bandsaw blade life

Have you checked the last cut to see if you hit some metal? A nail? A piece of wire? Even a bullet? That would do it, and it can be a problem with fallen trees. harrym

I don't imagine a hunk of lead (i.e. a bullet) would hurt a blade, but a nail sure would.

I think I found out what happened. Keep in mind that i now have 4 days experience with a bandsaw.

it seems that i failed to tighten the thumbscrew that locks the side roller guides in place. the vibration caused the guide to move forward until it moved into the path of the teeth. It seems to have flattened the sides of the blade and removed the rakers(?).

i learned a $31 lesson today.

WoodChuck

But what if it was a silver bullet, Kimosabe?

Ouch. How about a $15 lesson? Buy direct from Suffolk machine and save. While you are at it, get a 1/4" blade and be prepared for other cutting. You can find their phone number off their web site. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net

Got to second Ed's advice. Get a 10tpi 1/4" blade (or two). It'll probably be your most used blade. Very versatile. Also get some of those plastic zero clearance table inserts. The metal one that came with my used BS was a bit chewed up. Once when I was sawing I noticed the saw teeth digging into the skewed metal insert dulling the saw teeth.

Layne

It means that masked man kills werewolves.

-- Ernie