How to fix Bandsaw Blade drift.

[spaeth]

I'm with Kallam, are there rubber tires on both your wheels? If you have no rubber the blade will run but as mentioned it will dull the teeth on the wheel side or cause the set to change. Check the wheel bearings while you at it.
spaeth

 

[memphisjed]

There's a lot of good advice on this thread...in my experience, too much downfeed pressure is the single biggest culprit to blade wandering. In fact, I'm surprised/amazed the blades cut as well as they do even with 'proper' downfeed.

Lack of force causes more (chatter). Same with lack of feed rate. Most people burnish blades, and not just the break in time. A blade pushed will go straight, one left to its one devices will start to wonder. Once slightly out of track it’s a multiplier of errors.
A starting point is to go with feeds on the back of your blade box. Running a 3/4” 5/8 thru 1 inch material is 10 ipm at 300 sfm (a36 steel). That is not pushing it either.
Do not be scared, let the tools do their work.

 

[steve45]

Very informative thread! Thanks to everybody that contributed!

 

[projectnut]

This particular saw doesn't use tires on the band wheels. Like most horizontal saws there's a lip on the back edge of both band wheels. If the OP is using the proper width blade there will be roughly 1/4" extending beyond the front edge of the wheels when the back edge is against the lip.

This saw like most also has a blade angle adjustment on the idler wheel. The angle of the wheel should be adjusted so the blade is guided by the lip on the idler wheel, but not pressing hard enough against the wheel to cause the lip to wear. My Startrite saw (built in the 1980's) has literally thousands of hours of runtime and still has the original band wheels. Both the drive and idler wheels show no signs of wear on the lip.

 

[dkmc]

This particular saw doesn't use tires on the band wheels. Like most horizontal saws there's a lip on the back edge of both band wheels. If the OP is using the proper width blade there will be roughly 1/4" extending beyond the front edge of the wheels when the back edge is against the lip.

This saw like most also has a blade angle adjustment on the idler wheel. The angle of the wheel should be adjusted so the blade is guided by the lip on the idler wheel, but not pressing hard enough against the wheel to cause the lip to wear. My Startrite saw (built in the 1980's) has literally thousands of hours of runtime and still has the original band wheels. Both the drive and idler wheels show no signs of wear on the lip.

A piece of paper run between the wheel flange and blade should not be cut in two. Only very light contact between blade and wheel flange is the goal. Many operators do not know that, or do not care.

 

[GregSY]

Lack of force causes more (chatter). Same with lack of feed rate.

I didn't say no down pressure, just not too much. The blades works best when the fillets can fill with material but not have material jammed down their throat.