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My thoughts about Band saw Blade

surfside

Plastic
Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Location
Atlanta Geogia
We are always playing with our tools and machine. But not literally playing, of course. We tend to keep ourselves busy as much as possible in our shops to make our projects, to create something new etc..And after doing some hard work and when the day ends, we clean our messy shops for the next day work. We clean our tools and machine because they are like our pets or even like our best friends. That is why we take good care of them. I think, the most expensive machine that I bought for myself is my band saw. And it has been very helpful to me. I always clean it up and also my blades. It is important for me to discuss the ways to ensure the band saw life. Proper maintenance of your band saw blade is paramount to effectual sawing. I always make sure that my blade is accurately set and properly sharpened. We always encounter problems with our band saw blades and mostly of those are the following: inaccurate cut, stripping and wearing well out of teeth, dulling of teeth and sometimes, if improperly used, will lead to blade breakage. The reason why we encounter these problems because we neglect some important rules in using our band saw blades like not installing the blade correctly , wheel alignment is not properly set , faulty speed and feed rates , guides are not badly placed or in the other words, we simply not using it right. There are typical ways on how to strengthen your band saw blade life or to maintain the efficiency of your band saw blades. These ways are: Break-in, tensioning, and sharpening.

The main target of doing a proper break in of your band saw blade is to have a uniform shape and spacing of saw teeth. It is very essential to know how to take good care of the blades. This is actually one of the aspects that we overlooked of caring our band saw blades. The aftereffect can be blade breakage. This can be avoided by performing break in action.

The purpose of tensioning is to remove the unbalanced force distribution on the table. It is a method of stretching the saw blade body in the inner area of the blade to compensate for expansion of the band saw edges, due to heat buildup during sawing. Blades should be tensioned properly to have straight cuts. Also, if saw blades are not in use, reduce the tension. Please acknowledge that insufficient tension will cause the saw blade to break , to flutter and to push the saw blade off or from the wheel.

To get the most out of your blade, it is important to sharpen it periodically. With your band saw off, gently rub a sharpening stone along both sides of the blade.

Take care of band saw blades to lengthen its life. Additionally, when working with power tools, safety is of utmost important thing to remember.

An excerpt from : Basic Band Saw Blade MaintenanceBandSawBlog
I just love reading articles and blogs about some power tools.
 
Now I walk up to the conture band saw. It's got a blade on it, the blade looks like it's the proper pitch for the thickness of stock I want to saw, I reach out and feel the exposed blade and it feels "SHARP". I look to the chart to set the speed once things get moving. I set the work on the table or in the vice, and "exercise" it a bit to get a feel for how the cut might progress. I turn on the machine, adjust speed and get ready to enter the work

HOW THE HELL DO I MAKE SURE THE BLADE IS "PROPERLY SHARPENED". And yes, I'm yelling. I hate this crap!

Maybe I could learn to love it if I only took time to "rub a sharpening stone along both sides of the blade.


Perhaps a pinch of sugar before stirring would make it better.

Ahh well, 45 seconds pissed away on nothing. I got to get out there and set those posts in the ground, I got a building going up!!
 
hey Calg , You may want to read this:

"Band saws are sharpened by grinding after they have been swaged . Aluminum oxide grinding stones are widely used in the industry. The stone should be run at the recommended speed. If sharpening stone pressure is too high or uneven the blade can be damaged. Correct stone thickness is also an important factor for proper sharpening. It should be around one-half the length of the tooth pitch for ideal sharpening of the blade." excerpt from Basic Band Saw Blade MaintenanceBandSawBlog

Maybe I used the incorrect word on explaining that part but don't just end there up man ! :)
 
I think that the biggest problem that I have had is that I have trusted the advice of the counter person at our local welding supply stores on tooth count. Now after many many years of just buying the traditional 10-14 bands I actually took the time to study this subject on this site and have switched to 6-8 with instant success. Now I am pissed that the business that I bought all of my consumables from and several machines from in the past 30 years Has possibly screwed me for this long. or have they just been un educated for all these years? the 6-8 works so good I am concidering trying a 3-6 band. not sure a 1 hp on a 1600 will pull it though.Band saw band rule #1 is never ever stand thin flat stock up in the vise and expect any kind of blade life. The other day a couple of us watched one of our co workers (who seldom ever use's the saw) stand a piece of .125 x 10 up in the vise and let her rip. I was paralised in disbeleif of what I was witnessing just shortly after changing to the new 6-8 lennox. I was so stunned and was way to late to warn or stop him that I just watched it happen. To my dis beleif all of the teeth survived.
 
My daily routine activities are that i look to the diagram to set the velocity once things get moving. I set the finish up the table and exercise it a spot to get a feel for, how the cut may advance.
I turn on the machine conform speed and get primed to enter the function in a proper manner.
 
my employer gets these "staggered-tooth" blades. They have coarse teeth for about 2 inches, then fine teeth, coarse teeth, fine teeth. I think they're supposed to be a general purpose blade but they suck! They always lose teeth at one point in the blade, I'm guessing at the weld, and are looking like a hockey player in no time. Anyone seen or used these blades?
 
my employer gets these "staggered-tooth" blades. They have coarse teeth for about 2 inches, then fine teeth, coarse teeth, fine teeth. I think they're supposed to be a general purpose blade but they suck! They always lose teeth at one point in the blade, I'm guessing at the weld, and are looking like a hockey player in no time. Anyone seen or used these blades?

Nope nope. Never heard of that actually. Are you talking about band saw blades? The common types of teeth pattern I've had used are raker,wavy and regular tooth blades. I purchase some raker from sawblade.com . The weld is at its best.
 
Probably talking about variable pitch blades. They combine two different spacings, such as 10 and 14 tpi. The advantaqes are they are less likely to resonantly vibrate in the cut and they have a slightly broader range of thicknesses they're happy to cut. Usually, bi-metal.

Personally, I like 'em.

There are also skip tooth blades, which leave a bit of space to clear chips. I've only used those in wood.
 








 
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