I was speaking with our company principal just the other day and he noted to me several factors about the advancement of the technology and engineering of band saw blades since we, at www.sawblade.com first started marketing and distributing blades. There remains one aspect however that remains an important part of an operators responsibility to his company, or himself and frankly, to his professional accountability in the sawing industry; and that is to always assure that the blade he or she has installed on thier band saw functions properly. Now I know we can all name multiple processes which can make that happen, but remaining right on the top of the list of those accountabilites is to make sure the blade is broken in properly! It is so crucial in the process, that if you went to ANY band saw blogging site; spoke with any band saw operator or salesman – you would hear the exact same example in the first step to properly break in a new saw blade and that is, “think of the saw blade like a new pencil with a sharp tip.” I am not going to rehash that again, but what I did what to do today is to walk

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Often, a customer will call into the Sales and Operations Center of www.sawblade.com to order a specific blade type. Staff has been trained to ask some specific questions impacting the type of saw that the operator is working; the size of the material that is being cut and how often that same material is being cut; and what has or has not worked for them in the past? If they are new customers to us, then we may inquire as to why the change from their previous vendor – above and beyond the cost savings that they realize with us and the ease of ordering and receiving the blade or parts that they need. We will also inquire as to the type of blade that they have used in the past and we are easily able to identify, by cross-referencing, what blade we might recommend to them that aliegns most closely with the blade they have used in the past – assumming they are happy with that blade. Here, for your reference is a summary of the various types of bandsaw blades that are available and their uses. Carbon Steel Bandsaw Blade Uses: Can be used on all small graity

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We have often written in broad generalities about blades, blade guides, speed and feed rates etc. Today, I would like to touch base, just a little bit, about our own brand of saw blades which we market and distribute at www.sawblade.com   We believe that our Haltbar Sagen engineered blades are as fine a band saw blade as any in the industry. With Haltbar Sagan engineering keeping pace with the industry and Simonds International near Boston providing a majority of the manufacturing, Band Saw Service proves it’s ongoing commitment to providing the sawing industry the most technically advanced and reliable saw blades available.   So here is a little synopsis on each of our blades series:   Series 101 Flex Back Carbon – The heat treatment used in production creates a top quality blade with an extremely hard-cutting edge. A spring-tempered back provides increased strength. Greater tension can be applied to improve blade rigidity for straighter, more accurate cuts. The 101 Band Saw Blade is used for light section low alloy steels, nonferrous metals, and plastics.   Series 201 Hard Back Carbon – Hard Back Band Saw blades allow for greater tension. This improves blade rigidity for a straighter, more

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Here at www.sawblade.com we get a lot of questions surrounding perceived blade problems. Often, with just a few inquiries we are able to determin if the operator of the saw made any kind of miscalculation in so far as speed and feed, the material being cut, TPI or any other variable that impacts the cutting process. The other day, just for example, I was speaking with a customer who said that he had stripped out the teeth on one (1) blade;  put the next one on; and that stripped out too. In having a discussion with the customer, we were able, together, to determine that he had not broken in the first blade at all and then, when attempting to break in the second, that blade stripped out when it tried to saw through the broken teeth that were still in the cut of the first attempt. There were several different dynamics stacked against the operator before he got started. I felt bad for him but he promised to soldier on more logically from that point on. It made me start to think about the hundreds of telephone calls for orders that we receive here each day at www.sawblade.com .

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Lately, I’ve been coming across a re-occuring theme in the media be it on blog sites, essays being written for magazine articles or television news analysts  providing  their own insights and opinions to a problem that I promise you, is world wide in scope. In the United States we are currently being inundated with presidential campaign advertisements and television commercials (and the Senate and Congressional races have yet to fire up) and it doesn’t seem like anyone can agree about anything? The one consistant that I notice however on the NBC  Nightly News, Out Front, Quest on Business  or CNN Business Week,  is that corporate leaders, whether their names are Marriott, Trump, Schultz or Ford, seem to agree  that the lack of a labor  force – any labor force  –  is continuing to paralize the economy and lends itself to a lack of confidence in this economy for sustaining any kind of measureable, consistant rebound, let alone growth.  And it absolutely isn’t just white collar  labor that is being impacted! Trying to indentify and hire (not to mention train) staff to perform the tasks necessary to stimulate business growth and development – line staff – and the generally agreed upon

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The more time I spend in this industry and I admit, at this point it has only been close to seven (7) months, the more I recognize what I do not know. The nominclature of this industry is one frustrating aspect. Just when I think that I have a pretty good handle on what someone with far, far more experience than I have, is talking about, he or she throws a word out there that sets me back on my heels, because I do not understand the word they used. Easy to resolve these days because the internet is a fabulous tool to make use of…but still! So for all the other “rooks” out there, lets go over some important terms so we recognize that we are all talking about the same thing – even if we are using slightly different terms. These come to mind most frequently. There are literally thousands more. Feel free to add to the list on the Blog. Additive – a chemical added in small quanities to cutting fluid to impart certain properties Age Hardening – a process of aging that increases hardness and strength and ordinarily decreases the ductility of metals Alloy – A

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This is a brief continuation of a previously written article evolving around how to properly choose a band saw blade and what is the best blade to use for your particular application? Most of our customers who call to speak to one of our dedicated representatives, knows what it is they want. They, more often than not,  just want the human connection as they purchase any of our fine products on line. And that is just great with us at www.sawblade.com We love to hear from you. But we do get questions sometimes with regards to choosing the best saw blade for the application or the material that is being “worked”. Here are some questions that  you should ask yourself. So, what is your sawing application? What is the requirement that you need? Peices on the shelf or blade life? How many different types of material do you cut? A lot? Only one?  Different conditions and different expectations help determine what type of blade you need and that TPI you use. What is the material you are working with?  The toughness of the particular metal that you are sawing will certainly affect the “machinability”, with some materials being much harder

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It struck me the other day that at www.bandsawblog.com I have been able to write, at least half way logically, about all types of technical aspects of band saw blades. We have touched base on topics like speed and feed rates, mathimatically measuring area’s, differences in types of blades be they be carbon, bi-metal or carbide; and I hope it has been helpful. But a question came up at the office this last week about “straight” tooth style versus sabre tooth style blades and I thought it would prudent to write just a couple of paragraphs on the differences between them. Let me know what you think. Regular Tooth Style:  0 degree rake angle on the blade tooth; full, well rounded gullets;  a strong supporting back tooth; and all tooth shapes are the same.   Skip Tooth Style: 0 degree rake agnle on the blade tooth; skip tooth style blades have double the gullet capacity in order to handle more and larger chips; and again, all tooth shapes are the same.   Sabre Tooth Style: 10 degree positive rake angle on the blade tooth; deeper , more rounded gullets than regular or skip tooth style blades; allows for faster feeding;

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I remain a USA Hockey Referee in my spare (?) time. Each each year, every referee must be be recertified for that season. The process is usually pretty fun; you’re out there skating with your co-referee’s; there is interesting discussion about what happened the previous year; and generally, lots of information gets shared which helps everyone be better at what they do – be they a linesman or a referee. During each recertification session, we review the rule book. Questions often arise with regards to judgement calls or rulings and how we individually handle those calls that happen every game and how instantaiously a referee has to make the decision on making that call – or not. As we discuss these situations, and the question finally rises to the surface on if that is the correct call to make (or not), the answer often is given – by the most senior among us, “Well, it depends.” Well, that’s sports for you! I must get asked by customers at least 5 or 6 times a week, “How long should this band saw blade last?” And the answer I am compelled to give is that, “It depends?” It depends on what kind

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It isn’t all cut and dry (no pun intended for you Lubricant and Coolant manufacturers’), when we are cutting pipe, structurals and tubing. Adjustments which should be made to the speed and feed rates are as follows: Reduce band spped by 30% – 50% if using a saw blade without using any cutting fluid Reduce the cutting rate by 25% when you are cutting structurals Reduce the cutting rate by 50% when cutting pipe Reduce the cutting rate by 65% when cutting tubing To calculate the Cutting Rate divide the area being cut (see the Mathematically Calculating Area blog on this site), by the cutting time. To calculate the cutting time, divide the area by the cutting rate. Hope this helps! Submitted by Steve Gadbois