ADVICE: Bandsaw Blade Twist

[RonB]

A few days ago I managed to get a 3/8" bandsaw blade crossed up as I was

finishing with a thick piece of hardwood. Short story shorter, I ended up

with a twist that is set into about 3" to 4" of its length. I am guessing

at it's worst its about a 10 to 20 degree twist. I didn't realize until

today that the "rattle" effect was too severe to leave it on the machine and

swapped it out.

Is there any Practical way to straighten one of these? It is a fairly new

and sharp blade. Obviously sharper that the user.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

RonB

[Tom]

RonB wrote: >A few days ago I managed to get a 3/8" bandsaw blade crossed up as

I was

If I couldn't cold-work it straight, I'd let it go. Some judicious tapping

with a mallet and drift over a piece of scrap might set it straight(er).

They're reasonbly inexpensive, too. Tom

Work at your leisure!

[George]

You can twist it back and tap it relatively straight - making sure to stay

away from the teeth, of course. This is a gentle hammering, not a

blacksmith-type. it will harden the blade a bit, even when conducted on a

wooden anvil.

Move your guides out to keep it from binding, and use it for rough work

until it goes.

[J T]

Mon, Oct 25, 2004, 4:23pm (EDT-1) [e-mail] (RonB) asks:

Is there any Practical way to straighten one of these?

Yep, get a new blade.

I've "tapped" one straight before, and used it. But I wouldn't

advise it. It'll break sooner or later, probably sooner. Best to write

it off.

I've found bandsaw blades brittle. I've snapped off pieces 1-2

inches easily (with pliers and a vise), then glued them in a slotted

plywood handle, to make small caving knives - ground to shape. Works

pretty neat.

JOAT

Eagles can soar ... but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

[Wood Butcher]

How about using a couple of crescent wrenches to

apply a reverse twist and straighten it out?

Art

[Ken Moon]

===================================

Either of the above methods will work, but there is the possibility that the

blade, either during the original twist or the straightening, will crack. If

you have a strong magnifier, take a look at the blade along the damaged

area. If it's cracked, save yourself the straightening time and just replace

it .

Ken Moon

Webberville, TX

[RonB]

Yeah I know they aren't too expensive. All four corners of my family are

Irish. Can't help being tight.

I'll give the suggestions a try.

Thanks to All.

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 16:23:23 -0500, "RonB" calmly

ranted:

If it has sharp bends, forget it. It'll crack when you try.

Just toss it. That's the safest bet, anyway.

If it's not too sharp a bend, you might be able to straighten

it by clamping it between a couple pieces of steel bar stock.

Got a Worthington hammer? (Flat bar instead of ball peen) Hang

the coil of the blade over an anvil or the anvil of your vise,

and tap the rest of the twist flat from the convex side (bumpy

side up, for those of you in Rio Linda) with the teeth hanging

safely in mid air over the edge of the anvil.

If it pulls to one side, check the set on all the teeth at that

point. Make sure they're all even. A pair of needlenose vise

grips work OK for a saw set if you don't have one handy.

That blade will die an early death anyway, so be careful with it.

You could always cut the bad part off and save the rest to make

a bow saw.

I'm the expert on those saws around here (with almost 1 completed

saw under my belt now, not counting the prototype) so just ask if

you need any help with it.

[Norman D. Crow]

Gee, glad you reminded me Larry. I'd almost forgotten the bow saw. It's

almost as old as(What was your antique cabinet saws name again?) isn't

it?(G,D & RLH)

[Andy Dingley]

Try straightening it first. If you snap the blade, then you can make

yourself a bowsaw.

[Tom]

That's "reasonably". Sorry! Tom

Work at your leisure!

[RonB]

Must be an OLD woodworker...............Cut that finger off years ago.

Ron

[Leo Lichtman]

"RonB" wrote: (clip) Is there any Practical way to straighten one of these?

(clip)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is a technique I have read about in the Old Tools Newsgroup, that works

on handsaws. You press the blade against a hard, heavy surface, like the

top of an anvil, so it is held flat. Then, tap gently with a small hammer.

The hammering stresses combine with the flattening stresses to make the

metal yield, so the blade is straightened. For your blade, you might try

holding it with clamps and blocks while you do the pounding.

[alan200]

If you have enough adjustment in your tensioner you could cut the

twists out of the blade and silver solder it together. You would

probably lose about 20mm of blade length

Alan

in beautiful Golden Bay, Western Oz, South 32.25.42, East 115.45.44 GMT+8

VK6 YAB ICQ 6581610 to reply, change oz to au in address

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 06:50:36 -0400, "Norman D. Crow"

calmly ranted:

No, it's older.

Dina's doing well, but she needs a new set of teeth. That $4.99

HF 40T 10" C2 carbide blade has lasted a couple years, and I have a

new one to go on her, but I have to drill out the arbor hole first.

She has a 3/4" arbor.

Didn't you see her in her new clothes a couple years back?

I gave her a new coat of paint and added nice dust collection panels.

Her mouth is still a gaper, though, at about an inch shy of zero

clearance. ALL small/short stock goes on the _sled_, period.

She also has an occasional outfeed table, but I've yet to make it

permanent or cut the groove for the miter slide. Since I haven't

used the miter for ripping with it yet, that's not a problem. ;)

My preferred way of doing tenons is on the bandsaw, so I may never

make a tenoning jig for Dina. We'll see.

I'm waiting for 4 clients to give their updates to me so I've had a

chance to go out into the shop this morning, too. The carving bench

legs are going to be glued together today, and I should be able to

scrape and smooth the top, too.

It's 11am and the newspaper is almost dry. The rooter man just left

so my kitchen sink isn't full of black water any longer. What a way

to start yer day, eh?

[Bjarte Runderheim]

"Andy Dingley" skrev i melding

news: [e-mail]...

Try straightening it _and_ snap the blade.

You will never get anything near satisfaction from a

kinky blade.

Putting a bad blade in the machine, every time you need to

do a bad job, just is not worth your while.

Bjarte

[Norman D. Crow]

Yup, I saw the pics, just had a brain f**t and couldn't remember her name!

[A. Kemelman]

From my experience of working with bandsaws it isn't worth the time or

effort trying to straighten out the blade. You'll never get it like it

was and it'll never cut as accurately. You might save a bit of money

in not buying a new blade but the frustration of working with the old

one isn't worth it. Sooner or later you'll buy a new one and kick

yourself for not having done so sooner.

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 16:51:31 -0400, "Norman D. Crow"

calmly ranted:

It's pronounced "Deena", and she's my Dina saur.

1920's Hollywood production date and manufacturing place.