Horizontal band saw problems

So I bought this harbor freight horizontal band saw. First day cut some 3/16 2x3 tubing and it cut it fast and perfectly at a 45 degree. Come back today and its cutting really slowly and I notice once its about half way through it is severely flexing through the piece and making a very crooked cut. What gives?

Here is a picture I made some adjustments to the blade guides and tightened up the tension a bit. This cut wasn't that bad but same problem. To the left you can see some much worse failures, what do I do?

If you made the first cuts too fast (blade speed), you may have broken a few teeth. That will cause the blade to wander and not cut efficiently. When you buy replacement blades, get them with a finer tooth pitch (higher number) if you are cutting thin wall stuff. You want to have at least a handful of teeth engaged in the metal at all times. I buy my blades thru McMaster-Carr and they almost always come to me with brand names (Starrett, etc). Quality blades will make your bandsaw life much happier.

Crappy blades will not cut straight. They tend to wander all over the place. 

Is that the original blade?

Throw it away.  Buy a couple of these, so you've got a spare.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/03165917#target4

Thank me later.

Also if that's a new saw, open the gear box, and clean out the "oil" and casting sand that's still in it.  Find some bronze/brass safe gear oil, I bought some from AMSOIL, and put some good oil in it.

Also keep a can of cutting oil, or at least some WD40 or something with your saw, leave it with the saw, and only use it for the saw.  Squirt what you're cutting before each new cut, and on occasion as needed.

With band saws feed rate/downward pressure is key. It takes quite a bit of force to cut steel.

Too much downward pressure will stall the saw or break a tooth. Too little pressure will very rapidly dull the blade. If you wear the "set" off the blade it will try to cut an arc until the blade binds in the piece.

I find that most folks underestimate the amount of cutting pressure  required.  If I leave my horizontal band saw at work unattended  for a few days it will have a dull blade when I return. People think they are "going easy on it" but it is actually worse. 

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

Is there any retail store I can pick that up at? And with that blade and my 3/16 box steel, should I be running 200 rpm? My machine has options of 80, 120, and 200rpm. 

In reply to Jumper K balls (Trent) :

are you saying to push down on the machine as it cuts? 

In reply to manladypig :

That's the blade speed in feet per minute not RPM, just FYI.  I use mine for mild steel 97% of the time, and just leave it set on 200.  There's a chart in the owner manual with suggested speeds for different materials.

That Irwin blade is just a good value, it doesn't have to be that very blade, I stocked up on them back in the day when Enco was still around, and having a sale, before MSC re-adsorbed them.  I miss Enco.

Grainger, Motion Industries, Fastenal, Air Gas, should all be able to find you a 1/2 in. x 0.025 in. x 64-1/2 in (5' 4-1/2") blade.  Stick with something that's Bi-Metal, I like the variable pitched teeth like that 10-14 TPI I linked, and something name brand, like Irwin, Lenox, Starett, etc.

That's a dull blade.

New one should fix the problem.

manladypig said:

 

In reply to Jumper K balls (Trent) :

are you saying to push down on the machine as it cuts? 

Most machines have a way to adjust feed rate. 

Page 16 of the manual describes it thusly

To Adjust the Feed Rate Adjust the feed rate of the Body Frame by turning the Feed Handle (129) clockwise to decrease the feed rate or counterclockwise to increase the feed rate (see Figure T). cAUTION: Do not turn the Feed Handle more than one turn at a time. Excessive feed pressure can break the Saw Blade. Insufficient feed pressure dulls the Saw Blade rapidly