Bent BS blade

[Dick Strauss]

Well I was buzzing along cutting some 2" thick green wood with my 14" Delta BS and new Timberwolf 3/8" blade. All of the sudden I hit a knot while cutting some round yew chunks and the piece rolled on me. To my surprise the BS blade was bent. The blade wasn't kinked from side to side but was bent backwards in the same plane as the teeth (in the 3/8" dimension). Now the blade doesn't cut right (it is kind of jerky as the teeth engagae and disengage from the wood from the bent spot.

Has anyone else experienced this same problem? I like the way the Timberwolf blades cut but didn't realize they were this fragile. Did I just get a weak blade? I've been using 1/2" blades that are made from a thicker steel and haven't had any problem with them. Can the blade be fixed?

Thanks in advance,
Dick

[Mike Cutler]

I've had the same thing happen to me. The blade was very hot, and was allowed to deform along the length.
I don't know of any way to fix the problem. I just bought a new blade and kept the one I bent as a junk blade.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Green wood and a 3/8" blade? Sounds like a recipie for heat build up.

However, if the wood was only 2" thick - - - Hmmmm.

Are you sure there aren't other possible friction sources such as the guides getting a tad out of true from re-positioning the upper guide arm?

The only time I have seen such a geometry in a bandsaw blade was subsequent to a bad weldind job using those little blade welders on the side of a DoAll BS.

[Dick Strauss]

Cliff,
the blade is specially designed for green wood (TimberWolf 3/8" 3tpi-AS)! No, the blade wasn't running hot. Remember folks this was a 2" piece of yew branch with guides adjusted properly, so there was nothing to generate that kind of heat. The location of the stretching is opposite the weld. There are several marks along the side of the blade in the post impact area. I checked the wood this morning and there are no knots or any obvious defects. I'm now sure that all of the bending was due to the piece rolling over and catching. I was probably a little tired and didn't hold the wood nice and tight.

I plan to make several zero-clearance inserts. That way there is less chance of something binding with the blade. I also plan to make a dedicated cross-cutting sled. I will make a wedge insert for the sled and clamp the piece down to prevent rolling in the future.

The bottom line is I won't be doing this work when I'm tired...thankfully it wasn't worse!

Does anyone have any ideas about straightening this thing out?

Thanks in advance,
Dick

[Lee DeRaud]

...thankfully it wasn't worse!

Does anyone have any ideas about straightening this thing out?The first "worse" thing that jumps into my head is the blade breaking.
Even if you got the blade straightened out, would you trust it?

Buy a new one: it's a pretty cheap "lesson learned".

[Frank Fusco]

I had a jam first use of a new T'wolf 3/4"X3tpi blade. Got a bad kink and two teeth got katywumpus. Using a peening hammer (tapping gently) on an anvil I got most of the kink out. The teeth were straightened with pliers. Cuts good but not fine. The cut side is rough. But this is my resaw blade so pretty isn't important.

[Jeff Horton]

.....All of the sudden I hit a knot while cutting some round yew chunks and the piece rolled on me. ....
When the wood rolled thats when you (most likely) pinched the blade in the cut twisting it. I did the same thing cutting a large log. Won't do it again either! Mine was violent and scrared me more than my TS ever has.

I don't think the blade is fragile. There is just more force exerted there than you realize. I tried to straighten my blade too and it never worked right either. Mark it up as experience (like I did) and buy a new one.

[Ed Breen]

I've bent two blades cutting round green wood. Now I run it across the jointer a few times to get a flat. Since I started that I've had no problems. ps: I also use tw1/2"as blade even though I have 3 wheel setup. no problems as long as I maintain that flat area so that there is no roll.
Ed