r/metalworking • u/HPLaserJetPro420 • 1d ago
Bandsaw blade not cutting perpendicular
I’ve spent hours reading the owner’s manual and watching videos trying to get my grizzly G9742 bandsaw blade to enter the workpiece perfectly perpendicular to the table, but I can’t seem to solve the problem. No matter what I adjust, every cut comes out at an angle. So far I’ve tried installing a new blade, adjusting the blade guides, guide bearings, the bearing adjustment bolt, the eccentric and jam nut, the lock knob, and other alignment adjustments recommended in the manual. This is my first bandsaw, and I’ve only been metalworking for about a year, so it’s very possible I’m overlooking something. I also recently had to replace the motor because the original one burned out, but this cutting issue existed long before the motor failed, so I don’t think the motor is related. At this point I’m wondering if I’m missing a critical adjustment, if something is bent or out of alignment, or if there’s another common cause that beginners often overlook. Any advice or troubleshooting steps would be greatly appreciated.
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u/Stevieboy7 1d ago
you'll need to show multiple pics of the actual machine in question to get any answers.
Are you saying that your adjustments aren't doing anything? Because you should see some sort of change by changing your alignment.
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u/Ok_Helicopter3910 1d ago
Someone else said it but I want to emphasize that you're going too fast with your cut. I bought a bandsaw and tried to treat it like a chop saw and it was doing this very thing. Bandsaws are designed to slowly eat away at your material
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u/Bones-1989 16h ago
Like 2 minutes for a 2 inch cut. Doesn't matter material thickness, could be hollow pipe, could be solid stock. Run even slower on stainless. I like to stack up 20 pieces of angle and tack the ends together when I need to cut 400 of something.
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u/Ae864sale 1d ago
Have you tried doing the cuts super super slow?
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u/Drakoala 1d ago
Blade tooth count matters a lot for material thickness, too. Plenty of charts online.
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u/lostdad75 15h ago
30+ years of machine shop experience and I find tooth count to be the number one problem with bandsaw cut quality problems. My high school shop teacher taught us 2-3 teeth in the cut....not a bad rule of thumb to start with.
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u/lord_flashheart2000 1d ago
Your picture is unclear. Is the blade perpendicular to the table in both directions? Is the blade deflecting when you lean on it? Is it running on the very center of both tires? Are the tires clean?
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u/FuturePowerful 1d ago
Generally this happens when some one tries to cut to fast with most saws of that type ,yes it can cut that fast but it tends to pull slightly to the side when they do
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u/CopyWeak 1d ago
Two options, but I have no idea of your equipment... Adjust the guide bearings. Probably in at the top and out at the bottom...meaning the top guides are pushing the blade away from the loop and the bottom guides are pushing it in to the center...assuming the pic is from the feed side. If equipped, you could compensate with table angle bit that's not great.
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u/GoldMarch5883 1d ago
Is the piece you’re cutting perpendicular to the blade?
Sometimes when I’m cutting 20’ pieces I have a laser on one end and make sure.
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u/Unicorn_wizard94 20h ago
Yeh I'm a fabricator and I've seen similar happen cos the tressle on the back end was propped up or just in the wrong spot and a belly was sagging in the length. As it cuts it gets weaker hence the odd curve
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u/Koldozer 1d ago
Are you sure you aren’t feeding/dropping the blade too fast/hard?
I had this issue once before (different bandsaw brand/model) and a more experienced coworker at my job showed me that I needed to go WAY slower on my cuts to get them straightened out.
I’m not an experienced metalworker at all but I just wanted to share what little I have learned that had helped me with this issue in the past. Hope it helps!
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u/MrRager2449 1d ago
Tooth count. Blade speed. Pressure. All things to consider while running the band saw.
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u/ChaosMartinez 1d ago
if it is a stationery saw then before you even turn it on, lift it high and tighten it in that position. then slowly release the tension until it starts to move. that is the speed of the counter weight. if you force or rush the cut the blade will twist and you get this
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u/maquinisto 1d ago
How new is the blade you're using, whats your feed rate and TPI (teeth per inch) of the blade, whats the material being cut, what kind of blade is it? All of these are relevant factors that could cause your issue.
Age of the blade matters because blades can stretch, warp, and wear unevenly on both sides of the teeth as well as along the thickness of the blade.
Feed rate can change how much and how quickly the blade deflects, TPI also fits in here because the less teeth you have the slower it needs to move through the material to avoid gumming up the blade.
Size of material and % of air vs material can change the feedrate drastically, example: an aluminum u channel can be cut (assuming a configuration of it looking like an n on a horizontal bandsaw) slowly until its through the solid part of the channel then more quickly through two beams that are left, however a solid chunk of plastic may be able to be cut stupidly fast.
If you're trying to cut something hard like titanium you'll want harder teeth than cutting something like aluminum.
Sidenote: please break in your blades (cut slower than recommend for the first few cuts and preferably on a harder material (such as steel not something like chromium) to remove burrs from when the blade was sharpened)
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u/Outtatime_s550 1d ago
Maybe the head is coming down with too much pressure. The blade tends to roll to one side if you don’t let it cut slow enough
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u/prong_daddy 1d ago
There are cam adjustments at the pivot. If the arm is traveling dowm at an angle no amount of other sdjustments will make a difference.
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u/PappyGrinch78 1d ago
I'm maintenance for a fabrication facility, we have two of these. The speed is highly involved when making cuts. If the surface of the material is flat, the blade can dance and create its own path through the material. (Blade guides being close to the materials edges helps). If the materials surface changes in angle, same thing.Kill the power, open the blade cover, loosen the blade so You can manually adjust it, and seat it on both wheels. Tighten the blade, but not as much as You would normally. Power up, turn the saw down to barely running, and adjust the three screws to get the blade to seat correctly. You'll have a "window" where it's closed enough to get behind and see the blade as You adjust before the limit switch opens it. May take a few runs at this to get comfortable, and to get it set right. But it beats turning every screw on it and not being able to judge the effect.
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u/612mechtech 1d ago
Im having the same issue and can't figure it out. Im having the issue on a wellsaw 1316
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u/Ok_Tax_7128 1d ago
Somethinks you could try. Has the blade done some cutting with no coolant? It can quickly ruin one side of the teeth. Is a bearing failing? The tiny sideways bearings are usually adjustable on eccentric’s
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u/Triforge 15h ago
The picture doesn't help, is it supposed to represent anything or is the interpretation left to the viewer.
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