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Outside of correct
maintenance to your bandsaw machine, breaking in a
new band saw blade is the most important step in
attaining optimum blade life. Not following
this process can lead to additional expense due to
lost time and excessive blade consumption.
Before we explain how to
break-in a saw blade, lets take a moment to
clarify what the term means by explaining how a
saw blade is made.
All saw blades whether
Bi-Metal or Carbon are made from flat strip stock
which is milled or ground with the tooth geometry
and teeth per inch depending on the number of
teeth desired. The teeth on the blade are then set
to the left and right in order to give clearance
for the back of the blade so it does not bind in
the cut. The blade is then heat treated to
the desired hardness and sandblasted or liquid
honed to remove the majority of the burrs created
during the milling or grinding process. This
also makes the saw blade more aesthetically
pleasing to the eye.
The term "Break-In" refers
to the final removal of burrs left from milling or
grinding the tooth profile in the flat
stock. This is done during the actual
cutting process once the saw blade is put into
use.
The recommended break-in
procedure is to reduce your band saw blade speed
and feed rate by 20% or more for the first 100
square inches of material cut to give the blade
time to hone off the minute burrs remaining.
The reason for the reduced speed and feed is to
reduce the amount of vibration to the blade during
this time.
Example:
You are cutting 4" diameter
round 4130 Alloy Steel. The recommended
standard cutting rate is 120 feet per minute with
a feed rate of 6 square inches per minute.
During break-in you should be running no more than
100 feet per minute with a feed rate of
approximately 4.5 square inches per minute or
less. Cutting this material at these rates
would allow for correct break-in after completing
8 pieces.
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