Bandsaw blues

Try a blade from Tuffsaws. I've not mananged to break one from them ever and the company provides excellent service too.

Are you welding your own? Peter

Clumsy bastard.................................

John S.

Get a hacksaw.

Cliff.

That's where I bought the last lot from. They seem quieter and "cuttier" than Warco or Chester blades, but they still break.

They break first at the welded join - I then braze them, and after a while they break somewhere else.

I think I must be doing something wrong, but I don't know what. Too tight, too loose, too much weight, something in the setup - does anyone know of a guide to setting up and using a bandsaw?

Or do people just regularly break bandsaw blades?

Peter

OK well if you are using Ian's blades then there is clearly something else wrong. Ian will re-weld blades free and also help with sorting out problems. He is a very helpful guy indeed.

Is it a horizontal saw that relies on twisting the blade or a proper vertical machine? Maybe you are over tensioning it in an attempt to try an make it cut straight when the real solution is to sort out the guides? Are you dropping down the top guide to just clear the workpiece for each job. Are you doing radius cuts with too wide a blade?

Are there particular jobs or materials that you are using when the blade breaks?

etc etc....

Bob

There is something in the links or in the files area here

Is this a small bandsaw with small wheels? Here on the left side Sear's sold a 4 by 6 type that required 20 mil blades not the more normal 25 mil. A friend had some 25's for made for his and they kept breaking.

Chuck P.

Yes, he is - he cuts my blades a little long, at my request, so once they break there is enough to grind the ends away and braze them.

Twister, 4 1/2", Warco, older model.

I tend to tension it just enough so the blade doesn't slip. I was actually wondering whether that was tight enough. Would working with a blade which was too loose make blades break?

How tight should a blade be?

mostly, yes.

No radius cuts.

Box section, especially big box section, seems the worst.

more etc's please? ... thanks!

I don't think so, though it is possible - it is an older model - but the blades seem to slip between the bearings in the guides easily enough.

Other Mike - thanks for the links.

-- Peter Fairbrother

Is the problem too coarse teeth? you need three teeth in contact with the work as a minimum. Cutting box is a pita as when you break through the horizontal surface you are immediately cutting through thin stock so you need a very fine blade to stay within the rules.

Bob

I used to have one of those small Taiwanese bandsaws and it was breaking blades too soon. Looking at the blades were many cracks. It turned out I had the rollers adjusted too tight. The blade was deforming because the rollers were squeezing the metal thinner. Backing off the rollers stopped the problem. Eric