Bandsaw Boxes 2006/2007

This may sound a little unconventional, John, but simply crank the tension up as tight as it will go. You won’t snap the blade and it will cut much better. I’ve been doing this for years with good results. Remember to loosen of the tension when not using the bandsaw.

Interesting projects – congratulate your students.

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/

I use Viking blades that are low tension. They suggest the “flutter” method. Turn on the saw and tension the blade until it stops flutter. Blade drift is caused by a couple of different things that I know aobut. Probably more than that, but it’s caused by either the blade not running on the centre of the wheel. If the blade is to the front of the wheel, the drift will tend to be away from the fence. If it’s towards the back of the wheel, it will tend to drift towards the fence.

Also, any blade that has been used to cut curves may have changed the set of the teeth and then will result in drift.

I setup a blade for making rips and resaws and never cut a curve with it. If I want to cut curves, I put in another blade. Once you cut the curve, you will always be fighting drift.

That is just my experience with my 14” saw.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I was at the Tampa woodworking show and they were showing their bandsaw guides to saw a raindeer out of a piece of 2X4. It had no drift and they also have a deal that checks the tenision. It is a little pricey for the tensioner. The guide replaces the cool blocks or regular guides. Their website is www.woodline.com

-- Morris Wallace Seffner Fl. www.woodwork@tampabay.rr.com

what great boxes!!!

I can’t help with your question but I sure am benefiting from the discussion.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Well done those students.

You may find some useful information at Bandsaws and Blades information sites

-- Bandsaw Box Plans

Neat boxes. Better than my first one, for sure.

-- Jesus is Lord!

I really found MOT’s comments interesting. I had never heard that before.

I used to have the Jet 14” with riser blocks and I upgraded to Carter bandsaw guides. SWEET guides. I used to flutter method and had great results. I sold that saw to my brother and bought a big 17” Grizzly. There is no comparison in the cut that I can produce with the Grizzly and that did not require any upgrades. It tracks so much straighter on it’s own, and the table is bigger which is much nicer.

Good blades and guides are worth the money, but you have to keep it tuned. Don’s right too, let off the tension when not in use.

Great student projects, great teaching. Great job!

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Good job teach, espesially trying to get the correct info to pass on to your student. Wood magazine also has an online forum where you can get all kind of answers to questions like that and its free. www. woodmagazine.com. jockmike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

hey Jon When are you going to post my table? by the way Jon is my teacher and the bandsaw box to the right is mine.

kyle

-- woodworker/student--- kylekastanek77@hotmail.com

Hi Crash—great job on that box!! Was it difficult? I have yet to try this process.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

no it was a very easy project. i still need to put some kind of a handle on the boxes.

-- woodworker/student--- kylekastanek77@hotmail.com

Nice work Crash. Why don’t you post the table? I am anxious to see more of your work.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I posted my table but will post it again as soon as I get a camera. but I have a sketch of the table.

-- woodworker/student--- kylekastanek77@hotmail.com

A few things about bands… Band saw blades will cut crooked because of a variety of things. Low tension, trying to feed the saw too fast, dull tooth face, incorrect tooth pitch, set damage, and on and on. When you cut with too small of a tooth (higher TPI), the teeth fill with debris before making it all the way to the other side of the wood, where the chips can fall out. If the saw is such that the tension isn’t high enough, there could be lots of reasons for that (bad bearings in the wheels, physical weakness in the saw body, incorrect blade size, worn tensioning screw, etc).

Set can be warped causing a blade to drift one way, but I’ve found that to be rare given the quality of most bands today.

Jon:

One of the causes of drift is whether or not the blade is sitting on top of the crown of your rubber tires. If it’s to the front or back, the blade is already at an angle to where it wants to cut.

Realign the tilt on the top wheel and see if that helps with your problem.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com