Broken Bandmill Blades

[gfadvm]

What do you all do with broken blades? ReSharp doesn't weld them so I didn't know whether to just discard them or???

I'm pretty new to all this so be kind!

[hunz]

In personally add them to the scrap pile to go to the "yard"

[highleadtimber16]

Throw them away!

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Don't throw them away. When you send 10 blades back to WM to be re-sharpened.......add the broken blade has one of the 10. WM will replace it and it will be on top when you open your box when you get your blades back

This way you only pay for blades as you need them.......throw them away and sooner or later you gotta come off the hip to pay for a whole new box of blades.

This is what Woodmizer does. I don't know about anyone else.

[Chuck White]

If you have an accumulation of scrap metals at your place, add the broken blades to the pile!

Otherwise just roll them up and wire them for safety and put them out for your curbside trash/recyclables pickup!

Don't throw them away. When you send 10 blades back to WM to be re-sharpened…….add the broken blade has one of the 10. WM will replace it and it will be on top when you open your box when you get your blades back

This way you only pay for blades as you need them…….throw them away and sooner or later you gotta come off the hip to pay for a whole new box of blades.

This is what Woodmizer does. I don't know about anyone else.

NOTE: Wood-Mizer will not simply "replace" the broken blade, you will pay for the new blade.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

NOTE: Wood-Mizer will not simply "replace" the broken blade, you will pay for the new blade.

You're right Chuck. Thats why I said you only pay for them as you need them.
Paying for a new blade as it replaces a broken blade, is better than buying a whole box.....plus you can keep a better account of how many blades you have on hand. 

[thecfarm]

Mine go into the metal dumpster at the dump.

[Chuck White]

Mine go into the metal dumpster at the dump.

Mine always went the same route until a nephew of mine started gathering scrap metals to make a little extra spending money!

Now he get them!  ;)

[MSSawmill]

And if you know someone into blacksmithing and/or knife making, they'd love to get their hands on the broken blades...

[GAB]

I had a customer ask me for a bad blade which he had chopped into 3 tooth pieces with the unset tooth as the center tooth.  He then ground the two outer teeth off and shaped the center tooth to what he desired for doing inlay.  The man in my opinion does some very nice work.  Also, if I know that the Hannibal, NY personnel will be at a show in my area such as the VT Farm Show in Essex at the end of the month I will package the blades as if I would be shipping them and ask them to bring them back to Hannibal Resharp.  The blades are less apt to get lost.  I aslo send the broken ones back and if they broke in the weld I attach a note that it broke in the weld.  Sometimes they will prorate a new blade for those blades that broke in the weld.  Gerald

[Chuck White]

And if you know someone into blacksmithing and/or knife making, they'd love to get their hands on the broken blades...

There is a Forestry Forum member, username: Shag who is into blacksmithing and I sent him a bunch of broken and cut-to-length blades a year or so ago.  Not sure if he's still active!

[beenthere]

shag hasn't posted since Nov 2011, but was signed in Nov 2013.

Send him a PM and maybe he will post some of the pics of his work, which sounded quite interesting.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

There is a Forestry Forum member, username: Shag who is into blacksmithing and I sent him a bunch of broken and cut-to-length blades to him a year or so ago.  Not sure if he's still active!

Chuck....what does Shag make out of the blades? Knives? Thanks.

[beenthere]

Bout as much as we know.. in this thread...

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,35577.msg700848.html#msg700848

Sounded quite interesting tho...

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Thanks Bro. Been......I hope Shag made a go of it......maybe he'll update us.

[drobertson]

I break them into short 2' pieces or so and throw them into a bucket, then haul them with the recycling but don't break that many before they get retired.     david

[Chuck White]

There is a Forestry Forum member, username: Shag who is into blacksmithing and I sent him a bunch of broken and cut-to-length blades to him a year or so ago.  Not sure if he's still active!

Chuck....what does Shag make out of the blades? Knives? Thanks.

Shag and I PM'd quite a bit and he had told me that with metal like saw bands, he makes quite a few flowers!

[roghair]

I saw this picture somewhere on the forum and downloaded it a while ago. I never broke a blade (yet) but will make one of these when I do. Maybe someone remembers the thread.

[Magicman]

I use a similar piece of blade to remove the sawdust from behind the sawblade before backing out of a cut.

[Mountain Guardian]

I go to Hahn rental and have my blades re-welded, I don't now if all Hahn rentals do this but one might check.  When I wear out the blade on my upright metal band-saw I then take it in and they cut it down and re-weld it so that I can use it on my drop metal band-saw. 

There should be a number of places that could do the re-weld on them.

[Magicman]

Hopefully you are not paying much for this service because when a blade breaks there is normally stress cracks throughout the blade.  It will not be too long before it breaks somewhere else. 

[bandmiller2]

I stuff a length of broken band down woodchuck holes, figure if their licking their feet they'll leave my beans alone. Frank C.

[MIsawyer]

I know some guys make knifes out of them. Im not that talented

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Would make a heck of a back scratcher. 

[Mountain Guardian]

Hahn charged like $7 for the blade I took down to have them weld, it nothing real official though, some blades they don't charge me anything to reweld, other times it will be four bucks six bucks etc...  I have only had the one band mill blade done so far, I have no idea on stress fractures or anything, it is mixed in with all the other blades, I may not have even used it since I had it rewelded.

[gfadvm]

Thanks for all the replies (and they were all kind!)

I do some forgework so may try the knife idea.

The groundhog tip was my favorite. We don't have those but we do have armadillos!

[Larry]

Since you already forge, it would be an easy step to make damascus.  Make a stack 6 or 8 thick about 8" long.  Weld both ends and on one end weld a 2' long rebar on for a handle.  Start forgeing and bending.  32 layers is enough to get the feeling for the process.

[gfadvm]

Larry, I have done quite a bit of Damascus (in my former and younger life). You need to use 2 different steels to get a pattern to show when you etch it. The wildest piece I ever did was a Bowie knife forged from chainsaw chain and folded repeatedly. WAY too much work now!

[JB Griffin]

I have made damascus in the past and I used bandsaw blades and pallet band the wider ones about 1¼ wide which are high carbon steel and will harden up along with the blades, came out real nice.