Have you broken bandsaw blades ?

Rob Keeble

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Location
GTA Ontario Canada
I have wanted to ask this question of everyone for the longest time but keep forgetting to do it.

Well the reason keeps coming to me when i use my bandsaw.

No i aint broken a blade yet since i got her.

But way back when i first encountered a bandsaw i did nothing but break blades.

My Dad had a all in one Emco Star. It was kinda like the Sears mini bandsaw and a bunch of other mini machines all rolled up into one. Fantastic design when i think of it today dont quiet know what happened to the company. It came from Austria i think. Here is a picture i copied off another site showing what it looked like.


65689_1.jpg



Here is a video of the unit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccaX39yF3G0



Well i was let loose on Dads toy without any instruction we all worry about today. I dunno maybe he was not bright enough to see the possible injuries we all see at every step today or maybe he just had more faith in his son to keep all his digits and he probably felt if i loose a digit it would be through my own stupidity not his or the saw manufacturers.

Back in those days i made all sorts of things. Specifically toys. But i needed to make enough to kit all my friends out with the same toy.

So i was forever cutting any material Dad had in the shop. Not metal but wood and occassionally acrylic.

I think i broke a blade a month. I got blasted but they got repaired or replaced and life continued.

Back in those days neither of us understood thrust bearings or guide blocks or getting the blade tracking.


So i was wondering given what many of us have learnt about size of blade versus curve we wish to cut and guide block settings etc

Who has broken a blade nowadays and was their a reason other than say poor weld as to why?

Time to confess to those silly things we should not do.;):D:rofl::rofl:
 
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Rob, that looks like a great little machine and you were lucky to have access to it as a kid!

I recently broke a inch blade on my 16 inch bandsaw. I think that it was because I thightend the blade too much. :dunno: :huh:

The blade made one very scary nosie when it broke. :hide:
 
My first bandsaw was an old Sears three-wheeler. It had about a 12" throat, but the wheels were only about 6" in diameter, and the blade was maybe 75".

It seemed like every project I did required at least two blades, and sometimes more.

I seldom had a blade last more than maybe thirty minutes. They'd usually - but not always - break at the weld. My neighbor had a saw shop, with a blade welder, and he'd re-weld the blades for me.
 
broke blades on a18" saw 1" blade actually it has had two break the first one broke because of a bind on one of the free bowl blanks i sent out.. and the other was on some resawing and it was just getting dull and let go.. on the 14" saw it was bind again and dull blade combo.. all pretty much operator error
 
I've broken several 1/2" blades on my 14" saw. I think all of them have been on a weld, but I blame each one on operator error...either turning too tight of a radius on a thick bowl blank, or having a piece that doesn't sit flat on the table move (tilt) mid-cut, thus binding the blade. I've kinked a couple that way, too.
 
My first bandsaw was one of those old Sears three wheelers. The saw flexed the blade so often and over such a short radius that they broke. Guess it was one of those good ideas that would not work because of the laws of physics. Anyway everyone at the sawblade shop knew me well.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone actually repaired the blades themselves with one of those brazing kits?
 
I broke one on one my smaller bandsaws quite a while back. Changed the blade, changed my shorts, and was back in bidness in no time. :eek:

I later made a bow saw for a friend, and used the BS blade remnants for a custom fit blade on the bow saw.
 
also the larger blades work well for scratch stock cutters.. also after one breaks unless its new the blade has probably been dulled sufficiently to not warrant being rewelded brent..
 
Good couple of things have come out of this thread for me.

First up Jims reminder of the stress the metal goes through simply going round and round with small diameter wheels. I think there is one issue i experienced on this machine as a young un but had no clue about.

Larrys point of broken blade and the merit in repair and potential in re breaking i this is totally valid. Blades are relatively cheap particularly if one does the bundle Ellis deal.

I think our issue back in the day was blunt blade being continuosly welded and having to go through the curves, besides the inexperience and total lack of bandsaw knowledge between my Dad and I.

But i sure took enough scolding for all those broken blades.:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Come to think of it i even got scolded for broken drills when the drill was not in my hands but my Dads, hey what are apprentices for? :D

Only reason i aint broken a blade on my Delta yet is cause i still hear the old man behind me having a good old go so i take it easy.:eek::D
 
I've broken a couple by pushing to hard and making to sharp a turn. I cut one up into 6-12" strips and bend them into a V. I use them to set work on when the finish is drying.
 
Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone actually repaired the blades themselves with one of those brazing kits?

Not with a brazing kit, but with silver solder and flux that my brother sent me, plus clamps to hold the blade aligned, etc. The first one I did worked fine. The second one I did, I lacked the beginners luck, so it took quite a few tries and did not work fine. I decided it wasn't worth doing.

Maybe one of the kits would hold things better, etc, and make it "okay" but by the time I break a blade these days, it doesn't deserve to be fixed.
 
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