Valk Wilkinson
09-20-2015, 7:20 PM
I have a small 10" craftsman bandsaw. It only cuts to a max of like 5 inches in depth. Have been using the wood turners blades (3/8" x .032") and the wood slicer also from Highland (1/2" x .022"). Have gone thru 3 turners blades already and now just popped the resaw one. They break long before they get dull. I have a feeling its because of the small diameter wheel just work hardening the blade. The thinner and wider resaw blade lasted 5 times as long as the other but still... I wrote to highland and asked if they had reports of similiar problems and here was their response:
Rich,
The Woodturner's blade is "thick" for a bandsaw blade. Your saw has small 10" wheels
You may be running too thick of a blade for your saw's small wheel diameter. In addition, if you saw is old, it may have either a worn out tension spring or no spring in the tension mechanism. This would lessen any dampening a spring can provide when cutting and thus any jarring event translate to extra stress to the metal of the weld.
If you make cuts in round stock, any time wood is being cut by the blade and the wood is not fully supported by the table at the point the blade exits the material at the bottom of the cut, you create a window for an "event" to happen which can cause stress. If your lucky, nothing happens at that moment (like the wood being slammed down or rolled in the cut, the blade being kinked, the blade breaking or your fingers being smashed by the wood as the blade forces it back down to the table.) It could just make a sound and you keep on cutting, but the metal in the blade can be stressed nonetheless.
The Woodturner's blade works nicely due to the aggressive set on the teeth. Other 3/8" standard band saw blades will have a less aggressive tooth set, but since they are thinner, the blades may flex more readily and be less likely to break at the weld with use (on your saw with small diameter wheels).
Regards,
Ed
Props to Highland for their great customer service. The fact that someone took the time to sit there and typed that out to me is nice to see. First off my saw has no spring to dampen anything so I'm sure that is adding to the problem. Secondly I don't think the lil' guy has enough backbone to over tension the blade. I'm new to bandsaws but I see alot about "flex back" blades altho have never really seen them explained. Any certain kind or type of blade you guys think I should try out? Would the "flex back" help maybe?
Rich,
The Woodturner's blade is "thick" for a bandsaw blade. Your saw has small 10" wheels
You may be running too thick of a blade for your saw's small wheel diameter. In addition, if you saw is old, it may have either a worn out tension spring or no spring in the tension mechanism. This would lessen any dampening a spring can provide when cutting and thus any jarring event translate to extra stress to the metal of the weld.
If you make cuts in round stock, any time wood is being cut by the blade and the wood is not fully supported by the table at the point the blade exits the material at the bottom of the cut, you create a window for an "event" to happen which can cause stress. If your lucky, nothing happens at that moment (like the wood being slammed down or rolled in the cut, the blade being kinked, the blade breaking or your fingers being smashed by the wood as the blade forces it back down to the table.) It could just make a sound and you keep on cutting, but the metal in the blade can be stressed nonetheless.
The Woodturner's blade works nicely due to the aggressive set on the teeth. Other 3/8" standard band saw blades will have a less aggressive tooth set, but since they are thinner, the blades may flex more readily and be less likely to break at the weld with use (on your saw with small diameter wheels).
Regards,
Ed
Props to Highland for their great customer service. The fact that someone took the time to sit there and typed that out to me is nice to see. First off my saw has no spring to dampen anything so I'm sure that is adding to the problem. Secondly I don't think the lil' guy has enough backbone to over tension the blade. I'm new to bandsaws but I see alot about "flex back" blades altho have never really seen them explained. Any certain kind or type of blade you guys think I should try out? Would the "flex back" help maybe?