How to get a bandsaw to cut straight?

[dondlhmn]

Anyone got any help/tips on how to get a (dry cut) bandsaw to cut straight?

I have an older Delta brand vertical dry cut band saw that just doesn't seem to want to cut straight or square unles I put a line on a piece and follow it by hand/eyeball. I have tried adjusting all the wheels in the guide above and below the cut (they are small bearings) and sliding guides as close/tight as I dare run them. The blade is new and is running at the correct (slow) speed for metal cutting. I always check to be sure the guide stuff is set at the correct height above the work, but it still wanders. I have also tried reducing pressure on the blade by cutting R-E-A-L-L-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y and that doesn't seem to help at all. The dang thing has a miter on the table for a guide with different angles on it (like on a table saw) that can supposedly be set for different angles, but it won't even cut square, so I don't trust it to cut any kind of an angle in anything.

The only other thing I can think of is that maybe I need to crank up the blade tension......??!! Any thoughts/suggestions here?

It sure would be nice to be able to cut things and have the angles/squareness/trueness of cuts come out correctly with repeatability and reliability!!

Anyone got any ideas?

[wroughtnharv]

Anyone got any help/tips on how to get a (dry cut) bandsaw to cut straight?

I have an older Delta brand vertical dry cut band saw that just doesn't seem to want to cut straight or square unles I put a line on a piece and follow it by hand/eyeball. I have tried adjusting all the wheels in the guide above and below the cut (they are small bearings) and sliding guides as close/tight as I dare run them. The blade is new and is running at the correct (slow) speed for metal cutting. I always check to be sure the guide stuff is set at the correct height above the work, but it still wanders. I have also tried reducing pressure on the blade by cutting R-E-A-L-L-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y and that doesn't seem to help at all. The dang thing has a miter on the table for a guide with different angles on it (like on a table saw) that can supposedly be set for different angles, but it won't even cut square, so I don't trust it to cut any kind of an angle in anything.

The only other thing I can think of is that maybe I need to crank up the blade tension......??!! Any thoughts/suggestions here?

It sure would be nice to be able to cut things and have the angles/squareness/trueness of cuts come out correctly with repeatability and reliability!!

Anyone got any ideas?

A bandsaw blade will take a set and there's nothing I know that you can do about it but change it out. I have it happen all the time with my portabands. One little bind up and after that the blade just won't cut straight.

[Conscious Puddle]

Unless you doing alot of scroll cutting on sheetmetal, I don't recomend a "vertical" bandsaw for straight cutting metal. I have always used "horizontal" bandsaws which give me clean, reasonably precise cuts.

Horizontal bandsaws will cut much staighter due to the fact that the material is clamped, and the saw is hinged on a stationary plane.

You might be able to get your saw adjusted close, but I seriously doubt you will ever get it to run a continous strait line using the saw guide. The guides are used mostly for cutting softer materials like wood. The main reason you blade is "wandering" is due to the tooth set in the raker of the blade. The tooth set is the alternating stager in the blade which creates a wider kerf than the blade thickness. This allows the blade not to bind, but also alows "wiggle room" which allows the blade to cut curves or in your case wander and cut crooked.

Try to purchade a bi-metal blade that has at least 3 teeth in the material you are cutting at all times, minimal tooth set, and also the widest posible blade you can fit on your machine. This will help your situation in cutting relativly small lengths (2"-4", but like I said you probably wont be able to just use the guide to cut any considerable lengths straight (above 6").

hope this helps-
Danny

[dondlhmn]

Danny, thanks for the info. Yeah, I ahve found that horizontal saws cut straighter and they do cut solid bar and pipe nicely, but when fabbing small stuff i like to use the vertical bandsaw and would like it to cut more square. Maybe I need to find some kind of horizontal saw for the round/square/solid/pipe stuff.

[aametalmaster]

I have an older Delta brand vertical dry cut band saw that just doesn't seem to want to cut straight or square unles I put a line on a piece and follow it by angles/squareness/trueness of cuts come out correctly with repeatability and reliability!!

Anyone got any ideas?

Well you can learn how to work with less than perfect cuts because most of them that you will ever do won't be perfect. Just my thought...Bob

[dondlhmn]

Bob..Yes, that could work, but that path is just not for me. I suppose lowering your standards is ONE way of making life easier. Trouble is, if you start lowering your standards, then that philosophy enventually creeps into everything you do in life. Not a good thing. Plus, I already know way too many people in this world that do not even meet the low standards they have set for themsleves and we wonder why all of our work/jobs are flying away to ther countries.

I think springing for a saw that will work up to standard is probably the best answer.

[aametalmaster]

Trust me i didn't lower my standards i can cut with the best. What i was getting at is get good with any cutting process because in the real world you aren't going to be able to drag a bandsaw into a pipe rack 100 feet off the ground to get a nice cut on a 20" pipe. I don't take shortcuts but i can fab up anything with whatever was cut. Its like working in a shop where all the material is pre cut at the supplier and it is either short or crooked and you have to work with it. You can't tell the boss its a 1/16" off or you will be outside looking in. Just my thought...Bob

[dondlhmn]

Trust me i didn't lower my standards i can cut with the best. What i was getting at is get good with any cutting process because in the real world you aren't going to be able to drag a bandsaw into a pipe rack 100 feet off the ground to get a nice cut on a 20" pipe. I don't take shortcuts but i can fab up anything with whatever was cut. Its like working in a shop where all the material is pre cut at the supplier and it is either short or crooked and you have to work with it. You can't tell the boss its a 1/16" off or you will be outside looking in. Just my thought...Bob

OK, Bob. I trust you and I believe that you can put up with that sort of stuff. The thing is, I am (luckily) in the position of not having to screw around with dragging a bandsaw 100 feet up or into a pipe rack. I also have no boss to accept crap materials/stuff cut too short or crooked. I just do NOT accept stuff like that because I don't have to. Besides, I can do the stuff you are talking about if needed and the product you are required to use is crap, but, thankfully, I don't HAVE TO. I now enjoy the luxury of working to tolerances in the .01 to .001 inch range BECAUSE I WANT TO AND I CAN. I would rather have precise tools and precisely cut product to use. I spent enough of my life putting up with rotten conditions/taks/ignorant *sshole bosses and, at my age, now just don't do it anymore.

[Rbeckett]

Dondl, hop over to the Yahoo groups and join the 4X6 group and they have an outstanding tweak and true procedure that will hook you up completely. Takes about 30-40 minutes to do if its bad and your golden. Hope this helps, I am a member and it fixed all of the issues I was havin as well as gave me a great idea for a better stand, hydraulic down feed, and flood cooling.
Bon

[Broccoli1]

beckett,

he has a VERTICAL bandsaw.