Cutting circles on Bandsaw - need coaching

[djscruggs]

SS Geniuses - I'm a newbie with my SS. I made a nifty little jig for cutting circles which works great on the much larger bandsaw at the school where i occasional take classes.

I put it on my SS bandsaw, and it did several things. First of all, it was very difficult going. I was going very slow, and yet I still had to apply pressure....it was not readily cutting on its own., Second, it started veering off the arc that I had drawn for myself, just go keep me confident. After only a couple of inches, applying more pressure than i felt comfortable with on the bandsaw, the blade popped off.

I tried several different times, attempting to pre-start the cut with a jig saw, same result.

I have noticed on this bandsaw that it does not seem to readily cut straight, but tends to cut at an angle. If i try to use a fence for a straight cut, I almost have to put the fense at an angle to the blade or if wants to bend slightly. I have seen tutorials about finding the "true Fence angle" on a band saw, but this does not seem to be an issue with other band saws I've used.

Clearly, this is a "user" issue:

1) could i be using a blade that is too small? (too many teeth per inch) in other words, does cuitting circles require a special size blade?

2) Do i need to do some kind of alignment (other than the general alignment instructions) to get the blade to run straight.

3) yes, i do have the blade tensioner turned to 1/4"

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
David

[BuckeyeDennis]

Sounds like your blade may be dull. Is it new or used?

[BuckeyeDennis]

Also, it's not uncommon for blades to get installed upside down, such that the teeth are actually pointed upward.

[jsburger]

SS Geniuses - I'm a newbie with my SS. I made a nifty little jig for cutting circles which works great on the much larger bandsaw at the school where i occasional take classes.

I put it on my SS bandsaw, and it did several things. First of all, it was very difficult going. I was going very slow, and yet I still had to apply pressure....it was not readily cutting on its own., Second, it started veering off the arc that I had drawn for myself, just go keep me confident. After only a couple of inches, applying more pressure than i felt comfortable with on the bandsaw, the blade popped off.

I tried several different times, attempting to pre-start the cut with a jig saw, same result.

I have noticed on this bandsaw that it does not seem to readily cut straight, but tends to cut at an angle. If i try to use a fence for a straight cut, I almost have to put the fense at an angle to the blade or if wants to bend slightly. I have seen tutorials about finding the "true Fence angle" on a band saw, but this does not seem to be an issue with other band saws I've used.

Clearly, this is a "user" issue:

1) could i be using a blade that is too small? (too many teeth per inch) in other words, does cuitting circles require a special size blade?

2) Do i need to do some kind of alignment (other than the general alignment instructions) to get the blade to run straight.

3) yes, i do have the blade tensioner turned to 1/4"

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
David

A picture of your jig would help. The blade width is determined by the radius being cut. 1/4" should be fine in most cases. It sounds to me that you have a very dull blade. I have the SS circle cutting jig and it cuts perfect circles every time.

As for blade drift it is a function of the blade. Every blade drifts differently or not at all. The method in the SS band saw manual for setting the fence for blade drift has always worked perfectly for me.

I have a Powermatic 14" band saw that has a point you can attach to the fence so you can manually feed the stock and move it side to side to adjust for drift as you cut. That works but blade drift is very constant for any given blade. Since the Powermatic fence is not adjustable for drift like the SS fence I used the attachable point as a pivot point for an adjustable auxiliary fence. The point is the black piece that can be seen at the center of the fence in the pictures. It works perfectly using the SS method to determine the angle.

Again, a sharp blade is paramount. You don't know how dull your blade is until you use a new one.

[jsburger]

Also, it's not uncommon for blades to get installed upside down, such that the teeth are actually pointed upward.

That is certainly possible but I doubt it is common. You would first have to turn the blade "inside out" and then install it. Pretty tough to turn the blade inside out by accident.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Also, it's not uncommon for blades to get installed upside down, such that the teeth are actually pointed upward.

That is certainly possible but I doubt it is common. You would first have to turn the blade "inside out" and then install it. Pretty tough to turn the blade inside out by accident.

It does happen. It’s been the root cause on this forum at least once or twice before. But I probably should have said “... not unheard of ... “

[djscruggs]

embarrassing, this never occurred to me. Its a used blade, came on the machine. I'll change

[jsburger]

embarrassing, this never occurred to me. Its a used blade, came on the machine. I'll change

Just buy a new one. Chances are the one you have is dull. Don't bother with it. You will be much happier.

[djscruggs]

Thanks for everyone's comments....as usual, this site delivers. I was finally able to get my hands on a new bandsaw blade and VOILA, all of my problems were solved!!!! I have finally whipped out 3 nice circles for my homemade Thiele dust collection cyclone (also thanks to this site) and the bandsaw is working flawlessly!

[BuckeyeDennis]

Excellent! They may be small bandsaws, but they are good ones.