BigDog Speaks

Most of us probably use our bandsaw blades LONG past their acceptable life. We continue to saw/burn our way through our cuts, hating the idea of changing the blade. All that tweaking, and fiddling that has to be done when new blades go on. All the tensioning, aggravation, bad language when things don't go according to plan.

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Sorry, I have no instant cure, I feel your pain. Yesterday i spent a smoky session at the bandsaw slicing up some 2 x 6 cherry from a 6 x 6 cherry block. It wasn't pretty. The upside is burning cherry smells really good. I FINALLY finished my cuts and once again promised myself I would buy some new blades. I have been saying this for the last 6 months or so. I tend to wear blinders when it comes to my bandsaw and unless I break a blade, I will use one until it no longer cuts or I can no longer afford the excess time it takes to make a cut. I KNOW this is wrong. I KNOW this is bad. I KNOW it is harder on the saw, the operator, more prone to cause accidents, nore likely to turn into a disaster, and I STILL do it. The bad part is I enven do this when I HAVE replacement blades hanging on a peg. I just HATE to change the blades. Something about that toothy coil of metal jumping out at me makes me delay the process as long as possible. I am only talking about 105 inches of teeth and I dread it. Back when I had the sawmill, also a bandsaw, just much bigger, I had no trouble throwing out 18 foot of teeth and swapping the blades when they got a little dull. WHY the difference? The sawmill was easier to change the blades on! Less tweaking and adjusting. Zip, zip, zip and you were cutting again! The bandsaw in my shop REQUIRES much more effort to get a blade going again. Sawmills cut ROUGH lumber, the concern for finish is nowhere close to what we expect from a small bandsaw. Rougher work isn't as picky. I will tweak and fuss with the bandsaw in my shop until I am getting a finish cut that pleases me. One that won't turn into a nightmare of finishing work, scraping and sanding until I ma left with bloody nubs. I MAKE myself be picky and swapping my blades is an agonizing ordeal. Is it any wonder I am in no hurry to do again any time soon? Of course there is always the potential disaster, the blade gets swapped, the tweaks are all done, the first cut begins and the blade breaks. This would not be time for sensitive ears to be in my shop. My vocabulary of foul language expended, KNOWING it accomplishes nothing, I go through the process of another new blade. As woodworkers, we have to endure a certain amount of self abuse or we wouldn't be woodworkers. OK, so I sat down here, Googled for blades, compared prices, and submitted my order for 4. In THEORY, the blades will arrive BEFORE I do any more sawing with my bandsaw. I love woodworking, do you?