# Band saw drift



## TRfromMT (Nov 17, 2019)

I purchased a second hand porter cable 14" band saw and it looks like it had been used very little.

Purchased a 3 tpi 1/2" resaw blade. I have watched maybe 90 minutes of videos by all kinds if guys, including the ones by Alex Snodgrass with Carter.

I've gone through every component and made sure it was secure (found lots of loose screws), and set up all the guides according to the experts.

I CANNOT GET MORE THAN ABOUT 1" OF CUT BEFORT THERE IS AT LEAST 1/8" OF DRIFT!

I've tried running the blade centered, and the gullet centered, increasing and decreasing tension and double checked all the guides.

There's no way (no way!) The table is a couple inches out of square or I can shim the fence for this much drift. I would have to twist the fence about 2".

I'm almost convinced I have a bad blade. I put the stock 3/8" 8 tpi blade back on to just see what it would do, but I didn't set up all the guides again. It had a little drift, but not much.

What else can I check?

I am about to go to home depot and buy another resaw blade and see if I can make it work to see if it's the saw or the blade.


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## barry richardson (Nov 17, 2019)

I suspect it is your blade. I'm my experience the blades from home depot and Lowe's are pretty crappy. Take a look at the bandsaw blade thread in this forum, buy one of those, tension it up good, and I predict your drift will go away....

Reactions: Agree 4


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## Mike1950 (Nov 17, 2019)

Buy a decent blade- this means bypassing home depot... the wider blade gets the more perfect set up has to be to get straight cut. but a 3/8 or a 1/2" 3 tpi blade should give decent resaw. Is wood dry? How thick?
take a 2"-3" thick board 2' long, draw a straight line on it. should be pretty easy to follow- if not bad blade. cut 1' into board stop saw- draw line along edge of board. should tell you drift amount.
but I would start with good blade. your problem is probably blade- almost always is.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## TRfromMT (Nov 17, 2019)

The problem is a Wood Slicer blade from Highland Woodworking, a premium blade.

The home depot blade was just going to be an excitement.

I was cutting stabilized knife blocks 1.5" tall, and some oak flooring 2.25" tall as test pieces.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Nov 17, 2019)

TRfromMT said:


> The problem is a Wood Slicer blade from Highland Woodworking, a premium blade.
> 
> The home depot blade was just going to be an excitement.
> 
> I was cutting stabilized knife blocks 1.5" tall, and some oak flooring 2.25" tall as test pieces.


I love the finish a wood slicer gives- But- durability- it is a very low kerf blade- green wood kills it- really hard wood kills it- lots of things give it premature death... My guess- just a guess is stabilized wood kills it...


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## TRfromMT (Nov 17, 2019)

Kills it right out of the box? Meaning kills the performance immediately, or dulls it prematurely?

I haven't even cut 20" of anything with it. It didn't get worse over time, it never cut anything well enough to get through a single piece.

Reactions: Like 1


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## TRfromMT (Nov 17, 2019)

One thing is that I never really cranked up the tension to the "1/2" mark" on the spring. I was just going by the finger-tap method. 

My lower wheel doesn't seem to be adjustable. I plan to check that the wheels exist somewhat on parallel planes. Then try increasing the tension a good bit.

Not sure what else to try except another blade.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Nov 17, 2019)

TRfromMT said:


> Kills it right out of the box? Meaning kills the performance immediately, or dulls it prematurely?
> 
> I haven't even cut 20" of anything with it. It didn't get worse over time, it never cut anything well enough to get through a single piece.


I bought 3 woodslicer blades- worked fabulous on resawing nice walnut. but then proceeded to try cutting green olive - it fried that blade- then fried next 2- then I asked- No on green wood. They get the great finish with tooth design and very minimal set, set gives blade room to fit in cut- less set- does not always work. Ps. yes- I fried blades in minimal inches. Your problem might be that slicer is no good for stabilized wood. Lots of forums you can ask but I do not think I know of anyone that uses them for that purpose.

again- problem is almost always blade- machine set up can improve cut. But perfect set up and bad blade means bad cut. crappy set up with good blade means great cut. I cut one helluva lot of wood into pen blanks. I consider myself skilled on bandsaw. I spend 00000000000 minutes on setup. I can cut a straight line by eye without fence. but with fence- no matter how I feed I cannot get straight line with bad blade. if there is one thing to learn about bandsaw- it is sharp blade.
Ps. blade could have come dull.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Mike1950 (Nov 17, 2019)

TRfromMT said:


> Kills it right out of the box? Meaning kills the performance immediately, or dulls it prematurely?
> 
> I haven't even cut 20" of anything with it. It didn't get worse over time, it never cut anything well enough to get through a single piece.


and some sharpen blades- some clean blades- me I buy cheaper- good blades and throw away...


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## TRfromMT (Nov 17, 2019)

Thanks @Mike1950

For the heck of it I reinstalled the factoryblade that came with the saw (3/8" 6 or 8 tpi), set all the guides and still had a bit of drift. But I also tried a freehand cut to follow a scribe line. That worked fine.

So, put the resaw blade back on, reset all the guides, and was able to freehand and follow a scribe line on a piece of stabilized maple about 2.5" tall, super clean cut.

I now have a Kreig resaw drift guide on order. It's basically a round post-style resaw guide that will work on my fence and give me the ability to drift the stock tail end to compensate.

I'll report back when that arrives.

Reactions: Like 1 | +Karma 1


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## clarkhus (Nov 17, 2019)

Watch this video. It will answer all your questions on drift.





.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## Patrude (Nov 17, 2019)

I used to get pretty good results with Timber Wolf low tension resaw blade but once I tried the Highland Woodslicer I have stayed with that. Not cheap but it's top shelf performance. I have a Rikon 14" bandsaw and also have used the woodslicer on a vintage Delta 14" saw. One thing to consider is best results come with slower feed rates. Too fast will usually cause drift.

Reactions: Like 1


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## TRfromMT (Nov 17, 2019)

clarkhus said:


> Watch this video. It will answer all your questions on drift.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks. I have seen that and several others. Plenty of info, but I think I am coming to the conclusion each saw has its own personality...

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## TRfromMT (Nov 20, 2019)

Well, I added a Kreg resaw guide to my Carter magfence II. 

At this point I have $270 into the used saw, $30 for the blade and $150 onto the fence and guide, all total $450 and getting a constant thickness slice is only mediocre. I am ok with the final result but I am only using this to split apart knife blocks. 

I'd be really irritated if I was actually doing pieces longer for boxes or as a luthier. But I'll live with it.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Mike1950 (Nov 20, 2019)

I always hesitate to open my big mouth but never seem to be able to keep it shut. 1. PC is probably not a saw you would want to be using on really good high end stuff. Like anything else you get what you pay for usually. 2. really wide resaws require quite a few things. A perfect set up- b. perfect blade and maybe most important because with it when number A and b are wrong you know right away- a lot of experience. I remember very well - cutting resawn Jewelry box doors- Not much experience- not near good enough blade- set up- hell I do not need that. a 12x 7 x 1.1 spectacular piece if amboyna...  I barely  got 2- 1/4" panels out of it. The other 2 set in the cupboard just to annoy me when I look at them. 1/4 at one end and 1/16 at other- a beaver could have done a cleaner job. 
I have learned on really spendy hard stuff- do a test- some woods Honduran rosewood etc. get out the carbide blade, well at least I have to. Good luck.

Reactions: Like 1 | Great Post 1


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## TRfromMT (Nov 20, 2019)

I've got through about 8 ft of oak flooring (5" at a time) testing things out. (5 gallon bucket of scraps to show for it)

Yeah, P-C may well be the limiting factor....

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Nov 20, 2019)

TRfromMT said:


> I've got through about 8 ft of oak flooring (5" at a time) testing things out. (5 gallon bucket of scraps to show for it)
> 
> Yeah, P-C may well be the limiting factor....


Might be- Never used one. I think to get things good and coplaner you need to be able to adjust top and bottom wheel. a lot of the 14" cast saws will not adjust. and frankly are probably not up to max resaw- I know you can get lift kit- better guides- new motor but in the end you have spent more than a saw that would have been better in first place. That said- you should be able to get clean cuts on oak flooring. you should be able to draw a line on a 4" piece of wood and put on edge and follow that line without fence. cut should be pretty clean. 
if not build a plywood gauge and see how far off wheels are. look at blade running is it straight. are tires solid. eliminate possibilities.

Reactions: Creative 1


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## Graybeard (Nov 22, 2019)

Really informative. Thanks for asking and those that replied. Stuff like this makes this forum so useful. Good information, no fluff.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Wildthings (Nov 22, 2019)

Mike1950 said:


> 1/4 at one end and 1/16 at other- a beaver could have done a cleaner job.


Beaver! haha he said beaver!! That was funny

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Mike1950 (Nov 22, 2019)

Wildthings said:


> Beaver! haha he said beaver!! That was funny


sad thing it was true

Reactions: Like 1


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## Otterhound (Jan 16, 2020)

I've done a bit of resawing and I won't use anything less than a quality carbide blade . Once they are dull enough to drift/walk , they are still good enough for other stuff , but not for resawing . I use a 1" Lennox Woodmaster CT 1.3 TPI for resawing . I have had them with wrong set teeth and poor weld alignments and they still add up to the same thing , poor results . Saw setup is essential for good results . There is no exception . Most of my resawing in on 9-10" stock for acoustic backs and less for sides in domestic hardwoods . Bottom line is that some blades just don't make the cut , no pun intended and some saws yield the same . Another mistake that some make is trying to feed too fast . That blade knows exactly what feed rate makes it happy , but you gotta be able to feel it . Soon , I will be resawing spruce and have been told that 1.3 TPI is not the best for softer woods . I have used it before and done well .


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