Bandsaw breaks blades

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HankRearden

HankRearden

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I have one of those Clarke horizontal bandsaws. I bought it about 15 years ago. I cut 3/16 wall 2x6 steel tubing with it. It started cutting crooked then it started breaking blades in just a couple minutes.So I pushed it aside and forgot about it.
So lately I need it again. I put all new bearings in it hoping that would fix it.
It did not. can anyone offer any suggestions?
 
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Typically the blades break due to improper tension and alignment. Obviously too loose allows the blade to flex or "wobble".
 
Each bandsaw is a little different but a good quality one will let you adjust tension, adjust some guides for centering the blade and keeping it aligned, and adjust the "throat" (the space between the guides where you will actually be cutting the part) You want to have the throat be as small as possible to get your job done, and your guides tight but without touching the blade (good general rule of thumb would be to place a business card on either end of the blade and butt the guides up against the business cards. Are the guides static or are they bearings?
Another important factor is if you are running coolant on it or at bare minimum some bandsaw wax (I really like Lennox brand)
Some pics can help give more help as well.

PS. Are you running the correct blade for your material? Another general rule of thumb is the softer your material then the less teeth per inch you need, and the harder the material, then more TPI
 
I asked maintenance guys here at work. They said to chk quality of welds on blade, make sure they're smooth or they can catch in the guides. Make sure guides are good and blade is centered. Hope that helps?

20240603_132615.jpg
 
I buy my saw blades in a 100ft roll and i join them myself with silver solder or braze , i have a little jig i made and they last way longer than bought ones . i should do a video to show how i do it , not saying it's the right way but works good for me .
 
Our maintenance super said same thing. He said some places he's worked at actually have an integrated welder and bandsaw together in one unit!
jimjimjimmy said:
I buy my saw blades in a 100ft roll and i join them myself with silver solder or braze , i have a little jig i made and they last way longer than bought ones . i should do a video to show how i do it , not saying it's the right way but works good for me .
Click to expand...
 
4spdragtop said:
I asked maintenance guys here at work. They said to chk quality of welds on blade, make sure they're smooth or they can catch in the guides. Make sure guides are good and blade is centered. Hope that helps?

View attachment 1716257813
Click to expand...

Hey Steve that looks to be the same saw as mine only the one i have is black and the brand name is Buffalo sometimes it runs 8 hours a day it has hundreds of hours of use .
 
Are the blade teeth riding on the guide(s), possibly locking up the blade?
Cutting on an angle can also mean one side of the blade may be wearing unevenly. Feel each side of a blade that cut like that.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if it's the steel quality of the blades
 
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