Table of Contents
Advertisement
Blade Care &
Break-In
Blade Care
To prolong blade life, always use a blade with the
proper width, set, type, and pitch for each appli-
cation. Maintain the appropriate feed rate, feed
pressure, and blade speed, and pay attention to
the chip characteristics (Refer to Blade Speed
Chart on Page 30 and Chip Inspection Chart
on Page 26). Keep your blades clean, since dirty
or gummed up blades pass through the cutting
material with much more resistance than clean
blades, causing unnecessary heat.
Blade Break-In
The tips and edges of a new blade are extremely
sharp. Cutting at too fast of a feed rate or too
slow of a blade speed can fracture these tips and
edges, quickly dulling the blade. Properly break-
ing in a blade allows these sharp edges to wear
without fracturing, thus keeping the blade sharp
longer. Below is a typical break-in procedure. For
aftermarket blades, refer to the manufacturer's
break-in procedure to keep from voiding the
warranty.
Use the Chip Inspection Chart on Page 26 as
a guide to evaluate the chips and ensure that the
optimal blade speed and feed rate are being used.
To properly break in new blade:
1.
Choose correct speed for blade and material
type.
2.
Reduce feed pressure by half for first 50–100
in
of material cut.
2
3.
To avoid twisting blade when cutting, adjust
feed pressure when total width of blade is in
cut.
Model G0926 (Mfd. Since 11/20)
Blade Breakage
Many conditions may cause a bandsaw blade to
break. Some of these conditions are unavoidable
and are the natural result of the stresses placed
on the bandsaw; other causes of blade breakage
are avoidable.
The most common causes of avoidable blade
breakage are:
•
Faulty alignment or adjustment of the blade
guides.
•
Feeding blade through the workpiece too
fast.
•
Dull or damaged teeth.
•
Improperly-tensioned blade.
•
Left blade guide set too high above the
workpiece. Adjust left blade guide assembly
as close to workpiece as possible.
•
Using a blade with a lumpy or improperly fin-
ished braze or weld.
•
Leaving the blade tensioned when not in use.
•
Using the wrong blade pitch (TPI) for the
workpiece thickness. The general rule of
thumb is to have no fewer than three teeth
in contact with the workpiece when starting a
cut and at all times during cutting.
-25-
Advertisement
Table of Contents
