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Ryan, thanks much for your thoughts. Trying to be as positive as I can, but the fact I didn't make it a year, I really wish I had all of those days back I drove to the hospital to get radiated back. I coulda gotten some woodworking done.
New blades in any cutting are your friend, as is the correct tooth count, blade type, and all, will make your work easier, and with sharper edges. We used Carter blades. Go figure, Alex gets them all free. But we had 1/2" 6 TPI, and we did all the cuts on 11 of these boards, and he did a ton of check this out cuts, as we were waiting on glue to dry. At the end I started paying attention to the edges as they came off the saw, and to tell the truth they were as crisp as our first cuttings. Their blades do cost a bit more than a lot of them, but I may be a convert going forward. I still have several blades on hand, but when I need to buy. I think I may start getting Carter's. Alex, I bet gets 30% more use from a blade than I do, he is that much smoother with his cutting than me. I'm not a hack, but he is clearly smoother. A few of the folks in class didn't own a bandsaw, and their cuts were very jerky when we did do some curved stuff, and more than a few tried to back out of a cut with the saw running which lowers life of the blade by a lot of time. So how you saw matters.
Alex has a great smile, and he rolls it out talking about drift. He says it's absolutely true, drift is a real thing, gives you a thousand watt smile, and then says, it's the direct result of improperly set up saws, with weak guides, and bad/dull blades. An even bigger smile, and he says fortunately for you I am here today to show you how to eliminate all of that from your life. Begin Carter products sales pitch. I have been seeing Alex Snodgrass at woodworking shows in Ohio for almost the same amount of time as he has been doing them. I came to the first class already owning almost all of the products they sell, and have to say they all work as well as they are stated to, and I haven't noted any drift on my 14" Delta clone for ages. I did buy the 18" Rikon, just to do bigger work, and resaw, because while I can get that 14" saw to resaw. I cannot keep it resawing, unless I frequently go back and tweak it. That weak ass cast iron frame, just has too much flex to it, and quickly goes out of adjustment. Doing the scroll type cutting like a bandsaw box has, it can go much longer before you see issues, but I use that Carter small blade guide, and it does best with softer tension, than you need to resaw.
Doing that second board at home I used the Rikon. Already had a good blade for it, and it has zero flex on that heavy steel frame. Never have I seen drift with that saw. When you are seeing threads about drift almost all of the players talking about it being really bad, also have a 14" Delta, or a clone BS too. You just don't hear folks with new model BS's saying boo about drift. I think that more than anything speaks that drift is something that can be adjusted out. With those round top 14" saws, you just can't keep it that way. Even a cheap 10" saw with the steel frames, can keep adjustment better than the flexy cast ones, especially if you swap out the cheap guides, and components. Stuff they go cheap on are thumb screws, they have poor threads, and tiny little paddles to turn. For not a lot of $$$$$ you can buy really well threaded ones with big honking paddles. Difference in use when adjusting is night and day. Those Carter guides are top end, and would likely improve adjustment of any saw. I have no issues adjusting my Rikon, if I ever start thinking I do, I'll swap to the Carters. I have already swapped a few of the thumbscrews on that saw, ad my fangers love it.
New blades in any cutting are your friend, as is the correct tooth count, blade type, and all, will make your work easier, and with sharper edges. We used Carter blades. Go figure, Alex gets them all free. But we had 1/2" 6 TPI, and we did all the cuts on 11 of these boards, and he did a ton of check this out cuts, as we were waiting on glue to dry. At the end I started paying attention to the edges as they came off the saw, and to tell the truth they were as crisp as our first cuttings. Their blades do cost a bit more than a lot of them, but I may be a convert going forward. I still have several blades on hand, but when I need to buy. I think I may start getting Carter's. Alex, I bet gets 30% more use from a blade than I do, he is that much smoother with his cutting than me. I'm not a hack, but he is clearly smoother. A few of the folks in class didn't own a bandsaw, and their cuts were very jerky when we did do some curved stuff, and more than a few tried to back out of a cut with the saw running which lowers life of the blade by a lot of time. So how you saw matters.
Alex has a great smile, and he rolls it out talking about drift. He says it's absolutely true, drift is a real thing, gives you a thousand watt smile, and then says, it's the direct result of improperly set up saws, with weak guides, and bad/dull blades. An even bigger smile, and he says fortunately for you I am here today to show you how to eliminate all of that from your life. Begin Carter products sales pitch. I have been seeing Alex Snodgrass at woodworking shows in Ohio for almost the same amount of time as he has been doing them. I came to the first class already owning almost all of the products they sell, and have to say they all work as well as they are stated to, and I haven't noted any drift on my 14" Delta clone for ages. I did buy the 18" Rikon, just to do bigger work, and resaw, because while I can get that 14" saw to resaw. I cannot keep it resawing, unless I frequently go back and tweak it. That weak ass cast iron frame, just has too much flex to it, and quickly goes out of adjustment. Doing the scroll type cutting like a bandsaw box has, it can go much longer before you see issues, but I use that Carter small blade guide, and it does best with softer tension, than you need to resaw.
Doing that second board at home I used the Rikon. Already had a good blade for it, and it has zero flex on that heavy steel frame. Never have I seen drift with that saw. When you are seeing threads about drift almost all of the players talking about it being really bad, also have a 14" Delta, or a clone BS too. You just don't hear folks with new model BS's saying boo about drift. I think that more than anything speaks that drift is something that can be adjusted out. With those round top 14" saws, you just can't keep it that way. Even a cheap 10" saw with the steel frames, can keep adjustment better than the flexy cast ones, especially if you swap out the cheap guides, and components. Stuff they go cheap on are thumb screws, they have poor threads, and tiny little paddles to turn. For not a lot of $$$$$ you can buy really well threaded ones with big honking paddles. Difference in use when adjusting is night and day. Those Carter guides are top end, and would likely improve adjustment of any saw. I have no issues adjusting my Rikon, if I ever start thinking I do, I'll swap to the Carters. I have already swapped a few of the thumbscrews on that saw, ad my fangers love it.
