damaged bandsaw blade

[Gregg Feldstone]

The blade came off of my 20" bandsaw during operation, and it was very nerve racking waiting for the upper wheel to stop since the brake only stops the lower wheel. Luckily, the saw itself was not damaged...not a single nick on the tires, even. The blade got coiled up in front of the upper wheel with it's back scraping the wheel. I took the blade off and noticed one small kink and an 8" long section where the blade feels stiffer and not as flexible as the rest.
My question is.....would it be worthwhile to have the kinked section cut out and the blade re-welded? The teeth look fine and are sharp and have their set. I am concerned about the stiffer section.

[Jason Beam]

Worth it? maybe. But it won't fit your saw anymore.

[glenn bradley]

I believe Greg is thinking about replaceing the stiff section and retaining the length. I only have a 17" saw so replaceing a blade is not painful. I guess this means I am of no help on this one as I have never had a blade re-welded, let alone replace a section. Any of you "big dog" saw owners have a comment?

[Gregg Feldstone]

my saw takes a min. 161" blade and a max 164". The damaged blade is 163", so I have some leeway. I'm just concerned about the section which is not kinked but simply not quite as flexible as the rest of the blade. Could it have lost it's temper? It was a $30 blade, so if they only want to charge $10-$15 to re-weld it, that may be worthwhile. Any thoughts??

[John Keeton]

I have never had this happen and no occassion to have a blade rewelded. But, to save $15 I wouldn't consider it. You risk using a blade that may make less than a good cut, and cost considerably more in extra time sanding a poor cut. Or worse, a ruined cut on a good piece of wood - in my experience usually the last piece that you have with matching grain without remilling an entire board. Chalk it up to a bad experience and consider another brand of blade.

[Wilbur Pan]

Overall, my gut tells me to replace the blade if I was in your situation. But thinking about it, it may depend on what kind of blade this is. If it's a 1/4" or 1/2" blade that you use for cutting curves, it is probably less critical if you splice and weld it. If it's a resaw blade, you definitely should replace it.

[Gregg Feldstone]

It is one of my main curve cutting blades. I called the blade manufacturer and they pointed out something quite obvious that no one has mentioned yet.....The blade will end of with two welds and they DO NOT recommend that, stating it could lead to breakage quickly. They did say I could just try and press the kink out and only use the blade for rough cuts. I have already ordered a new (cheaper) blade anyway.

[Kevin Godshall]

It is one of my main curve cutting blades. I called the blade manufacturer and they pointed out something quite obvious that no one has mentioned yet.....The blade will end of with two welds and they DO NOT recommend that, stating it could lead to breakage quickly. They did say I could just try and press the kink out and only use the blade for rough cuts. I have already ordered a new (cheaper) blade anyway.

Ugh you already posted with my response.......

Did you find out what caused the problem in the beginning? Are you destined to repeat the same scenario when you put a new blade on? Fool me once, same on you......fool me twice....... ;-)

Since you already bought a "cheaper" replacement, do a bit of a case study and see if you notice any difference in cut quality or longevity. Maybe the money you saved was well spent, maybe you put bad money after good. These are lessons we all must learn as we do our shop work and spend our money as wisely as possible. Would be interested to hear what you found out. Good Luck!!