> Robert,First I would recommend you pick up Nick's book, either direct or
> from Amazon.com. He shows great setups for tablesaw ripping and covers all
> the other aspects of Kayak building. My recommendation is,if you have
> access to a bandsaw, go that route. It's working beautifully for me -
> after some experimentation. Much finer kerf than I think you can get with
> a tablesaw.I picked up an 8ft blade from American Saw (Sawsonline.com).
> Now you could hack through their pages all day because they start at 25 ft
> but if you look up at the command line you will see they are bringing down
> 10 at a time and you will also see the offset it is currently at. Just
> change the offset to 300 and you will go straight to 8ft blades or
> whatever - you get the idea. I bought an 8ft/.5"/.025mm/6 teeth per
> inch blade and it's perfect. There's a really good tutorial at Highland
> hardware on setting up.The main tip is this. You have to cut the direction
> the saw wants to go. With my blade that means setting the fence at a
> slight left to right angle.

Hey Mr Three-Fingers {:o)

I am curious as to why you should have to offset your fence when cutting with your band saw. I use an old AMT Tools band saw from way back and it's about as cheap as they come and I do not experience this problem. Have you adjusted the bearings and guides in the arm and under the table? The only reason that the blade should turn is that the guides are not touching the blade. I can't speak for your particular saw, but, mine has two bearings, one above and one below the table. They should be adjusted to just touch the back of the blade, and only done after the blade has been on the saw and turned to center it on the wheel. They should revolve just a bit, when the saw is running and keep the blade from traveling back when pressure is aplied as in feeding the material being cut. Then, some or most saws also have two adjustable and removeable bushings making contact with the sides of the blade at both bearing locations. With the blade just touching the bearing ( unable to move backwards ) you should position these bushings up against the blade, just behind the set in the teeth. Don't use any pressure, but, just let them touch the blade slightly. You don't want to bind the blade, but, definitely want it to touch. This should keep the blade from moving anywhere but up and down. " NO SIDE TO SIDE ". You should hear it brush the blade slightly when running. Not binding or squeeling. Other notes: These bushings should be kept square on the ends, and thus, they are removeable and easy to true up with a sander or grinder. If not kept square, then you lose contact and the blade is allowed to move and thus turn one way or the other. I.E. your offset fence, to correct. Don't know if this is your particular problem, but, it may be someones and it is good to check. This has been known to cause blades to turn, put stress on them and cause heating and premature breakage. Ever been using a band saw when the blade snaps at about 500 - 1500 rpm????? It's nasty and sure to waste a good pair of shorts. If not a few fingers. Wouldn't hurt to check !! {:o) Oh yeh, you want to keep the top guides as close to the wood as possible, to keep the blade from having any flex.

Rehd
>
>
>

It's 1/4" away at the blade but opening
> up slightly after it. I'm ripping 7' Redwood and it's doing a great job.
> I'm only using a 3ft fence! I have the saw set up 6ft away from my shop
> vise and in the jaws I have a "T" made of two short 2x4
> pieces.It's just nailed together and bent forward slightly to receive the
> plank as it completes. Thus the plank comes to rest between the table and
> the vise.One other thing.When ripping I keep a steady pressure against the
> fence about 1/2" behind the blade with the left hand while pushing
> through with the right.This feels right. Good luck with your sawing
> whichever way you go. Three-fingers McCool.