Driftmaster bandsaw fence

[Daniel Zenefski]

I'm thinking about buying a driftmaster, vs having my design fabricated, for a 30" oliver bandsaw and cant find the information I'm looking for.

I would like to know how far below the table top the crank wheel sits and whether or not it will prevent me from opening the lower door. the oliver has about 4" clear below the lower edge of the table before the top of the door.

I would also like to know if I can mount both of the universal mounting tabs within a 14" space. This is how much room I have to the left of the blade slot on the main table.

What's the overall length of the rail?

There seems to be no info on removing the fence entirely for open table cutting. will it just flip back as the felder fence is designed to to or do you have to slide the whole unit off of the end of the bar.

Any info on fit and finish is also appreciated. At $400 I'll be expecting pretty sweet accuracy and fluidity in adjustments and alignment. To have my design fabricated is not much more than this but would have much more rugged components and a very stout locking mechanism as well as easy drift adjustment. It just wouldn't have a micro adjust which I'm hoping will be valuable in setting up joinery cuts.

Thanks in advance.

Daniel

[Jeff Bartley]

Daniel,

I have the older version of the driftmaster so the newer one may differ. The crank wheel on mine is about 4 3/4" below the top of the table. And on my saw the universal brackets are about 16" end to end. They do allow for a wide range of adjustment so I'd look carefully at the installation guide.

Drift is easy to adjust, it's fast to adjust to width of cut, and when making joinery cuts (like tenon cheeks) the micro adjust feature is sweet. However, because the micro adjust is there you cannot easily remove the bracket that holds the fence. You can remove the fence, just not the bracket.

My one complaint is that for the fence to easily slide the bracket must be slightly higher than the table. When cutting something wide the left edge of the workpiece is held up slightly. It hasn't been a big enough problem for me but I will address it one day.

It's a nice fence, mine came with a used saw, I like using it but it's pricey!

Hope this helps!

Jeff

[Bill Adamsen]

Daniel ... I purchased a driftmaster extrusion and fitted it to my factory fence. It works great. I looked at adapting other extrusions such as available through 80/20 and others, but then the DM extrusion became available at a reasonable price and I jumped at that. While a hi/lo fence is useful ... I didn't see that the driftmaster mechanism provided much value over the existing adjustability of my system.

NewFenceInstall.jpgphoto 1 (1).jpg

[Mike King]

If you are thinking of that fence for drift, you might check this out first:

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2018...-bandsaw-drift

[Bill Adamsen]

I read the article (but not the book) Mike posted and similarly I have never had to adjust my saw for drift. A big part of that is the amount the saw is able to tension the blade. I guess the question is, have you experienced drift on your 30" Oliver that you are having trouble eliminating with saw setup?

[Daniel Zenefski]

Thanks guys.
I appreciate your willingness to help educate others.

I am aware that a sweetly tuned bandsaw doesn't have drift provided one is dead center top of the crown on both wheels. Or at the very least, that one consistently places their blade on the same side of the crown each time a new blade is installed.

I suppose proper tension stops the blade from "traveling" to the other side of the crown over a work week?

In my experience however, on saws that are well tuned up and aligned, the blade always goes on a little different.

Like wise, I've found that a properly tensioned blade will travel over the work week and either need to be brought back to its original position to match the fence, or one can simply adjust the fence. I've wondered before if the fact of a blade traveling across the crown isn't just a matter of use. I have always been in environments in which the bandsaws are spinning and being used all day.

all that being said I would rather get to cutting the large stack of wood I have than chase out the problem. I am a little coarse in that way and am certainly not in this to win the title of worlds best bandsaw setter upper.

Another interesting side note is that I have known guys to intentionally set drift in or out depending on the type of cut they are doing to get a slightly different result when cutting joinery. I have tried it and could see the value if one were to refine the process. Ive also known folks to set the drift loose to resaw veneers. I personally don't see the effectiveness of this but thats what is so great about woodworking and why I have devoted most of my life to this career. There is creativity and unique methodology at every level. Not just the end product. One of My instructors in school would simply say "there is more than one way to cook a turkey"

Lastly, My main interest in the laguna is the micro adjustment feature.

Thanks,
Daniel