to help me obtain a healthy respect for just how easily it would slice off a finger...so with that in mind I spent months avoiding it but finally bolted the saw down to the work bench and started 'experimenting' albeit without and chicken wings in sight...I cut out a 2.3mm 3 ply vinyl scratch plate without any problems and some squares of pine to make portable guitar hangar hooks. I realised later I could of tilted the table to 45 degrees to obtain the edging for the scratch plate but instead spent hours manually filing the edges to 45 degrees...however I digress...
I finally got around to band sawing the body of my first build from scratch project and found that after cutting a small amount of wood I was having the same problems. The blade had a mind of its own and was running off in other directions, bending and getting wedged in the wood. I was cutting a 60mm thick piece of Queensland Maple. I was convinced I had wasted my money and brought a spoon to a knife fight.
My 'chicken wing' friend came round on the weekend and after sipping a number of Pale Ales (just enough to remove my fear of chicken bone fingers but not enough to hinder my reflexes) we fired up the band saw and gave it another go and he encountering the same problem. My friend then adjusted the Blade Guides so that they were much closer to the blade (the manual suggests 0.8mm) There was probably a good 6mm gap between the blade and the guides prior to this adjustment being made. We fired it back up and found that it was like using a different machine. I managed to cut out the rest of the body quite easily and smoothly and although I also had to slow down a fair bit and not push the job the band saw has been transformed into a quite functional tool...I am already looking forward to purchasing another body blank...and a few more Pale Ales...

Cheers - Kane

[matthew]

I sawed 140mm flamed maple on my old 14" saw this weekend.

Things that helped me avoid drift:

Wider blade (1/2")
Checked alignment. Again.
More tension (using the urethane tyres - i find they need quite a bit more tension than the hard black rubber i used to have on there.)
Blade lube. I hold a candle (unlit) to the sides of the blade until the squealing goes away. Improves the cutting as well.

[MattW]

Another quick question,Whats the difference between a resaw blade and a normal blade..

Im planning to get a bands saw so have been researching what I need.

A rip or resaw blade has teeth with a more square, wide cutting top like a chisel, to cut through the kerf width of fibres all at once, to allow room for the blade to go through. A cross cut blade has the teeth like thin edged knives to slice cross ways through like cutting a bunch of straws in half. If you try to cut along the grain with a cross cut tooth it tends to simply part the fibre, not cut them so its not too effective. A general blade will be somewhere in between, a sharp fronted tooth , with a bit of flat on the top.

Thing is, the chisel topped rip tooth is meeting more resistance due to its width compared to the crosscut tooth, which slices. The crosscut tends to cut through, where the rip has to scrape out and deposit the saw dust out of the cut. The rip tooth will need fewer teeth, digging wider, with bigger gullets to get rid of the waste. Rip blades tend to be wider and a bit thicker to handle the load without bending (a bit like your blade), so need a bigger saw frame to tension.

So rip cutting will take 1-3 times as much power from a bigger saw to cut through the same thickness as cross cutting. The feed rate is also important- too fast and the waste building up in the gullets pushes the teeth away from the cut, and causes a lot of drag, and heating of the blade.