19
If the blade is thicker at the
weld than at the rest of the blade, using the
blade may damage the guides.
20. When grinding, do not hit the teet h, or gri nd
deeper than the thickness of the blade; or
burn or overheat the weld area. Be sure to
remove flash from the back edge of the
blade. Any flash or “stub” teeth which
project beyond the normal set or height of
the other teeth must be ground off.
Clean Up
It is very important that the clamp jaws be kept
clean at all times. The jaws or inserts must be
wiped or scraped clean after every weld. Doing
this will ensure better welds by holding proper
alignment, preventing flash from becoming
embedded in the blade, and preventing shorts or
poor electrical contact.
Blade Selection Using the proper blade for the job will increase
the operating efficiency of your band saw, help
reduce necessary saw maintenance, and
improve your productivity. Thus, it is important to
follow certain guidelines when selecting a saw
blade. Blade breakage, teeth stripping, crooked
cuts, and other common complaints are, in most
instances, caused by using the wrong blade.
Consider these factors when selecting a blade:
• The type of material you will be cutting.
• The thickness of the workpiece.
• The features of the workpiece, such as
bends or curves with small radii.
These factors are important because they
involve basic concepts of saw blade design.
There are six blade features that are normally
changed to meet certain sawing requirements:
1. width
2. gage
3. pitch (number of teeth per inch)
4. tooth form (or shape)
5. the “set” of the teeth
6. the blade material itself
Width
Band saw width is measured from the back of
the blade to the tip of the tooth. Always use the
widest blade possible that still performs the
needed job. Generally, wider blades are used
for straight cutting. Narrower blades are used
when the part being cut has curves with small
radii. Refer to the chart in Figure 22 to select a
width for radius cutting.
The radii in this chart are all bas ed on cutting 1-i nch thick
mild steel and using manu al feed. In order t o cut a close
tolerance radius the follow i ng f actors, in addition to the blad e
width, must be consid ered: thickness, mach inability, feed
force and the location of the pi vot p oint. H eavy f eed in thic k
work, for example, resu lts in a barrel-shaped cut.
Figure 22