1060 – 17 – Blade Break-In
Most band saw blades require being broken in before use. The reason for this is the milling process. When blades are created the manufacturer uses a mill cutter to create the teeth on the blade. A new blade must be used at a lower feed and until the tips of the tooth have been rounded gently. Many people will also drop the speed, this is a mistake as dropping the band speed will increase the feed force exerted on the blade.
When beginning to break in your blade, use a similar material to the one you’ll be cutting during the job. Use the break-in speed and feed rates given by the saw and blade manufacturers. These rates tend to be a percentage of the normal cutting rates. The rate of feed is increased at a slow pace until a specific amount of square area has been cut.
Determining if chips are formed well and the condition of the edge of the cut is also important. When the blade performs well, then work time, precision and cost per cut becomes more efficient. Sawblade.com recognize many times the break-in procedure isn’t feasible so we’ve designed our newest blade with ground tooth technology to allow the immediate production cutting of the material. Ground tooth technology results in a more uniform, sharper tooth shape eliminating the break-in process completely.