Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Kink in a Band Saw Blade
Lee Ohmart
Tonight while cutting some cookies from an irregularly shaped wood in my band saw, the piece kicked up into the guide wheel set up causing it to rotate back. That was an easy fix but now there is a kink in the blade. Most places I've looked agree that a kinked blade is toast and the cheapest solution is a new one. What is the experience of those of you who have had to deal kinks in a band saw blade?
Re: Kink in a Band Saw Blade
Mark Nowicki
Replace.
Bandsaw blades are consumables.
+1
Re: Kink in a Band Saw Blade
Ralph Lipeles
Yes, but it doesn't hurt to try. Lay the kinked area on a steel flat and tap the kinked area with a steel rod or bar. If the kink comes out, inspect the repaired section carefully for cracks.
Re: Kink in a blade..
Mark Nowicki
.. will not make you a Forged in Fire champion.
A kink means the blade has lost its temper, will not move on and "will not kiiilll"
Re: Kink in a blade..
Lee Ohmart
I'm going to just replace it. I may try hammering out the kink with a ball peen hammer and use the kinked blade for cutting up things where I don't care about how smooth it is. Thanks for all the input.
Re: Kink in a blade..
Dick Coers
Striking with a ball peen hammer will stretch the steel and the kink could be replaced with a wave front to back on the blade. You can always cut out the kink and silver braze it back together. Cheaper to replace unless you want to make your own blades in the future.
difficult
John K Jordan
I have removed a kink from a 1/2" saw blade by bending and tapping until the kink was perfectly straight but with what looked like a cosmetic "wrinkle" on the surface. That was still enough to make a sound on every pass through the guides.
Most of the kinks I've seen in bandsaw blades were also accompanied by a bit of twist at the kink. The would be quite difficult to remove.
Re: Kink in a Band Saw Blade
TomD
I would just counter bend it, unless you are talking about a fold, or 3D distortion, but just a bend is no problem.
Another option is to re-weld or braze.
Speaking of temper, that is shot every time the blade is welded in the first place. Metal saws often have a welder built into them so the blades can be inserted into a hole and an interior contour sawn. They get broken and rewelded all the time, and operate under heavier tension for the most part.