New bandsaw blades need to be broken in every time.

It’s a standard procedure that many companies often ignore. Maybe they don’t see the value, or they don’t want to spend the time breaking in the blade. But it’s an important step that shouldn’t be overlooked (and it doesn’t take a lot of time.)

Why should you always break in a new blade? New blades are too sharp; if you start cutting at high speeds on the delicate edge you will cause the cutting edge to fracture or feather (which will lower the working life of the blade).

When you break in a blade, you wear off the sharp pointed edge on the blade teeth and form a small rounded tip. This small radius will be able to better withstand the cutting pressures of sawing and will deliver more consistent cutting results.

How Often Do Other Shops Break In Bandsaw Blades?

According to statistics from the Lenox Metal-Cutting Benchmark Survey, organizations aren’t breaking in blades as often as they should. Out of the respondents surveyed, only 45% reported that they “always” break in blades, 30% replied that they do “most of the time”; while 15% break in blades “occasionally” and 8% of respondents admitted that they “never” break in blades. We found these results surprising.

Breaking in your bandsaw blades will length the life of the blade and prevent premature blade failure. It will also make blade failures easier to predict and prevent problems like chipped or broken blade teeth, tooth stripping, cracks, band wear, and crooked cuts.

Below is an outline of the proper blade break in procedure according to the type of material you will be cutting.

Proper Blade Break-In Procedures:Break In Your Saw Blades

Easy to cut materials (ex. Carbon steel, aluminum)

Step 1: Set the surface speed of the blade according to the material type and size.

Step 2: Reduce the feed pressure by half of the normal cutting rate for the first few cuts or the first 100 square inches.

Step 3: Gradually increase the feed pressure to the normal cutting speed.

Hard to cut materials (ex. Nickel-based alloys, hardened steels, stainless steels)

Step 1: Set the surface speed of the blade according to the material type and size.

Step 2: Reduce the feed pressure by three quarters of the normal cutting rate for the first few cuts or the first 50 square inches.

Step 3: Gradually increase the feed pressure to the normal cutting speed.

We hope this increases your cutting accuracy and makes it easier for your operator to predict when a blade is near its end.

Want to learn more about the findings from the Lenox Metal Cutting Survey?

Read our condensed report here, or download the full report from Lenox.

>>At Westway we carry a large inventory of LENOX saw blades, a leading manufacturer known for high performance cutting and long lasting blade life.

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