Bandsaw blade tracking

[pren]

Mornin all.

I've been having a bit of trouble with the blade tracking on my bandsaw. I'd appreciate your help.

The manual says to set it so the blade travels in the centre of the wheels. It seems that no matter how gently/gradually I turn the tracking knob, my blade only wants to ride on either the inner or outer edge of the wheels with the tips of the teeth hanging over the front edge or a mm of the back hanging off the other edge. I can turn the tracking a fraction with nothing happening until the blade suddenly shoots over to the other side of the wheel.

I'm guessing this isn't normal.

I think I've got the blade tension right. :?

I'm still using the 1/4", 6tpi blade the machine came with but I've just ordered a 1/2", 4tpi from Axminster.

 

[Derek Willis.]

Your blade is probably well worn, when you get the new one, then track it to dead centre and I think you will find that it will stay there.
When blades have been overused they tend to wander when cutting and also they do not stay in the position that you set them at. One of the greatest failings of us woodworkers, is that we try to get too much out of our disposable tools.
You say you have ordered a new blade, you should have ordered several, so that you keep your older blades for cutting when it does not matter and use a fresh one when you want extreme accuracy.
My saw is an Electra Beckam 150, that is to say it cuts 150 depth, I use 5/8" wide blades as a general rule and get the most accurate cutting imaginable,
it is also 12 to 15 years old, and I wouldn't part with it for anything.
Derek.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Pren
Are you tracking just the top wheel or have you tracked the bottom wheel first?

If the blade is not running in the centre of the bottom wheel, you will have considerable difficulty get it to track in the centre of the top.

The most common way of tracking the bottom wheel is to adjust two of the four bolts holding the bottom axle in to the frame. DO NOT ADJUST THE EAST-WEST PAIR. Adjust the North - South pair (with the thrust bearing backed well away) until the blade tracks in the centre of that, then track the top. You might have to do it by iteration. Generally speaking, narrow blades are harder to track than wide ones. Yesterday I fitted a 1/16" blade and it took me ages to get it right, so I know exactly what it feels like!

BTW, the reason for not adjusting the E-W pair is that they control which way the wheel faces. If you make it look over its shoulder, it will shrug the blade of as soon as you start the motor.

HTH
Steve

 

[Alie Barnes]

I dont mean to hijack this thread but its better than starting another one.
Ive just put in a new blade in my SIP bandsaw and everything is basically ok, tracking is fine no problems other than when i cut im getting a lot more noise than i used too.

Im using a slightly thinner blade than last time but getting alot of screeching when cutting the smallest of woods, last time i didnt have hardly any noise while cutting.

Am i worrying too much about this?

thanks

 

[Steve Maskery]

Alie
You need to determine where the screeching noise is coming from. Is it a metal-on-metal screech or a metal-on-wood screech?

If its MoM and only happens when you are cutting, check that the thrust bearing is going round. If it has jammed then the blade will scrape on it when you apply pressure.

If it's MoW then how thick is the wood and what TPI is your blade?

S

 

[Alie Barnes]

its metal on wood. ive only cut a little piece of wood today no bigger than 2" just to check everything was on on it.

The balde is 5/8" 3TPI

I checked the little wheels when i installed new blades and no problems with them turning but might give them a little light oiling anyways.

Its only making noise when cutting the wood.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Hmm. Nothing obvious springs to mind, I'm afraid.
S

 

[OPJ]

Alie, I've got a 12" SIP saw and I'd suggest this noise is coming from where the blade contacts the thrust bearings. I find this happens when making cuts in thicker stock (over 2in. thick) and I accept it. The blade still runs true and cuts well, I can't see any other problems. If you're cutting something which is particularly dense then this could be behind it?

If you were using a coarse blade (like your 3tpi) to cut very thin stuff (less then 1in.) then this would create a lot of noise as the blade contacts the wood.

One thing I would check is the tension on your drive belt (that cranked handle near the bottom of the unit). If you wind it up gradually (I think it's anti-clockwise) then it will gradually increase the tension, which is something you would need for deep cuts. If ever your blade begins to struggle or the motor sounds as if it's stalling then you should try cranking up the tension.

 

[Alie Barnes]

Alie, I've got a 12" SIP saw and I'd suggest this noise is coming from where the blade contacts the thrust bearings. I find this happens when making cuts in thicker stock (over 2in. thick) and I accept it. The blade still runs true and cuts well, I can't see any other problems. If you're cutting something which is particularly dense then this could be behind it?

If you were using a coarse blade (like your 3tpi) to cut very thin stuff (less then 1in.) then this would create a lot of noise as the blade contacts the wood.

One thing I would check is the tension on your drive belt (that cranked handle near the bottom of the unit). If you wind it up gradually (I think it's anti-clockwise) then it will gradually increase the tension, which is something you would need for deep cuts. If ever your blade begins to struggle or the motor sounds as if it's stalling then you should try cranking up the tension.

Cheers for the info guys and apologies for the hijacking.

I stuck a nice big piece of yew into just a minute ago for making a wood turning blank, it didnt strugggle but was noisy but it cut fine and i had no problem with it. so ill leave it as it is for the time being, if it aint broke (hopefully not) dont fix it and all that guff.

Thanks again.

 

[pren]

Hi. Thanks for the help!

The current blade is the one that came with the machine. I haven't used the saw all that much yet (could that be a reason?) so the blade is as new. Would this be an Axcalibur blade if the machine is an Axminster make?

Steve: I haven't tracked the bottom wheel. The destruction manual told me not to IN BIG LETTERS! :lol: If the wider blade doesn't help I'll give that a go. The blade tracks the same on both wheels tho. If it's at the front edge of the upper wheel, it's the same on the bottom. Would tracking the bottom one help still?

I tried backing off the tension a bit. The blade tracked in the centre of both wheels whilst the wheels were being hand turned, but shot back over to one edge once the power was turned on. :? With more tension the blade is stable but off centre.

I do think there may be a slight kink in the blade as it seems to wobble back and forth whilst it's running. I suppose it could be where the ends were butt jointed? Perhaps the ends didn't meet dead on 90 degrees. Could this be a factor in dodgy tracking?

I'll try again with the new blade and see what happens. Once everything's set up right and I'm using it more, I'll get a bunch more blades for sunday best cutting.

Is it possible to be just too stupid to own a bandsaw, I wonder? I wasted about 45mins when I first got it trying to get the blade to track. Couldn't work out why the blade wouldn't track no matter how much I turned the tracking knob. Also couldn't work out where the increasing screeching noise was coming from. :?

Left the thrust bearings fully tight, didn't I? :roll: :lol: Dumb ass.

 

[andycktm]

Just wondered pren you are spinning the top wheel by hand/finger with the power off to track it yes?

 

[pren]

Hey.

I'm mainly spinning it by hand to get it as central as possible then running it with power on to see how it holds. I've tried tracking with the power on with the same results.

Whatcha thinking? :?:

 

[ivan]

It's somtimes easy to miss a point in a post; I have got this right - you are getting a screeching noise with the all the blade guides/thrust bearings withdrawn - ie. not touching the blade? And, (I apologise for asking) you are withdrawing all guides/thrust bearings so they don't touch the blade when adjusting the tracking?

 

[pren]

Hi Ivan.

I think there's a bit of confusion due to the hi-jack. I had a tracking problem, Alie had a screeching problem.

Anyhoo, just got the 12mm, 4tpi Axclaibur blade today. Fitted it and tracked the top and bottom wheels. All running perfekly!

I altered the north/south tracking on the bottom wheel and it ran centrally. Also adjusted the east/west as there was a slight back-forth wobble. Seems to have cured the problem.

I was a bit disheartened when i first tried the original blade (9.5mm, 6tpi; not 6mm as I posted) on some 3" beech. All I got was a screeching and a shallow burned kerf on the wood. Tried again with the new blade - stormed through it as if it were 12mm MDF! Bit messy but nowt a sander can't sort.

I'd say the advice about ditching the original blade holds true. I'm now off to get some more blades.

 

[Steve Maskery]

That sounds like a result to me.


S