Wood Bandsaw Etiquette

Operations
1

Problems happen.

When there’s too much tension on the blade, or too much force forward, backward, or laterally, or old wood residue gunked up anywhere, the blade can twist, bend, and ultimately snap. While they are considered consumable items and will need to be replaced from time to time, they are not free and multiple blade changes indicates there’s some potential usage issues.

I’d rather the person that caused it be the one to report it rather than someone else or me finding it after the fact. Letting something become someone else’s problem to discover can often be harmless, but in a workshop setting can lead to someone else get hurt.

Within the last two months we have gone through 5 blades between the two smaller grizzly bandsaws so here’s some tips on how to use them and clean them.

I’ll also being going over all of this in a class soon including how to change the blades. (Link coming when it’s up).

  1. Choose the right blade.
  • 1/4" for tight turns and corners or thin material
  • 3/8" for heavier or thicker material, or when wider radius curves are desired
  • 1" Resaw blade for big material, thick cuts, little to no curves, or resawing.
  1. Let the blade do the cutting. Do not force the material into the blade. Let the blade cut and push calmly through.

Cleaning
Check the blade before and after cutting.
After excessive milling or cutting has taken place, take a moment to see if there’s residue built up around the blade, rollers, or wheels. They should all be easily cleaned off using the Simple Green cleaning solution and a brush or blade scraper. (Scraper can be found at the tool wall, brushes are in the microjig cleaning bin).

Here are some examples of what gunked up blades look like that need to be reported promptly and/or cleaned by the person that caused it.

PXL_20241130_181925994.RAW-01.COVER
PXL_20241130_181925994.RAW-01.COVER1920×2550 254 KB

PXL_20241130_181945443.RAW-01.COVER
PXL_20241130_181945443.RAW-01.COVER1920×2550 132 KB

PXL_20241130_181939915.RAW-01.COVER
PXL_20241130_181939915.RAW-01.COVER1920×2550 193 KB

PXL_20241130_183601137.RAW-01.COVER
PXL_20241130_183601137.RAW-01.COVER1920×2550 368 KB

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Not sure what kind of blade/brand you’re using. The Olson flex back 1/4", 6 TPI (they run about $20)is a very good all purpose blade that takes a beating and it lasts a while if properly used. When many people are using the bandsaw, 1/4" is in the middle of the road for everything. 1/8" is way too small, and too specialty so much that is hard to align and keep it tracked, and it will break or bend rather easy. 1/2" is a little big to cut inside curves. Anyway, from having run a woodshop, the above blade in my opinion is the best all around based in cost and purpose. The cut is not super smooth but thats why there is a disc sander and belt sander. Im sure people are going to try fit it to their needs and you will keep having to replace blades. Specially if you keep getting them at the big box store.

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We’re currently using 120" timber wold blades. That’s what was being used before and I kept them coming in. I’ll happily look through what you sent and see if there are more durable blades we can try out!
Thank you

Classes have been posted for this Friday at 6pm and Saturday at 10 am.

Fri

Sat

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