Bandsaw owners and operators will encounter saw blade back and gullet cracks and might wonder why, or think that it is simply a low quality blade. Yet, being economical doesn’t necessarily mean that the blade is the problem.
At Sawblade.com, we offer some of the lowest saw blade and parts prices in the industry. This does not mean that we carry inferior stock, or that our blades are not engineered to the highest industry specifications.
In many cases, the common problems resulting in gullet and back cracks often range from crooked welds to bandsaw blade breakage. Problems will also occur when the bandsaw machine is not properly maintained, and when failure to replace defective parts occurs.
Here are ten suggestions that may help to resolve saw blade back and/or gullet cracks.
1. Check the adjustable arm and move closer if the guide arms are too far from the work or vice versa.
2. Check for too loose or too tight tension and adjust accordingly.
3. Check and replace bad wheel or the roller guide bearings (if the machine has them).
4. Avoid the use of too small a wheel(s) for the thickness of the saw blade. Always check the saw’s specifications.
5. Check the side guides for contact (rubbing) with the gullet area. If this happens, check for missing or bad back-saw guides.
6. Check for loose or leaning side guides and make the necessary adjustments.
7. Clean the machine (daily) and make sure that there are no stuck chips in guides or wheels.
8. Realign the band tracking. Blade back might be too tight against the wheel flange.
9. Replace worn back guides that will cause the blade’s back edge to work harden or bulge.
10. Check for over feeding since too much feed pressure will result in bulging or cracking of the back edge. Reducing feed rate or increasing blade speed will help.
