Bandsaw won’t cut straight

[Marty Barger]

Just bought Carter guides for my 14 inch ShopFox bandsaw. Never was able to cut a straight line with the fence. Thought the new guides would help. They didn’t. The two wheels are in alignment. The guides are set per the instructions. The blade gullets are centered on the wheel. The tension on this 1/2inch blade is set close to 3/4. There is no “flutter” as the blade runs. I’ve got about 1/4 inch “play” in the blade. What the heck am I doing wrong? Help?

[Andrew Hughes]

Are you using a new blade?

[Mark Daily]

Are you familiar with “blade drift”? Sometimes the blade doesn’t cut straight and you need to adjust your fence to match the angle the blade is drifting off course. That means the fence won’t be set at 90 deg to the table. There should be some screws on the fence that you can loosen to adjust the fence angle.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Try with a new blade, if the problem goes away it is that your blade is unequally dull, if it stays then there is something deeper to dig into.
Zach

[Derek Cohen]

The single most common user error is to push the wood too hard and too fast into the blade. Even well set up equipment will fail.

Regards from Vienna

Derek

[Bob Wingard]

Are you familiar with “blade drift”? Sometimes the blade doesn’t cut straight and you need to adjust your fence to match the angle the blade is drifting off course. That means the fence won’t be set at 90 deg to the table. There should be some screws on the fence that you can loosen to adjust the fence angle.

There is no such thing as blade drift ... it is a sign that the saw is not properly setup/aligned.

[Marty Barger]

Now I am and it works perfectly. Thank you!

[Steve Jenkins]

You may just have a dull blade especially if you’ve been cutting curves.

[Marty Barger]

Thanks everyone! Replaced the blade with a new one and the issue went away. Guess I’m too cheap to throw them away when I should

[lowell holmes]

I rip on my 10" table saw using a carbide blade. If I carefully match the halves, the joint is not at all unsightly.

[Mark Daily]

Thanks everyone! Replaced the blade with a new one and the issue went away. Guess I’m too cheap to throw them away when I should

You said you have a new BS so I presumed the blade was new. Glad you got it figured out- thanks for posting the solution!

[John K Jordan]

Thanks everyone! Replaced the blade with a new one and the issue went away. Guess I’m too cheap to throw them away when I should

Dull blade will get you every time! I'm also too cheap to throw a blade away when it gets dull. I use 1/2" 3tpi blades which are easy to sharpen. I sharpen several times before discarding the blade. The cut is sometimes not as clean after the way I sharpen (touching the side of a little dremel metal-cutting disk to the front of each tooth) but it always cuts well and cuts as smooth as I need for processing green log sections into turning blanks.

bandsaw_sharpen.jpg

JKJ

[Alex Zeller]

Dull blade will get you every time! I'm also too cheap to throw a blade away when it gets dull. I use 1/2" 3tpi blades which are easy to sharpen. I sharpen several times before discarding the blade. The cut is sometimes not as clean after the way I sharpen (touching the side of a little dremel metal-cutting disk to the front of each tooth) but it always cuts well and cuts as smooth as I need for processing green log sections into turning blanks.

bandsaw_sharpen.jpg

JKJ

Just for fun I thought I would try to sharpen the blade that came with my bandsaw (not a quality blade at all) and after about 20 teeth I gave up. I'm usually cheap but the monotony would of drove me nuts sharpening 150 teeth. If it was a carbide blade I would have done it but anything less, never.

[John K Jordan]

Just for fun I thought I would try to sharpen the blade that came with my bandsaw (not a quality blade at all) and after about 20 teeth I gave up. I'm usually cheap but the monotony would of drove me nuts sharpening 150 teeth. If it was a carbide blade I would have done it but anything less, never.

The 3tpi blades for my 18" Rikon have 426 teeth. It feels like it takes me 15 minutes or so to sharpen but I don't look at the clock. I've sharpened this type of blade many times over the years.

Maybe it's a zen thing.

JKJ

[tom lucas]

Bandsaw blades dull pretty fast, especially if just carbon steel. I've had good service since switching to Lenox diemaster bimetal blades. The carbides will last longer, but are too pricey for me and cut a wider kerf. The bimetals are a good compromise of price and performance. A dull blade is the first thing to suspect when a properly adjusted bladed won't cut straight.

I think all band saws have some drift, though, that has to be compensated in the fence.