Metal-cutting bandsaw blade getting stuck in kerf

[BukitCase]

"I read somewhere that you should start your alignment by adjusting the top wheel so that the blade tracks properly without the guide rollers even touching it"

That's true, but what that means is that you adjust the top wheel ANGLE til the blade tracks against the back flanges without the other guides in place.

This will only get the blade to stay on the drive wheels - THEN you start with the eccentrics, getting blade perpendicular to table, etc - each adjustment has its purpose. The purpose of the angle adjustment for each set of roller bearings is to MAKE the blade run perpendicular to the table. On my old beater, this required a small bit of "red neck machining" with a fine grinding wheel to get enough range - but once I did that, it makes PERFECTLY square cuts til the blade dies.

JWMorris brings up a VERY valid point - don't bother doing any of this with a worn out blade.

HTH... Steve

 

[joshuabardwell]

JWMorris brings up a VERY valid point - don't bother doing any of this with a worn out blade.

Well, IMO, the blade tracked acceptably well when it was new and I ran through the setup. I had to run through the setup fresh after installing the blade because that's when I noticed that the blade was out of true in the vertical position. After setup, it's within... maybe 1/32" all around. Certainly no more than 1/16" in the vertical direction and darn near dead on in the horizontal, but of course that's because I can adjust the horizontal by moving the fence.

 

[augercreek]

I have a Grizzly saw 6 1/2x10 and I found that binding occures or can occure on any thing wider than 3".The chips of the cut spill out to the sides of the blade and pinch the body of the blade.I seems to make no difference what blade speed or feed pressure.It also makes no difference what type of metal being cut.Dry cutting is worse than wet as I believe the wet keeps the chips in the tooth gullet.I use a variable pitch blade and it still happens.On long cuts I have to stand by to quickly raise the saw otherwise it'll pop the overload!

 

[BukitCase]

"nuther thing I forgot to mention - you talked about cutting flat bar. If you can get your saw to run true from top to bottom of cut, you may have better luck clamping the flat bar vertically (if it's not too wide, and if you're not ALREADY doing that) - this will put less teeth in contact with the cut, and may lessen binding/drag for you... Steve

Also, one reason for needing to re-adjust with a new blade might be as simple as a difference in blade thickness - the double rollers on each end that pinch the blade, need to be ALMOST tight enough that you can't get the blade between them - much more slop than that, and they let the blade go back to its natural angle, which is TRYING to be the same as the drive wheels....

 

[BukitCase]

Sorry, musta gotten a double tap...

 

[joshuabardwell]

"nuther thing I forgot to mention - you talked about cutting flat bar. If you can get your saw to run true from top to bottom of cut, you may have better luck clamping the flat bar vertically (if it's not too wide, and if you're not ALREADY doing that) - this will put less teeth in contact with the cut, and may lessen binding/drag for you... Steve

Yup. That's how I do it, if I can. With square stock, there's no way to avoid a flat cut. Likewise, if I'm mitering angle iron. But whenever I can, I try to put the narrow part of the piece parallel to the blade.

I have been using a 14-18 tpi blade, because that's all they have on the shelf at my local hardware store. But I think that I could easily go down to 12 TPI and be okay. As I understand it, you want at least 3 teeth in the blade. 12 tpi should then be okay down to 1/4" stock. I often deal with material as thin as 1/8", but I'd be happy to do 1/8" on the chop saw if I had to, and often I'm dealing with tubing or angle where, even though it's 1/8" thickness, there are two walls, so the total bite that the saw is taking is 1/4" or more.

 

[joshuabardwell]

"nuther thing I forgot to mention - you talked about cutting flat bar. If you can get your saw to run true from top to bottom of cut, you may have better luck clamping the flat bar vertically (if it's not too wide, and if you're not ALREADY doing that) - this will put less teeth in contact with the cut, and may lessen binding/drag for you... Steve

Yup. That's how I do it, if I can. With square stock, there's no way to avoid a flat cut. Likewise, if I'm mitering angle iron. But whenever I can, I try to put the narrow part of the piece parallel to the blade.

I have been using a 14-18 tpi blade, because that's all they have on the shelf at my local hardware store. But I think that I could easily go down to 12 TPI and be okay. As I understand it, you want at least 3 teeth in the blade. 12 tpi should then be okay down to 1/4" stock. I often deal with material as thin as 1/8", but I'd be happy to do 1/8" on the chop saw if I had to, and often I'm dealing with tubing or angle where, even though it's 1/8" thickness, there are two walls, so the total bite that the saw is taking is 1/4" or more.

 

[BukitCase]

Did you say "mitering" ??!? Have I got a deal for YOU...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/277321-bandsaw-helper-metal.html

Just when ya thought ya had ENOUGH projects...

 

[joshuabardwell]

Did you say "mitering" ??!? Have I got a deal for YOU...
Just when ya thought ya had ENOUGH projects...

I have one of those made from a block of wood, although I have a metal one on my project list. As much work as I put into getting the fence square to the blade, there's no friggin way I'm going to move it to do a miter.

If you were very clever, you might build a hinged version, with stops in the brace for various angles.

 

[BukitCase]

Yeah, probably - but no more than I tend to use "various" angles (as opposed to 90 or 45) I just use a couple Wilton "F" clamps and clamp the piece to the bed of the saw.

I totally agree about the "no friggen way" part, hence the drawing on the linked post.

On the "squirt-out stopper", I may just drill/tap a hole for a 1/2" grade 8 bolt there - easier than "precision welding" another piece on... Steve