Grizzly with a resaw twist - what to do next?

[Brian Kent]

My recently purchased 513x2 bandsaw has been excellent with all of the blades - 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" - so far. I love it.

I tried today to set it up for resaw with the 3/4", 2-3tpi suffolk blade. It is twisting about 5 degrees off center when I try to follow a line. It also creates a groaning noise when it gets about 3-4 degrees off center.

I started again with set up:

I set the blade to track center.

Did the flutter-removal tensioning.

I adjusted the upper and lower, side and back guides according to instructions.

I lowered the guides to the correct height.

Glasses on / plug in /power on / sawn to a line on a 4/4 x 5" wide board.

Off by 5 degrees, with the same groan.

What is the next step?

[Pat Germain]

I have the same bandsaw, Brian. Did you adjust the fence for blade drift? The instruction are in the manual. Basically, you make a long cut, shut the machine off, clamp the board in position, then align the fence to the board.

Also, The Wood Whisperer has a very good video about setting up a bandsaw. He demonstrates how to adjust for blade drift, among other things. I highly recommend viewing this if you haven't done so.

[Brian Kent]

Yes, Pat, I was in the process of adjusting for the drift when it just seemed like too extreme of an angle. It was a greater angle than the fence would adjust and it was obvious something was rubbing wrong.

I'll check the video if I can find it.

[Pat Germain]

Also understand with resawing you h-a-v-e t-o g-o v-e-r-y s-l--o--w... I Learned this the hard way. If you push too hard, the blade will twist and drift hard to one side, then the other. You'll end up with an undulating board.

[Brian Kent]

The swerve is so severe I am actually wondering if there is a problem with the blade. I double checked everything again, set everything with a feeler gauge, had the fence as far as it would go (far end of fence to the right) and slowly moved the 4/4 x 5" oak into the blade, starting a 1/4" thick resaw, and the blade had twisted to where it had left the board (on the fence side) within 2" of the beginning of the cut.


Exact same results when I tried increasing the tension from 5 to 6.

All other blades I have used in the past were spot on.

[Ed Beers]

The groan is probably being caused by the blade being wedged side ways.

[Mikail Khan]

Yes, Pat, I was in the process of adjusting for the drift when it just seemed like too extreme of an angle. It was a greater angle than the fence would adjust and it was obvious something was rubbing wrong.

You can try adding a wedge between the rip and resaw fences to increase the angle. I did this with my 514X and a new blade recently. If you use a wedge double check that the fence is perpendicular to the table before you take a cut.

I have read about adjusting the blade tracking if the drift angle is outside the adjustment range of the fence, but I have not tried it myself to see if it works.

[Brian Kent]

You can try adding a wedge between the rip and resaw fences to increase the angle. I did this with my 514X and a new blade recently. If you use a wedge double check that the fence is perpendicular to the table before you take a cut.

I have read about adjusting the blade tracking if the drift angle is outside the adjustment range of the fence, but I have not tried it myself to see if it works.

I could try the wedge except for the noise that the blade is making from being too far sideways (as Ed said). The size of the angle and the noise really make me uncomfortable.

I will adjust the tracking. I'll bring it back on the wheel towards the back of the blade.

When I feel the blade (saw off) the teeth side feels like it has significantly less tension than the back side.

[Peter Quadarella]

When I feel the blade (saw off) the teeth side feels like it has significantly less tension than the back side.

That sounds strange. If you resaw with the 1/2" blade, is everything ok?

[Brian Kent]

Yes, both with the Suffolk 1/2", 3tpi and the fine tooth 1/2" that came with the tool. I was surprised that there was no noticeable drift on either one, although I had just resawn a foot at a time and no long boards yet.

On this blade the blade literally left the board after 2" (even after the fence was adjusted to its max).

[Ben Rafael]

Sounds like the blade.
Call Suffolk, they might be familiar with your saw for that blade and can narrow down what the solution is. Could be something as simple as the blade position on the tire.

[Curt Harms]

Yes, both with the Suffolk 1/2", 3tpi and the fine tooth 1/2" that came with the tool. I was surprised that there was no noticeable drift on either one, although I had just resawn a foot at a time and no long boards yet.

On this blade the blade literally left the board after 2" (even after the fence was adjusted to its max).

I'd guess the blade has an issue. I've had similar happenings with blades from both Timberwolf & Supercut. I know what happened to the SuperCut blade-trying to resaw very wet wood and twisting the crap out of the blade. My fix was a new blade. The old blade would resaw but with quite a lot of drift. I prefer the no-drift-correction-cuts-great blades. I kept the drifting blade for general and curvy cuts.

HTH

Curt

[Pete Bradley]

I've found it difficult to get that band (especially the 2TPI) to run stable without more tension than the flutter method alone would give you. If you're getting 5 degrees of deflection with the guides properly set for a 4/4 board, you don't have enough tension.

What you're describing also suggests a dull or damaged band. Is it possible you've caught something metal (table insert, guide block,etc) with it, especially down one side of the teeth?

That band should work, but you may well find that a 1/2" band delivers optimal resaw performance on your saw.

Pete

trivia: if you look at the 2 TPI teeth, you'll see that they're actually a raker-3 configuration instead of a raker-5 like other Suffolk bands to help maintain stability with the big teeth.

[glenn bradley]

I have the G0513X and run the TW 3/4" 2-3T without issue. Since your other blades track fine I would suspect the blade. Just for future reference (and for what its worth) I prefer the 1/2" blade as it seems to cut easier and I notice no cut or tracking improvement with the 3/4". That's just my experience, YMMV. The 3/4" is fine, I just don't think I'll replace it when its done.

[Brian Kent]

I've found it difficult to get that band (especially the 2TPI) to run stable without more tension than the flutter method alone would give you. If you're getting 5 degrees of deflection with the guides properly set for a 4/4 board, you don't have enough tension.

What you're describing also suggests a dull or damaged band. Is it possible you've caught something metal (table insert, guide block,etc) with it, especially down one side of the teeth?

I backed the blade up on the wheel and there is equal tension on the front and the back of the blade. Still 5 degrees of deflection.

I increased the tension to the top of the scale (over "8" instead of a flutter-free "5") and the deflection has increased to 8 degrees.

I just started using the blade and know of no damage to the teeth.