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Determine the Basics of Band Saw Blades

By: Jack Landry

Band saw blades are one of the most commonly used tools in the wood cutting industry. The use of band saw blades is so prevalent because they help the industry to be more efficient.

A band saw blade is basically a narrow metal strip with teeth along one edge. The band saw runs around two large motorized pulleys or wheels that are mounted on a frame.

One of the motorized pulleys is located directly above the other. The band saw blade passes through the table on which the work is laid, in order to efficiently cut through the material.

Blades are available with various sizes of teeth, based on what materials and functions the band saw blade needs to perform. All band saw blades, regardless of the manufacturer, need to be broken in.

This is because when band saw blades are new, the teeth are too sharp. This can cause fracturing of the outer edges of the cut material.

If the blades are not given time to be broken in the most likely result will be premature blade failure. In order to break in the blades another feature needs to be addressed.

It is called blade speed. When breaking in a new band saw blade the speed of the blade during the first few uses should be slower in order to help dull the new blades.

The blade speed can help speed up production and help produce a better cut in the material. Almost all machines have a blade speed control that can be varied to best suit the materials being cut.

Being able to control the blade speed can also help increase safety when using the machine. The main materials of the band saw blades are typically unalloyed or low Cr-alloyed tool steels.

When a metal is alloyed it contains a mixture of different metals. There are many different types of metals used in making a band saw blade.

The most commonly used steels are C60, C75, C75Cr and 50CrV4. These steels are usually toughened by mixing different metals together.

The saw tooth is made with hard metal or a high-speed metal plate. Sawmill requirements for band saw blades are constantly changing and increasing to better the lifespan and cutting accuracy.

To meet the requirements dynamic research has been made by the leading European and North American manufacturers to continually update and better band saw blades. One major research area is to develop band saw blades that can stand higher prestress.

Prestess is applying force to the band saw blade to condition it to withstand its working load more effectively. Prestress is both a beneficial and detrimental process.

The enhancement of the prestress improves cutting the accuracy of the blade, but at the same time it also increases the possibility of a fatigue break. The stresses, or problems, of these band saw blades turn up for three main reasons including the uniaxial stress (bend when the tool bends on the drive wheel) and cutting environmental stresses.

Uniaxial stress occurs if two of the dimensions of the material are very large or very small compared to the materials that are being cut. This is caused from the prestress of the tool, which increases the possibility of a fatigue break.

It produces a stress on the material that a worker needs to be aware of. In this case the stress tensor has only one component and is indistinguishable from a scalar.

One-dimensional objects include a piece of wire loaded at the ends and a metal sheet loaded on the face and viewed up close and through the cross section. When a structural element is elongated or compressed, its cross-sectional area changes by an amount that depends on the ratio of the material being cut.

This causes the stress and can cause cut-damage to the material. The stress from bending adds a tensile, or tension, stress at the band saw blade's outer side and a compression stress at the blade's inner side.

This type of load is responsible for the almost all the band saw blade failures. So when operating a band saw always be aware of this type of stress.

The last major stress on band saw blades is cutting environmental stresses. These include everything around the blade that affect it and contribute to a poor cut.

Band saw blades are a very useful tool and if used properly can work to their greatest capability to assist in cutting. When using band saw blades, always be aware of safety precautions.

Article Source: http://www.newarticledaily.com

Jack R. Landry has worked with band saw blades for the last 18 years and written hundreds of articles about saws. He recommends (www.EZSawBlades.com) for band saw blades.

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