I just picked up a 7" horizontal Master Machinery band saw this morning.So I get home eager to try it out .I put in a piece of 3x3 tubing fire it up and it cuts through like ****er.So I am all happy that it works well.Then I pull the piece out and I notice that the cut is not straight.So I cut it again.Same problem.Its at least 1/8 of and inch off from top to bottom maybe more.The wider part in the pic is where the blade starts and the lower end at the bench is the final cut.I checked the vise for square and its ok,I even moved the guides in as far asI could and it still cuts crooked.Funny thing is the cut is always wider at the start then at the end. Has anyone ever had this problem???All input is appritiated.
Make sure the blade is sharp and you don't have too much down pressure. Also check the condition and adjustment of the blade guide bearings.
Put a new blade in and see if it doesn't cut straight. That's my bet too. Likely the set is gone off one side of the blade causing it to cut crooked.
My wood cutting bandsaw doesn't track when I hurry. An old timer showed me how to stand on the opposing side (behind the blade) and pull the object piece. Still scares the beejeezus outta me when I do it on occasion.Cuts pretty accurately tho?
Mine does the same thing, new blade, old blade makes no difference, if I need something cut straight, I cut the top surface, flip over cut one side, flip it over again, until I've gone the whole way around. The saw is a Grizzly, Chinese POS.
I had the same thing with my 7 inch saw with a new blade. I adjusted all the roller guides (they have ecentric bolts) and got it perfect. Use a small square and let us know how it turns out. Mine is made in usa and has been cutting perfect for the last 3 years with out touiching it. It is also has a soluable oil tank so it isn't running dry which helps a bunch.
Them damm things can be perverse !! Lots of places that a adjustment can get off. My Jet has a bit of twist adjustment on the guide heads. Also the guide rolls that run on the blade sides need to be just loose enough that you can use your fingers to move them. Too tight and you deform the blade,too loose and the blade wanders. The blade also seems to like being tighter than you would think nesscessary. Try adjusting the spring for less down force. For thin tube like that a 18 tooth blade would be best.
i hate horizontal bandsaws, i ve always had bad results with them. i use to use them for fab at my previous employer, i was always adjusting it to get it strait. put a larger piece of tubing in and then it would cut it crooked. i bought a carbide tipped metal cut off saw and brought it to work... the company went and bought 3 the same day.. i would ease off on the pressure, let the blade do the work
My lil saw is real sensitive to the band tension. Too tight and it wants to cut crooked. Seems backward but true.
I have a carbide blade Makita that I picked up over the weekend.It cuts through 3/16 like you were cutting wood.(****er).It has no heat transfer and no sparks.The cuts are perfect and straight with no grinding needed.It will also cut angles as the vise will rotate to 45 degrees. Next to the Dewalt products that I own which I have never had any issues with.This saw is an excellent choice to cut metal clean and burr free.
I have had saws that took a lot of fiddling to get right. That tubing is hard on blades. The inside of the weld seam has some slag that will eat blades. It helps alot if you cut so the seam is being cut from the outside so it knocks that stuff out of the way.
Well, I run a tool repair shop and I've seen this so many times I can't even count. A few points: The "Set" refers to the way each tooth is canted relative to the blade itself. The angle of each tooth ensures that the cut is wider than the body of the blade so the blade won't stick. If you look down the saw teeth lengthways they should look like this \/ If you see this |/ or this \| then the set is off and the blade won't cut straight. Make sure your blade is tensioned and that it it tracking properly in the centre of each wheel. Make sure your guide bearings are adjusted close to the blade and that the blade support bearing (runs on the back of the blade) is set so that it keeps the teeth away from the guide bearings. The blade body is supposed to run between the guide bearings but if the saw teeth run between the bearings (blade worn narrow or bearing misadjusted) it will flatten the teeth and knock the set off. If your blade is too tight it will flatten the set on one side of the blade. Make sure your guide bearing ***emblies are square to your cut. If the whole ***embly is canted it will throw the whole thing off. Check the downfeed speed. If it's too fast the blade will cut crooked. There should be an adjuster bolt if your saw uses a spring. If your saw uses a hydraulic damper there should be an adjustment knob. Make sure the vice is square. Last, make sure the cutting arm is square to the table. you should be able to loosen the bolts that hold the arm bracket and adjust it a bit. If all this is ok, you may just need a new blade. Whatever you're cutting, make sure you have at least two saw teeth in the material at all times. Hope this helps you out. If any of you guys have power tool questions, feel free to ask me. Also, the cold saws from Makita and Milwaukee are great, we've been selling them for about a year or so and the guys who buy them seem to love them. I don't know if DeWalt has one yet. Dake makes a really good unit but it costs $$$ Unfortunately you can't use a cold saw (carbide saw) blade in a conventional chop saw, the RPM is too high and you'll be picking up saw teeth off the floor. Shawn
does that saw look like this one? http://cgi.ebay.com/Carolina-Band-s...ryZ58257QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156771&page=2 I seem to recall these POS saws being sold under the "master machinery" name, as well as others. If it is one of these **** saws, get your money back, now, if you can.
those ****ing saws can drive you nuts a times! get a plasmacutter and use the saw for emergency backup and hope that day never comes.
I like to use chopsaws too. Bandsaws are good to get a cut close,then I used to use the beltsander to finish it up. Didn't matter whether the table was level,the blade was new or tight,it always seemed to cut about 3/16" off.
I got rid of my band saw years ago because of this very reason. Make all the adjustments, get 1 good cut, second cut lopsided. 3 saws, 3 different problems, all related. I use a sawzall to make most cuts now. Take your time and a sawzall can make decent cuts. Side question: Is your material level with the saw base? If the end away from the saw vice is higher or lower then the vice level, the cuts will not be straight. Gene
If your band saw won't hold adjustment, it is defective. If it is adjusted right, it will cut short stuff straight, but may still cut long stuff crooked. In that case, get 1 of these http://www.amanatool.com/handtools/rs_874.html
Those low end cheapo saws need to be adjusted and shimmed to get them to work decent. The factory machining and ***embly is more of a mock up. The people that made them,knew they didn't have to use them. Treat it as a "kit" that needs some serious reworking to be acceptable.
Here's something that can help. Take note in this first pic that the distance between rollers is as close as they will go - factory spacing. Note as well the factory location drilled and tapped hole in the adjuster sliding arm down inside the cast slot just to the right of the black plastic knob. The knob is screwed into the new drilled and tapped hole and the adjuster arm is set to the old factory distance setting. Indicated by the old factory hole being visible to the right of the black plastic knob. In this pic, the arm is slid further to the right - utilizing the new adjustment hole - and the rollers are much closer together. The old factory hole is exposed on the right side when the adjuster arm is slid all the way to the right. With the rollers so close together, the blade has much less chance to twist. You will have to babysit the saw because the rollers will bottom out before the saw blade cuts all the way through. Not a big deal and it doesn't take long. With the majority of the cut completed and the blade running square, just move the arm until it will go all the way through the workpiece and you can let the saw finish the cut by itself.
It sounds to me that your guide rollers may be letting the blade lean over at a very small angle, hardly noticable, when the load is applied. Maybe they have a little play. It could be blade deflection from too much pressure. If you let it cut slower with enough blade tension and perfectly straight guides, it should clear that up. Try starting the cut slower by holding the arm for a while to take off some weight instead of just letting the arm feed itself, at least for the beginning of the cut. Pay attention to whether the swing arm has some side-to-side wiggle room, You might even need some new bushings to take out the extra play in a loose arm. If a loose arm bushing lets the blade start the cut a tiny bit over from where it normally wants to run, it may spend the rest of the cut trying to move over to where it would normally want to run. Then with the blade deflected at a small angle, it can keep on moving over... Does that make sense?
Shawn's listed very good info. The only thing I can think of to add is, the upper set of guides are on a sliding bracket that adjusts the amount of blade that is exposed for the cut. Always set the amount of exposed blade to the size of the material that is being cut, no more open blade than necessary. I ***ume the 7" saw would have a 1/2" blade. With everything in good condition and set up properly you should be able to get perfectly square cuts on your 3" stock. As you open it up to the maximum size of the saw, it will lose a little accuracy, but should still be acceptable. Looking at your example pic, something is definitely wonky.
Well,Here is an updated.I took in all the advice and very good suggestions and I got her to finally cut straight.It still will need some fine tunning,But that will do for now. I want to thank all of you that gave all the excellent information and suggestions.The pics always help out also.Thats why I like being a part of this board.People always willing to help each other out. She looks real ruff,But she runs and works well.I need to make a table so I can use it in the vertical position and get a new pump for it.Also need to make a belt guard.Now to tear her apart and put some paint on it. Thank's Again. Here are some pics
Alright! Glad to see you got it quickly sorted out. You're going to love it. It's one of those tools that once you have one, you can't live without it. Show us the paint job when you get it done. I vote for anything but flat black w/red wheels. Maybe......gold on top w/creme base, yummm. Of course, you will have the patina perverts *****in'.
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