Bandsaw Blade Drift Question

[Izzy Charo]

Hello,
I have a MM16 (flat tires) and use Lenox Diemaster 2 blades (1/2 inch). The last blade tracked straight as an arrow. Changed to a new one today, and have a consistent "drift". By that I mean that: with the blade guides set back so they are not touching the blade, a test rip has a difference in width of 1/4 inch over an 18 inch run--just enormous! The blade is tracking true and per MiniMax instructions, is set such that the gullets are at the front end of the tire and the teeth are just overhanging; same on top and bottom wheels. I don't have a tension gauge, and have typically applied enough tension so that I cannot deflect the blade more than 3/8 inch with "moderate" pressure (I realize that's not very quantitative). When I correct for this "drift" with the fence I get an absolutely straight and reproducible cut. Would appreciate thoughts on what is going on here...? bad blade (even though it's a new, high-quality blade with a good weld)..? wrong blade tension (and if so, too little or too much?) Could the tires be the issue (there is definitely some residue on them that doesn't want to come off)...something else?
Thanks in advance,
Israel

[Jerry Thompson]

Go to You Tube and search for Alex Snodgrass. His instructions helped me greatly. Good luck.

[Rod Sheridan]

Try adjusting the blade tracking.

If that doesn't work send the blade back to the manufacturer, may not be ground properly.

Is your fence square to the table and your blade parallel to the mitre slot?

regards, Rod.

[glenn bradley]

I agree on moving the blade forward and backward on the tires to see if that corrects the path. I do not subscribe to altering my feed path to compensate for a blade issue; I value easy blade changes too much. If you saw tracked well before and tracks well with other blades now, its the blade.

[lee cox]

Somebody mentioned Alex Snodgrass. When I watched his video he states the blade should have no more than 1/8 inch deflection. Does a Diemaster 2 blade require more deflection?

I run Lenox standard blades.

[lowell holmes]

You can believe Snodgrass. I know absolutely nothing about a Diemaster 2, but I know Snodgrass's methods work.

If they don't you have not lost anything.

[John TenEyck]

You can believe Snodgrass. I know absolutely nothing about a Diemaster 2, but I know Snodgrass's methods work.

If they don't you have not lost anything.

His methods assume your saw is in proper alignment (as the OP's appears to be). That's not always the case.

John

[Sam Blasco]

These are flat tire bandsaws, so you can track the blade anywhere on the tire. Izzy, your on board tension gauge is usually not dead on out of the box (unless you use a very thin .019" blade body - most of us get .025 - .035 thick blade bodies), but the gauge is incredibly repeatable. When you find a tension you like, mark it with a pencil on the gauge and you can come back to it reliably every time. With my saws, I know the top line is my 1" Woodmaster CT, next one are my 1/2" blades, etc. You can also adjust the gauge itself, by unscrewing it from the frame. When you look in the back you'll see a spring on the pointer. Set your tension to a 1" blade, say, and move the pointer so that it points at the 1" mark on the gauge tape, screw it back on the machine's frame. I find the pencil lines much easier, then if for any reason things change with a new blade of the same type, I can fine tune it and smudge the mark off and replace it with a new one. As for the drift it shouldn't change much once set, since these are flat tire saws, the angle of the blade doesn't change all that much when you go from a 1" to a 1/2" blade. If you didn't use as much tension as the last time you may have experienced blade wander rather than blade drift. Hard to say. Hope this helps.