This is an economical and likely well-known bit of helpful advice for maintaining bandsaw blade teeth.
Save the plastic cap strips that arrive with your brand new bandsaw blade.
Bandsaw blade teeth are designed to cut specific materials.
The teeth are critical in providing high production rates and an overall positive output.
This reason and for safety purposes is why the teeth are often protected by capping prior to shipping.
Contact with bandsaw blade teeth that aren’t capped is one of the most common causes of injury and why caution is necessary when handling any bandsaw blade.
Bandsaw blade manufacturers and distributors place a length of plastic over the teeth of the blade to help minimize tooth damage during shipping. Most distributors cap bandsaw blades that are .75” wide or larger. These blades will typically have a TPI that is lower than narrower blades — blades with finer TPI.
Bandsaw blade teeth are made slightly wider than the thickness of the blade in order to prevent the blade from being pinched during the cutting process. This added width allows the blade to move freely through the cut — the kerf.
Bandsaw blades with finer teeth are designed to saw thin stock materials while coarse tooth blades are designed to saw large stock materials.
After a blade is welded and coiled, it is bound together in a loop to keep handlers safe, and the plastic caps help to prevent damage to blade teeth and anyone handling them.
If possible, keep the plastic caps on hand and use them when storing a saw blade. This will keep the work area safe from injury as well as help to maintain the life expectancy of any viable saw blade.
It is important to protect blade teeth so that performance expectations are met when cutting any type of material — provided the correct blade for that material is utilized.
