A band saw blade must be match to a band saw machine. A band saw blade failure occur if the blade isnt compatible with the saw’s wheels or the material of the workpiece. The thickness of the band saw blade, or body gauge, is the most important measure of the blade.
The thickness of the blade indicate how much the blade will flex when锯ing. If a band saw blade is too thick for the band saw wheels, the blade will crack from the back edge towards an inside of the saw. To avoid this type of breakage, the diameter of the band saw wheels must be at least one thousand times the thickness of the band saw blade.
How to Choose and Care for a Band Saw Blade
Thin band saw blades can work on small band saw wheels, but thick band saw blades requires large band saw wheels. The width of the band saw blade is another separate measurement. The width determine the movement of the blade when锯ing.
Narrow band saw blades are flexible and enable the blade to bend sideways to allow the blade to perform scroll work. Wide band saw blades are design to resist twisting so that they are useful in resawing operations. Narrow band saw blades may wander when锯ing on a straight path, and wide band saw blades may not easily turn when performing a锯ing operation on a curved workpiece.
Therefore, the width of the band saw blade must match the type of锯ing operation that is to be performed. The material of the band saw blade will dictate how the blade handles heat and wear. Carbon steel band saw blades are inexpensive and flex easy when锯ing but do not last as long as other metal materials.
Bi-metal band saw blades has high-speed steel锯 teeth on a spring steel band saw blade back and will last longer when cutting hard woods and metal. Carbide and Stellite band saw blades are appropriate for cutting abrasive materials and will stand up to high heat generated during these cutting operations. The user must choose the material of the band saw blade according to the material that is being锯ed.
The count and the shape of the teeth of a band saw blade will determine how the blade remove the material from the workpiece. Coarse teeth on a band saw blade are good for removing chips quickly from wood materials. Fine teeth on a band saw blade are better for cutting thin metal as fine teeth will not allow the metal to catch on the teeth.
The teeth per inch on a band saw blade should match the material that is being锯ed as using a band saw blade with wood teeth on metal or a metal teeth band saw blade on a wooden workpiece will cause rapid wear of the band saw blade. The shape of the teeth will change the way the blade锯s; hook teeth force the band saw blade to feed itself aggressive into the workpiece, skip teeth allow space for soft materials to exit the cut, and variable pitch teeth reduces vibration on thin metal and wooden workpieces. The set of the band saw blade will affect the type of kerf that is cut through the workpiece.
For instance, a raker set will use one straight tooth to clear the center of the workpiece while an alternate set will create a wide path through the wood. A wavy set will reduce the amount of chatter create when锯ing thin metal workpieces with a band saw blade. However, no set can fix the problem caused by the band saw blade being too thick for the band saw wheels or an over-tensioned band saw blade.
Many causes of band saw blade failure is due to people ignoring the specifications of the bandsaw blade. For instance, people may over-tension the band saw blade to stop the blade from wandering on the workpiece; however, over-tensioning a band saw blade will crack the weld of the blade. Using a dull band saw blade requires people to apply more pressure to the blade; however, applying more pressure to a dull band saw blade will twist the body of the blade.
Therefore, people must make sure that the thickness of a band saw blade is compatible with there band saw machine to avoid these problems. A band saw blade will last longer if you properly maintain your band saw machine and blade. Make sure that the band saw blade is properly track so that the gullet of the blade remains centered on the wheel crown.
Use proper lubrication on the band saw blade to reduce the amount of heat create on the blade during锯ing operations. Use a short break-in period for the blade so that the teeth of the band saw blade do not chip. Finally, store band saw blades in a coiled state rather than laying them flat on the workbench as laying band saw blades flat will cause kink in the blade.
Its important to remember that the blades length should be handled with care. Youll recieve better results if you dont rush the process. It’s better to be patient than to be fast.
