1060 – 13 – Beam Strength

1m

Cutting may cause resistance to grow due to higher feed rates or the shape and consistency of work piece material. As the blade cuts, tension goes up on the back edge of the blade and lowers on the tooth edge resulting in compression. This forces the blade to arch into a crescent preventing it from making square cuts.

A blade’s way to work against this resistance is beam strength. It helps a blade to withstand a faster feed rate and remain on point with greater beam strength. Beam strength is dependent on the size of blade material, along with the spacing between the guide arms.

In order to receive the greatest blade strength, first check the blades for damage. Next, consider moving the blade guide arms as close as the material will allow. You may not be able to cut as many pieces but you won’t have to deal with blade deflection. The wider a blade is, the more beam strength it will be able to have. Thus allowing the machine to exert more force into the cut, resulting in more efficient band sawing.