BS blade tracking

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
What would cause a BS blade to wonder (best word I can think of)? I noticed the blade was not tracking where I had set it. I tweaked it a little and watched it track for a minute or so and all of a sudden it ran all the way to the back of the wheel. I adjusted the tracking arm until it was tracking correctly and then after a minute or so it ran all the way to the front of the wheel. I finally got it to track a little to far forward but it stayed in place. I cut for a while when I noticed it was not cutting correctly. Stopped the saw and found the blade all the way forward. This happened twice. I am cutting 3.5" cherry so if it moved I would have expected it to move back. Just about everything on the saw is new except the wheel and it has never been dropped.

The saw is a Delta 14' bought new around 1994.
 

Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
I would try another blade first. Sometimes you can lay a blade on the driveway and see 2 places where the blade doesn't touch, then you know it's bent!
 

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
I would try another blade first. Sometimes you can lay a blade on the driveway and see 2 places where the blade doesn't touch, then you know it's bent!
Thanks Joe. I did change blades but it was not a new blade. I will check both blades. The blade is 105" so a truly flat surface is not a given. I have hardwood floors so I will check in several different places. I will use a flashlight to help see anywhere it is bent.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
I would first check both wheels to see if there are play in the bearings, then the condition of the wheel tires. If all that checks out, the structure of your saw needs to be rigid, you can check that by laying a straight edge across both wheels with the blade tensioned. If all that is good, the setting of your guides and the blade tension needs to be correct.
 

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
tires, bearings, tracking arm are all new (3-4 months) using a Carter guide with 3/16" blade, new link belt, wheels are solid and co-planar.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
tires, bearings, tracking arm are all new (3-4 months) using a Carter guide with 3/16" blade, new link belt, wheels are solid and co-planar.
Never had an issue, but must admit, I have never gone that narrow on a blade. I think the smallest I have is 3/8" and that works OK.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
A 3/16" band saw blade will need to ride on wheels that have a fairly pronounced crown.

1  crown - 1.jpg
worn crown on the left but still marginally useful
The tire on the right has been re-crowned.

1  crown - 2.jpg

Delta saw. Good crown on the left
useless crown on the right.
 

Keye

Keye
Corporate Member
Bob, your response makes a lot of sense. I am going to remove the top wheel so I can take a really good look at it.

As for the blade size, a lot of the cuts I am making can not be made with a blade wider than 3/16.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Bob, your response makes a lot of sense. I am going to remove the top wheel so I can take a really good look at it.

As for the blade size, a lot of the cuts I am making can not be made with a blade wider than 3/16.

How thick is your material?
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Could you be making cuts too tight and be putting a streatch bias in the band? Reaching here for sure with a fairly uninformed WAG.
 

smurg

New User
Marty
I have been cutting 3" cherry with both 3/16" and 1/4" blades on a Ridgid BS14002 with the carter stabilizer and have had the blade wander back and forth on the top tire. From what I could tell, for me, this only happened when the blade was over-tensioned compared to what I normally ran. However, it could be an issue with my tires or many other factors as I had bought the saw second-hand and was told the tires had been changed recently. I've gone through a number of modifications to the BS14002 as it is notorious for being hot garbage out of the box: link belt, plywood base, balanced wheels with coins, etc.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
3.5" cherry

I have made several of these more than once without the problem I am having now.
I’m curious what you make needing such a tight radius on 16/4 lumber?

Appreciate it if you can post a picture.
 

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