Bandsaw tracking problems. Blade keeps slipping off.

[Simon Robinson 4Participant @simonrobinson4]

I have a bandsaw with a 1440mm saw blade I use for woodwork. It had been working fine until the other day when I cut a thick piece of wood and the blade came off the pulley wheel inside. I’ve tried umpteen times trying to get the blade to stay on the wheel. Adjusting the tracking nut at the back while adjusting the tension but it still slips off the back of the wheel. I watched the Snodgrass videos on YouTube but still can’t figure how to fix it. Any possibility the has stretched over time as blade is over 4 years old. Any ideas?

[Clive Brown 1Participant @clivebrown1]

I’d first try a new blade. Those thin section blades can have a slight kink bent into them if they come off the wheels whilst cutting, which then harms tracking. At 4 years old the present one doesn’t owe you too much.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Cutting a thick section of timber may have heated the blade and caused it to strech or expand on one side, this in turn would cause it to no longer run true and come off. A new blade would be the answer ! If you have already altered the various adjustments you may have to start form scratch in setting it up. Good luck, Noel.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

What worked on my generic 4.5″ bandsaw was to tension the blade, after all the other adjustments, ALL Guide Rollers, before finally adjusting the tracking.

(I had made a tension meter to the Jacques Maurel design. Time well spent)

Once set up, a probably never to be repeated test result, was an unbelieveable difference in thickness of a thin slice of steel of only 0.001″

It might be that the thick wood heated the blade to point where it partially stress relieved, and slightly distorted, leading to the reluctance to stay in place.

It is taken as read that the pulleys are not a loose fit on their spindles.

HTH

Howard

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

It’s also just possible that there’s a crack developing at the back of the blade somewhere. That can cause the blade to walk off the wheels.

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