Sam,
Great to hear your putting the machine to work
![[:Y:]](./images/smilies/smiley20.gif "Thumbs Up")
, I honestly can say resawing is a fun hobby in and of itself for me(always has been a bit of a treasure hunt, and challenge to see how well I could make my machines run).
I ran my 14" saw with a riser kit, 1 HP motor, Carter guides and high rate spring for several years as a resawing tool. I made cuts up to it's full capacity(probably around 11.75"). These saws can be harder to get reliable results on when you push them that hard, but the experience of tuning them will give you a great feel and understanding of how bandsaws work.
There are several things to consider. The tune of the machine is one thing. What the type of wood you are dealing with will cut like. The blade selection. Your feed rate, dust removal, and temp of the material and blade during the cut based upon feed rate. Your fence or slider table. How clean you are able to keep the blade, and guides.
It sounds like you have been tuning up the machine, alignment of wheels, making sure the guides are set very square to the natural alignment of the blade when it is up to tension on the wheels(most machines guide supports are not perfect right out of the box, and this is easy enough to check and fix). Making all your small adjustments such as tilt of the table square, the guides are close but not touching the blade(this is where that alignment of the guide supports is so critical), and adjusting your fence parallel to the blade(you need this to be accurate or your cuts will be off every time, adjusting for blade drift is a losing game, and will not be reliable). Be sure to use a magnetic or clipped on(directly to the blade) straight edge type tool to reference the natural aim of the blade when it is tensioned. Be sure to sample the blade in several locations to make sure you are getting a true reading of the aim, and that your straight edge tool is referencing the belt of the blade not riding up on a tooth(that will skew the angle). This is so very critical to getting repeatable results.
You need to consider the type of wood you are cutting. Oily woods make it very difficult for the blade to clear material from the cut. Oily, waxy, pitchy, wet and very resinous woods also tend to clog and build up on the blade. Some woods have high silica content and will dull your blade(as an example anigre is a soft wood, but will dull blades because of this.). The hardness and fibers of wood will also vary the way to best deal with cutting wood. These things need to be accounted for when you select your blade, feed rate, and dust collection/cooling with air flow(or liquid if you choose to use a misting system).
Selecting a good blade for your cutting is important, and relates directly to the type of wood, how wide the resaw is, and feed rate, but your selection is limited by the machine. Wider thicker blades will be able to develop more beam strength and handle higher feed rates as long as it is able to clear the material(not clog the teeth or develop build up). Your machine(spring) will limit your ability to tension blades at a certain point. Larger gullets will be less likely to pack material in hard(thus not allowing it to be removed). Fewer teeth per. inch remove material slower(feed rate should be adjusted accordingly), but again less material allows for easier removal and less likely to pack in or build up in the cut. Some blades are designed to stagger the teeth so that the first tooth is forward, the second is set back(is acting more to clear, not cut), and maybe the 3rd and 4th are set back before you get back to a full forward tooth. These help clear material and make for smoother cutting, although the extra teeth reduce the blades gullet size and may still be more prone to clogging. Blades have a tooth set (teeth are wider than the blades belt) that can vary depending on the blade, this is why the kerf is usally higher than the blade thickness). This extra width in the cut allows for the blade to travel without being pushed from side to side while cutting. If too much material collects and is not removed as you are cutting, it can bind between the blades belt and the stock you are cutting which will lead to the blade being turned(kinda like a rudder on a ship). Extra tooth set improves tolerance to material that may have not cleared well, but also costs you more in kerf loss. You need to consider these things, and strike a balance between loss and reliability. You need to think about heat also, because slowing down your feed will lead to higher heat, this will be tuff on the blade, and may draw and set more resin, pitch and oils on the blade(which again is our #1 enemy for clean reliable cuts). For specific blade recommendations see other topics that have gone into great depth on the subject, and also look at the topics on cleaning blades(VERY IMPORTANT).
When you feed using a fence(set as mentioned above) it is important that you develop a good method for evenly feeding the stock, while keeping it against the fence(without placing so much force against the fence you move or tilt it). This can be especially tricky on long feeds. You should focus on a neutral forward push, and using a tool(keep your fingers away from the stock) apply even side pressure. Be sure your fence is "slick" if it is course it will make it very hard to smoothy feed your stock(which you may mistake for poor cutting). Build your fence to be rock solid, it is very easy to move a fence if it is not locked down effectively(a clamped square block of wood is as effective as you can get, so if you have not worked out your adjustable fence so you trust is fully, use a clamped block till you have your adjustable fence dialed). Slider tables are nice, because they take the "feed variable" out of the mix, and allow you to focus on simply how fast the stock is being cut. They can also be made to lock wood in place, when you do not have a square edge yet(I use a slide to get two square cuts on raw split bolts of wood, and sometimes to true wood up).
My advise looking back at mistakes I made while learning would be to focus your efforts on how the blade is clearing and cutting, this is where the problems occur most of the time. Your blade needs to travel "naturally", your table, guides, and fence need to be set to the blades position. Guides are not needed if your blade is cutting and clearing well, they act as insurance and should not be used to force a blade into place. Adjusting for blade drift is silly. If your blade is consistantly drifting, it is aimed wrong or is either not clearing or dirty(if it has broken teeth, or is dull fix the blade). Ultra low loss(thin blade=lower beam strength, extreamly narrow tooth set. Is going to be the least reliable or tolerant) must clear the cut or you will lose more material than you think your saving.
Go grab a hand saw and cut for a bit. Keep in mind a bandsaw is trying to do the same thing. If you cut with a hand saw and it is cleaning the cut well it is easy to cut. If you force it or clog the cut it gets sloppy and binds. Same rules apply.
Rich
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