: Hi Rick
: Another country heard from here......
: Agreeing with most or all of the others, I've had the same problem and here's
: some of the cures I've used.

: 1. The blades could be dull, sometimes only on one side. Yep, you can dull
: one side more than the other and the blade will want to turn away from the
: dull side.

: 2. The guides are the most likely suspect if you haven't checked them in a
: while. They wear quite a bit and a problem I've had with mine is uneven
: wear. If you have used a small blade, say 1/4" or so they don't
: always make contact with the entire end of the guide and therefor wear
: only part of the guide face. When you put in a wider blade, you can get a
: wobble at the wear spot on the guide. I don't know about your particular
: saw, but my guides are removable and I just take them to the grinder and
: grind them flat on the end again. Some you can reverse in the guide holder
: and get a new flat surface.

: 3. Contrary to some folks, I bring my guides up to and touch the blade on
: both sides, just behind the set in the teeth. ( With the saw Unplugged ) I
: adjust the guides to the point where touch the blade on both sides ( NOT
: moving the blade either way )and then rotate the wheel by hand to see that
: there IS contact but no binding. It turns free, but squeaks a little bit.

: 4. The tension MUST be properly set and I think most saws, when new, tell you
: how to adjust this and check it.

: 5. The rear bearing, as stated already, must be set so that it clears the
: back of the blade by a couple thousandths of an inch ( paper works ) and
: as soon as the blade comes into contact with your project, immediately
: touches the bearing.
: ( Also... ( with the saw still unplugged..) push the blade back against the
: rear bearing and make sure your guides still clear the tooth set ). Very
: important!! If a guide comes in contact with any part of the tooth set, it
: will straighten it out on one or both sides.

: 6. That bearing(s), ( usually one above the table in the mouth of the top
: section and also most saws of quality have the same or near same set up
: below the table ) should be turning freely when spun by hand. If it is
: sluggish, it's going to affect the blade and cut.

: 7. The extention from the top guide should be kept no higher than 1/4"
: from the top of the work in order to help keep the blade solid in it's
: position.

: 8. About buying blades: I never buy store bought blades. I always take the
: measurement from my blades and go to the tool/saw sharpening shop and if
: it's a good/big shop, they have rolls of bandsaw blade stock and will cut
: and weld you a new blade right there. I have ALWAYS found these blades to
: be of better quality than the store bought variety. And Cheaper!!

: I actually found a store bought blade that was only sharp on one side. Took
: me days to figure out why my wood would not stay against the fence. Just
: kept turning away.
: Hope this helps.

: Rehd

rehd,
just wanted to say thanks. spent 1/2 hour last nite retuning my band saw, ground guides flat replaced blade and reset guides lost all the wander and vibration.
steve