Bandsaw blade pulling towards fence

[Steve1]

I recently bought a Rikon 10-326 (14") bandsaw, mostly for re-sawing wood.

I having been cutting Sapele veneer for a project.  A heck of a lot of veneer actually, and almost finished, and its been giving pretty good results.  But suddenly I can't cut straight.

The blade is pulling towards the fence.  I was using two featherboards, one high, one low, to keep the board against the fence, but for test cut shown below, I just held the piece of scrap against the fence for a test cut.  You can see how within a few inches, the blade pulls towards the fence.  I now have marks on the fence from where the blade has contacted the fence.  Cut is pretty straight, top to bottom.

Many boards I could cut with the guide rollers just above the fence, but the last board was a bit taller and I raised the upper guides another inch.  After that adjustment is when the problems started.  (sorry, should have stood back another foot so I would get the guide rollers in the photo)

I increased the blade tension a bit.  I checked the fence angle, and did have to adjust it a bit to get it parallel to where the bandsaw wants to cut.  Tried lowering the upper rollers an inch again.  Tightened up the clearance on the upper guide rollers.  Did not help much.

I don't know what to check or adjust next.    Any thoughts ?

Edit:  I did notice that recently the cut had a higher propensity to smoke, so that tells me somethings are fighting.  So maybe the answer is the angle of the fence ?
[attachimg=1]

 

[squall_line]

The last time my brother had an issue with burning and poor cut quality, his blade tension was way too low.  He thought that the cherry log I gave him was ironwood, it was cutting so poorly.

If the blade wants to wander on you and you're getting burning on the cut, I would check the tension.

 

[JINRO]

Most of time when it starts to go or against fence is DULL blade.  You will be amazed how quickly the blade gets dull on the band saw.
Try with new saw blade and I'm assure it will be straight cut again

 

[jeffinsgf]

Most of time when it starts to go or against fence is DULL blade.  You will be amazed how quickly the blade gets dull on the band saw.
Try with new saw blade and I'm assure it will be straight cut again

+1 Dull Blade.

 

[Steve1]

Most of time when it starts to go or against fence is DULL blade.  You will be amazed how quickly the blade gets dull on the band saw.
Try with new saw blade and I'm assure it will be straight cut again

Thank you.  I was wondering about that.

Dang.  Veneer for this stack of sheets is the majority of what I have cut with this blade.  It does add up to quite a few cuts, however.  The stack only needs to get a bit higher.  I might have to spring for a carbide tipped blade.

 

[ChuckM]

Before you throw away your dull blade, try to reuse it in the future by sharpening it. Google to find a sharpening video using a dremel as the honing tool.

 

[Steve1]

If the blade wants to wander on you and you're getting burning on the cut, I would check the tension.

The tension pointer is just a bit over the manufacturer's indication for this 5/8" blade.  I know these pointers are not the most accurate, but pushing on the blade with maybe a few pounds force will deflect it about 3/16".

 

[MikeGE]

I have a Record Power BS350S (14-inch) that I have modified to make it as close to the Rikon 10-326 as possible.  Rikon bandsaws are not available in Germany and the Sabre 350S, which looks identical to the Rikon 10-326, had not been released when I bought my saw.

The single most effective upgrade I made to my saw was tossing the blades that came with it and buying quality M42 blades from a UK supplier.  Late last year, a friend asked me resaw two 410mm x 230mm x 50mm pieces of beech into as many 4mm thick slabs as I could.  I can't remember the exact number, but here is the first piece from the second slab.  The 1/2-inch M42 3TPI blade made these cuts effortlessly.

[attachimg=1]

Today, I cut a 760mm x 205mm x 45mm slab of beech in half for a sample door project.  I used the same blade as the other cuts, and didn't have any blade wander.  After resawing, I milled each piece to 19mm thick.

[attachimg=2]

 

[mrFinpgh]

This happens when the blade dulls.  I spent 3 days troubleshooting the setup before I remembered I had cut through a nail the day before it started drifting.

The easy way to sharpen a bandsaw blade is to use a dremel and a diamond disc, with a jig to maintain the right angle.

 

[Steve1]

Thanks to all for the input.

I tried sharpening the blade, using a round file that matched the diameter of the gullet side of the blade.  Must have been pretty cheap files, I smoothed two of them trying to sharpen the blade.
My 3.5" piece of scrap cut pretty well, but my 6.5" tall workpiece still showed a fair amount of blade movement.  I don't think I did a very good job at sharpening the blade.  But that seems to show blade sharpness was the root problem.

The carbide tipped blade is on order.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Thanks to all for the input.

I tried sharpening the blade, using a round file that matched the diameter of the gullet side of the blade.  Must have been pretty cheap files, I smoothed two of them trying to sharpen the blade.
My 3.5" piece of scrap cut pretty well, but my 6.5" tall workpiece still showed a fair amount of blade movement.  I don't think I did a very good job at sharpening the blade.  But that seems to show blade sharpness was the root problem.

The carbide tipped blade is on order.

My bandsaw came with a HSS blade and I spent ages trying to get a decent cut but just couldn't, it baffled me what I was doing wrong. I bought a TCT resaw blade, and suddenly I was getting beautiful straight and thin slices. Turned out the stock blade was just crap. I've been using that blade for the last 2 years straight and couldn't even begin to guess how much it's done. it's lasted so long it's possibly not worth sending off to be re-sharpened when that day comes and just getting a replacement would still be cost effective given the massive amount of use you get out of a good blade.

I later saw a lot of similar posts on the forums, so it's a common theme it seems.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

way late, but one more for the dull blade.

 

[Steve1]

OP here.  I just want to close the loop.
I know it's been a while, but life happened, and I have not been doing any woodworking for a while.
Anyways, I got a Laguna 3/4" carbide tipped bade, and made the first cut today.
As smooth and straight as could be.

I am really disappointed with the blade that came with the saw.  Must have been just plain carbon steel.
It didn't even last through my first project on the bandsaw.  (OK, there was a lot of re-sawing on this project)

Thanks to everybody for pointing me in the right direction.

 

[Mortiser]

Try a Wood Slicer, 1/2", 3tpi from Highland Hardware next time. I have a 20" bandsaw and it give me beautiful resaw cuts. I tried a Lenox carbide tipped blade but my 3-wheel saw has a too small a diameter for the weld to hold. Never had an issue with the Wood Slicer HSS blade and if I did, it's guaranteed. You can read about it here...https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/wood-slicer-resaw-bandsaw-blades.aspx

 

[luvmytoolz]

It is baffling as you think how bad can a stock blade be, but they can be really bad it seems by the frequent identical issues many people have. Now I have a good blade that works I love using my bandsaw!

 

[Michael Kellough]

I doubt Rikon expected the purchaser to be making veneer out of Sapele right off the bat.
No wonder the blade didn’t last long.

 

[rst]

Watch Snodgrass’ Bandsaw Life on YouTube for setup and blade advice, he actually advises against carbide blades

 

[kevinculle]

I put a Lenox carbide blade on my 14" Delta and it cut really beautifully, for a bit over a year before it failed at a gullet.  When I examined it, I found fatigue cracks in many of the gullets, a not uncommon occurrence when you put a band that needs a lot of tension on a saw with small diameter wheels and a structure not really designed to sustain that much tension smoothly.  It was a painful $140 lesson.  I now use Timberwolf blades in either 3/8" or 1/2" widths, get really nice results for several years of use, then replace them for about $25 when they become dull.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Watch Snodgrass’ Bandsaw Life on YouTube for setup and blade advice, he actually advises against carbide blades

Can't imagine why anyone would advise against carbide, I'll check that video out later.

I know for my bandsaw, the TCT resaw blade I bought was around $150AUD which is very cheap, but I've been using and abusing it for around 2 years now with no issue. I can't even guess at how much work it's done.

 

[Mini Me]

I have a similar experience with a Lennox TCT blade, besides the woodworking I use it for it has cut literally tons of firewood (all Australian hardwood) over about 5 years and is still going strong.