Features of band saw blades and their selection

No piece of equipment is highly efficient when its capabilities are limited by its components. In band saws, the blade is the key element. Despite the huge list of options offered to buyers' attention, the product is often not as effective as we would like. The material of this article will acquaint the reader with how to choose a blade for a band saw. From it you will learn about the features and types of canvases, as well as important selection criteria.

A band saw blade is nothing more than a narrow and flexible metal band, from one edge of which teeth are soldered along its entire length. The tape itself is continuous, as it has an annular shape. It is used to cut various materials. At the same time, depending on the design features of the working machine, the cut can be straight and figured.

These metal belts are used in the construction and metalworking industries. An unenlightened buyer hardly knows that, despite the seeming simplicity of the design, the canvas can have a different resource and efficiency. It cannot be called absolutely universal - it cannot cut materials ideally different in material of manufacture and wall thickness. Therefore, it is difficult to make the right choice without knowing the capabilities of the band saw equipment.

Band saw blades are classified according to the type of material being cut. Each type of work requires its own tape, which would cope with wood, plastic, composite raw materials, ferrous or non-ferrous metals. Knowing the basic parameters of the blade, you can buy options that will cut various materials with high quality with a minimum amount of waste, high accuracy and proper speed of work.

Band saw blades differ in type and material. For example, in addition to carbon steel, they are bimetallic, equipped with a spring base, as well as carbide steel teeth. The product can be monolithic or characterized by welded teeth made of a different material. High carbon steel type options are used to cut a wide range of unalloyed and alloyed alloys. Despite this, bimetallic counterparts are more in demand from the buyer, standing out for their technical and operational characteristics.

Customers especially like products with HSS teeth. Such canvases have proven to be the best in the work. They support the performance and durability of the band saw equipment. The performance and quality characteristics of such canvases are high.

Classification by the type of material used in processing allows you to divide the cutting blades into 4 types: for working with stone, metal, wood and materials of synthetic origin. To choose the right type of tape, you need to pay attention to the wrong one for which it is intended. This will allow, during the operation of the product, to carry out a cut with high quality, without chipping and cracking. Here it is worth noting the main principle: the denser the alloy of the sawing edge, the harder the raw material of the workpiece should be.

For example, when a blade is bought for working with blanks made of titanium or nickel alloy, then it is worth choosing TST ring strips. If the master works on equipment for cutting high-carbon steel, you need to buy a composite alloy blade. To cut low carbon steel parts, you need to buy bi-metal strips. When you plan to cut for a long time, working with heat-resistant steel alloys, it makes sense to buy SP blades.

The modern band sawing equipment market is overflowing with offers for every taste and budget. Among other options, several brands can be noted, whose products are in demand among customers.

• Fimar Is an Italian manufacturer of high-quality band saws and blades with high quality and performance characteristics.
• Lenox Is a brand that manufactures cutting belts with a protective coating Armor based on aluminum nitride and titanium.
• Wikus Is one of the leaders in its segment with many years of practice, producing a wide range of saw blades for band sawing machines.
• Forezienne - a company that produces canvases based on beneficiated ore. In the process of fabrication, quenching and tempering, hot and cold rolling are carried out.
• Lennartz - manufacturer of tools for sawing materials of various hardness, produces tapes from composite alloys.
• Arntz - a manufacturer specializing in carbide blades, has been known on the market for about 200 years.

Despite the fact that outwardly the design of the tape seems simple, it has many distinctive features that indicate which task the canvas does the best and what it is intended for. These include the number and shape of the tooth, as well as the cutting speed and setting option.

When looking at a band saw blade, you need to pay attention to the number of teeth on the side of the cutting edge. It is no coincidence, since the evenness of the cut depends on it. The more of them, the easier it is to make an even cut on a part with thick walls. If the density of the teeth is low, then this is reflected in the working load supplied to the parts (it decreases). When there are a lot of cutting teeth, in the process of work, stress is distributed over the entire area of ​​the blade.

As for the size of the teeth, everything is simple: the smaller they are, the shallower the cutting depth. For example, if the blade has small cutting edges, it is better to work with thin-walled sheets predominantly. Standard teeth are designed to work primarily on thin workpieces. Such canvases can be used if a curly cut is needed. When a deep cut is required, it makes sense to buy the coarse teeth version.

Not everything is so simple here: in order to buy the correct option, you need to correlate the step with the parameters of the counterpart on the machine itself. Here you can take into account that a blade with a large and constant pitch is produced for cutting small thin parts (rare teeth will not cope with a large thickness). If you need to cut a large sheet, it is worth buying a tape, the teeth of which are close to each other. In the case of working with soft material, it is advisable to purchase a tape, the teeth of which are variable.

Depending on the type of band saw blade, the teeth can be positioned differently. They have a slight deviation to the sides relative to the plane of the ring-shaped tape itself. The quality of the cut and the degree of vibration during work with this or that material depend on the wiring. In addition, the grinding speed of the tool itself depends on this.

Divorce can be standard, group and wave-like. In the standard version, the teeth are located alternately in both directions, and the third one looks to the center. A blade with this wiring is used for cutting out dimensional metal sections on horizontal equipment, as well as for contour sawing and cutting raw materials on machines equipped with a vertical feed.

In the group cutting profile, the teeth look alternately to the right and to the left. The speed of rotation of such a blade is higher (in comparison with other analogues). In addition, it does not create colossal loads on the workpieces and has a high cut quality. In a wave set, the teeth look alternately in both directions, but at the same time several elements can look in each direction at once. This layout is useful for cutting thin materials and small workpieces.

The usefulness of the blade for solving the planned tasks depends on the cutting speed and feed. And here you will have to build on the type of material being processed. To choose the right option, you need to build on the choice of a specific manufacturer, since each tooth must cut off chips of a specific thickness from the workpiece being processed. The blade is selected based on the characteristics of the band saw equipment, since each machine has its own cutting speed and material feed.

In order to ensure the efficient operation of the machine, it is necessary to monitor its stable position by leveling the equipment in a horizontal position. Before starting work, you need to make sure that the direction of the cutting band is correct. You also need to make sure that there are no faults and defects, check the tension of the blade. You can only cut the material when it is firmly clamped in a vice.

If you need to change the tape, do it with the unit turned off from the network. First, the tension of the canvas is loosened, the pin that sets the height of the table is removed, the insert of the desktop is removed. After that, loosen the set screws, due to which the guide blocks are fixed. After that, the micro-adjustment handle is turned, moving the support bearing further away.

Loosen the screw holding the lower rail assembly as well as the thrust bearing. The knot is shifted further. Next, loosen the guide screws, ensuring sufficient clearance. After that, wearing gloves, carefully remove the tape from the drive wheels. It is immediately removed away, the accessible inner surfaces of the unit are cleaned of chips using a workshop vacuum cleaner.

They check bearings, accessible items of equipment. After that, the tape is pulled into the groove of the working table, putting it on the upper and lower drive wheels. The teeth of the saw band should point to the floor, and the edge itself should be in the protective groove (to the left of the equipment frame). You need to tighten it using the tension knob.

The location should be roughly centered on the wheels. If necessary, make adjustments, adjust the slope, then securely tighten the set screw. Next, the adjustment of the lower support unit, the upper carbide guides is carried out, the insert and the pin are returned to their places. After that, the doors of the drive wheels are closed and the machine is connected.

For information on how to choose and set up a band saw blade, see the next video.