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First Broken Band Blade

Started by pine, September 16, 2014, 11:33:20 PM

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pine

Well everyone says that you are not a sawyer until you saw a log stop.  Well have not done that yet; but did have my first band break today and it broke spectacularly. 

Much different than I would have thought from what everyone describes. 
Never broke a blade with my previous Lt25 or Lt40 experience.

Was not even sawing at the moment.  Had finished a cut about 30 seconds before and the head was at the far end of the mill.

Four pieces that I found and at least one still missing.  Multiple pieces and still have not found all of it to include the band weld.  Is it normal to have the blade break in multiple places?  There are cracks in the band that did not fully separate or I would have had even more pieces than I did.



 

hackberry jake

All the ones I have broke just broke in one place.
https://www.facebook.com/TripleTreeWoodworks

EZ Boardwalk Jr. With 20hp Honda, 25' of track, and homemade setworks. 32x18 sawshed. 24x40 insulated shop. 30hp kubota with fel. 1978 Massey ferguson 230.

backwoods sawyer

Flex those pieces and you will more then likely find some deep gullet cracks and they will not all be fresh ;)

That is why everyone stresses installing good guards on the home built mills and to keep them in place when running any mill.

Sounds like the saw was at speed just not in the wood?

While back I heard the tell tail tic-tic-tic had just enough time to ask little Jo if she heard it when it let loose. The customer was all relaxed sitting on the tractor with several logs infront of the loading arms. He just about unseated that tractor :o
Little Jo never fliched as she shut it down ;D
That saw was in three pieces.
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

backwoods sawyer

OOPs the dreaded double post :embarassed:
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

pine

Quote from: backwoods sawyer on September 17, 2014, 12:52:27 AM
Flex those pieces and you will more then likely find some deep gullet cracks and they will not all be fresh ;)

Sounds like the saw was at speed just not in the wood?

Yes the saw was at speed and not in the wood. 

I know there are some other cracks as I can see them.  I will look and see if they look fresh or not.  Blade was not that old.  Never been sharpened.  Still hoping to find the missing parts but even with a metal detector no luck so far.  Of course the mill body  keeps setting off the detector as I look..

Chuck White

I've had blades break into several pieces, but usually they only have one break!

On the Wood-Mizer they will tend to head for the sawdust chute when they break.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

bandmiller2

You never get used to a band breaking, seasoned sawyers always keep a clean pair of skivvies in the truck. As mentioned you many times will hear a tic tic tic just before the big bang but few are fast enough to shut the mill down. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

POSTON WIDEHEAD

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

LittleJohn

Quote from: Chuck White on September 17, 2014, 06:35:18 AM
...on the Wood-Mizer they will tend to head for the sawdust chute when they break.

Totally agree!!  On the bright side if you keep a couple of those broken chunks of band around the mill, they make GREAT sawdust removers (just grind of all but the last tooth)

ely


backwoods sawyer

Big Bangs ;D
What we called the "floorman" was the person who stood on a cat walk with a pike pole and pulled or pushed the backstand out of the 3" thick carriage which had a top and bottom rail. Transfer chains running east and west of the carriage travel and two rollcases north of the saws to the left is a pair of block chippers that square up the block. To the right is a pair of 12" double cut bands. When the floorman misses a back stand it drops on the bottom rail and if the sawyer is slugish at hitting the red button the bad things happen as the backstand gets drug back thru the block chippers, chips fly, chippers come loose from there foundation and dance around until they stop kinda bad stuff.
But that tic tic tic of a bandsaw will have the floorman plastered to the cement "A" at the end of the short cat walk ;D as when those saws brake there is 40 of saw that still has to stop, kinda like a fraight train they tend to kink up a few times as the tail end catches up to the front end.
We rotated between 4 sawyers and JD was sawing, he was on the tail end of a double shift when the saws pulled a 16" block out of the carraige, while still in the cut the block droped down turned sideways and as the carriage returned both bandsaws shreaded as they went back thru the block chippers unseating them and peppering the whole area including my office which is on the fourth floor oposite the floorman with pieces of saw. That got everyones hart rate up a bit ;D
Week later we were still finding pieces from the first to the fifth floor up to 100' away.
lost 1 hour production and most of that was crew jitters ;D   
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

xlogger

Looking back on this topic, most of my blades that break are just out of the cut. Looks like they would break in the cut mostly, any ideas?
Timberking 2000, Turbo slabber Mill, 584 Case, Bobcat 773, solar kiln, Nyle L-53 DH kiln

drobertson

Not sure about when and where, but when they break, I'm just glad  when it is outside the log!  sometimes it can be a bear getting them backed out of the cut.  And what was said about getting use to it?  I think I always flinch just a little :D  they do Bang!
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Magicman

I have had them to break before, during, and after.   :-X   :D  I just laugh and replace it because usually that blade had made many $$$.  A couple of plastic wedges help when they break "during".
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Chuck White

If you're in the middle of a wide cut and the blade breaks, and you're lucky, there won't be a lot of tension in that particular log!   :-\

Once in a while I'll have one break in the middle of a cut and more often than not, it's easier to cut the blade off a couple of inches longer than the cut is wide, back the sawhead out of the way, then hook onto the blade with a pair of Vise Grips and pull the piece of blade out of the cut!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

delvis

The blade that came with our Wood Mizer mill broke not long after we took delivery and it had a couple dozen small cracks in the gullets all the way around the blade.  It too was brand new and had never been sharpened.  I wrote it off as an inferior blade and haven't had one break like that since.
If I never saw another board I will at least die happy having spent the last few years working with my dad!

Nate379

How many hours have you run the mills if you have never broken a blade?

The blades we run last at best 3 sharpenings before they break.  We run them till that point and trash them.  Can usually get a full day of cutting on a sharpening.

Nate379

Quote from: Nate379 on November 23, 2014, 03:59:15 PM
How many hours have you run the mills if you have never broken a blade?

The blades we run last at best 3 sharpenings before they break.  We run them till that point and trash them.  Can usually get a full day of cutting on a sharpening. I forget the board feet, I don't run the woodmizer.

I know we did some spruce 1x8s, 10ft long the other day, had to make 35 of them and it took about 20 mins.  Used 7 logs.

ladylake

 That's 700 bf per hour cutting 1 x 8 x 10 out of smaller log in spruce, 1 blade per day would be 5600 bf per blade, really good.  Back to the subject the 2 biggest blade breakers are worn v belts and the guide roller flange too close to the back of the blade, if you start breaking more check those 2 things.   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

POSTON WIDEHEAD

There is no way I can go all day on one blade. If I did, quality of my lumber would go down.
I saw and sell a lot of 1x8x10 Loblolly for barn siding.
If I don't hit metal....2 blades per day using a 10°......and sometimes I may change to a 7° depending on how knotty a log is.
Of course I don't saw for production numbers, I saw to complete a job for quality, no matter how long it take and how ever many blades it take.
The price I pay to get my blades resharpened never come to mind.
But this is just me......the "Little Fat Boy's" way.  :D
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Chuck White

I typically use 2 blades per day and once in a while, 3.

Days that I use 3 or more are due to metal strikes or teeth out of set, leaving marks on the lumber!

I generally get somewhere around 800+ per blade.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Nate379

We don't get too fussy with rough cut lumber. Most of it is beams, posts, trailer decking, etc.
If they need a nice finish it gets run through the 5 head planer.

The boards I mention where for a garage wall, the customer wanted it to look old.

POSTON WIDEHEAD

I agree Nate. Knowing what your customer prefers or don't care about sure is helpful.
I sawed Pine beams and the Lady wanted a wavy finish with lines on it. Yes Mrs. Munn.....they'll be ready tomorrow.  :D
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

RM Farm

I've managed to break 2 blades since I've started milling (maybe 2 months now :D). Anyway, the first was my fault, pushing a dull blade with quite a few gullet cracks, and the 2nd broke clean at the weld. Both breaks were only in 1 spot.  I continue to learn :) more everyday on the forum.. Thanks all!
Thanks, Robert

Woodland Mills HM126; Kubota L3200 with FEL, quick attach forks.

Magicman

What brand was the blade that broke in the weld.  Wood-Mizer and probably other manufacturers will replace that blade free.  Properly welded blades will not break in the weld.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

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