Gettin' a blade out the box

Rockn H · October 12, 2005, 07:40:54 PM

I know there's intstructions in the box and all, but something got me to thinking today that maybe someone here has some extra tips they use on the flat box's of blades from WM.

FiremanEd · October 12, 2005, 07:47:30 PM

Wear gloves.

WEAR THICK GLOVES!!!!

I'm sometimes hardheaded,,,, I've been known to get in rush and not get gloves,,, I've also been known to have scares on my hands....

I work from what would be the top if it were a heart, take one blade out at a time and let it "unfold" back against my belt/belly while I hold the blade just below where the c-clampy thing is as it unfolds. Technical enough???

Oh yea,, don't try to unfold all 10 at once..... see reasoning above...

Eddie

Rockn H · October 12, 2005, 07:57:19 PM

I usually stand at what would be the bottom and pull one at a time out. Then I ease it till it's almost untensioned and at arms length then let it go. What gives me problems is the tie at the bottom of the heart. When I cut it today it had more tension and got me good. ;)

ksu_chainsaw · October 12, 2005, 08:22:18 PM

Knowledge Base

https://forestryforum.com/tips/tips.cgi?display:1057932493-5140.txt

Jeff · October 12, 2005, 08:25:47 PM

I got cuts all over my hands right now because of then Ding DanG blades. Oh, it aint the blades that cut me, its were I keep nicking my hands on the sharp cuts I made in the sawmill back stops. :D

Dan_Shade · October 12, 2005, 08:37:22 PM

I'd like to see Tom open a band, my feeble mind just don't get all that

Tom · October 12, 2005, 08:39:25 PM

There ya go! Want to see it again? :D :D

Percy · October 12, 2005, 08:51:42 PM

If you dont mind havin to resharpen them right outta the box, just get up on the roof of your mill/house/whatever so when the opened box of blades hits the ground(after you threw em off), they dont kill you. Ya gotta be carefull with them blades or youll end up lookin like some one who peed off a bob cat :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

pigman · October 12, 2005, 09:37:34 PM

I took a blade out of the flat box today and now I have a big cut on the end of my nose. :( I think next time I will try Percy's method. Do they make gloves for the nose? :

Percy · October 12, 2005, 09:42:56 PM

Quote from: pigman on October 12, 2005, 09:37:34 PM
I took a blade out of the flat box today and now I have a big cut on the end of my nose. :( I think next time I will try Percy's method. Do they make gloves for the nose? :

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

bull · October 12, 2005, 10:03:12 PM

Buy them 15 at a time in the flat box!!! ;) Its the only way to get them.... if I i get coiled blades I break open a bale of hay then throw and run hope for the best. The lose hay usually prevents damage.... I will not order coiled blades !!

ohsoloco · October 12, 2005, 10:33:50 PM

Flat box ??? My blades (not WM) always come in a big honking square box. I've heard of un-coiling problems, but what's the deal ???

wiam · October 12, 2005, 10:53:20 PM

yeah what he said.(ohsoloco) I just uncoil htem SLOWLY.

Will

Rockn H · October 12, 2005, 11:34:11 PM

I love the coiled blades. I just finished taking the 15 blades I got today in the flat box and coiling them so I can carry them in the truck easier. When I say a flat box I mean the blades aren't coiled. They are laid out flat and each blade is placed inside the next. Sense they are all the same length each inside blade has a little more bow than the next so they will fit inside each other. Then the blades are tied in a heart shape with a metal D or hog ring that has about a 1/2 gap. The part I don't like is undoing the tie and today it had more snap and got me. ;) Remember, there are 15 stacked inside of one another, that's a good bit of stored energy.

When I cut the tie of course it tried to open and the hog ring let some of the blades go. Can't give a play for play as I was headin' for cover. ;D

Tom · October 12, 2005, 11:39:40 PM

I don't think I would like that flat method of shipping as much either.

Jason_WI · October 12, 2005, 11:51:24 PM

All my blades com back from WM re-sharp coiled in a square box. I usually throw them on top of da slab pile to uncoil them. Uncoiling them things by hand is asking for a fight with a wild cat.

Jason

Jeff · October 13, 2005, 12:04:30 AM

Quote from: pigman on October 12, 2005, 09:37:34 PM
I took a blade out of the flat box today and now I have a big cut on the end of my nose. :( I think next time I will try Percy's method. Do they make gloves for the nose? :

I gotta say, no matterwhat you do bob, yer apt to nick that thing.

Rockn H · October 13, 2005, 12:07:02 AM

FiremanEd and bull, I think y'all must have some inside tips that I'm missing. Once I get the tie cut I'm fine fishing out one at a time. It's cutting the tie that I need some better understanding of. Of course today when half of'em let go was new, and it did speed things up a bit. ;D Maybe I should let my wife open the next box and see how she does it. She seemed to know how today when I came in for bandaids. :

Brucer · October 13, 2005, 01:17:58 AM

Hmm .. never had a problem with things letting go when I cut the tie. Anyway, after trying several variations on the instructions in the box, I figured out the easy way.

Preliminaries:
1) Ignore the instructions in the box.
2) Wear heavy gloves.
3) Make sure the gap in the metal clip is up before you cut the tie.
4) Grip the whole bundle next to the tie with one hand so they can't spring apart when you cut the tie.
5) Cut the tie. Release your grip slowly. If things start to get out of control, call for help ;D.

Removing blades:
1) Squeeze the inner blade together right at the metal clip and pull it up, free of the clip.
2) With your other hand, ease the blade up at the bottom of the "heart"
3) Squeeze the blade together right where the tie was and grip it tightly.
4) Release the blade where you were holding it in step 1.
5) Now yer holding a loop of blade with the two sides squeezed together with one hand. Use your other hand to separate the two sides and spread it apart into a loop.
6) Go visit Tom for instructions on how to coil the blade ;D.

Bibbyman · October 13, 2005, 03:26:18 AM

The first thing we did out side of the class room when we went through training at WM was to coil and uncoil blades. It was pretty scary with five other guys standing in a circle learning at the same time.

I've coiled and uncoiled blades for years with no injuries bad enough to need a band-aid – knock on wood. I have snagged my pants somewhere between my upper thigh and knee on more than one occasion.

When Mary started sawing by herself, she could not bring herself to uncoil blades. She'd take off the wire and step out into a grassy area and give them a pitch. She kind of enjoyed it. She couldn't coil them back up either until Greg Bear gave her some instructions. (She'd seen me do it for years and I tried to show her but for some reason, working with Greg, she figured it out.) Now she can coil and uncoil blades without a problem.

The .042 and .045 blades are easier to flip and uncoil. Now that we're using a lot more .055s and 1.50 wide blades, I have a hard time flipping them. I have to hook the edge against a log or something to get it broke over and then into a coil.

We like the flat boxes. I just take hold of the inside blade on right side where it's pinched together at the hog ring and lift that side out while holding in the other side with my left hand. Then I work the blade up and out all the way around in a counter clockwise direction until it pops free. No problem. I coil them back into place the same why. The only problem I have is getting the first one in place in the hog ring.

In Rockn H diagram, I stand on the upper side looking down.

bull · October 13, 2005, 07:50:24 AM

brucer and bibbyman have it. Just ease them out of the hog ring..... TThe tie is nothing just clip it w/ a pair of dikes. squeeze at hog ring ease right then left then open to a loop. to reload reverse action !!!!! sweet no cuts or scratches...

Rockn H · October 13, 2005, 10:38:59 AM

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Daren · October 13, 2005, 12:38:22 PM

I run a T.A. Schmid, it cuts backwards from most mills. It cuts toward you and you walk on the sawdust. I buy coiled blades, I have to uncoil and flip it inside out. The first time I changed a blade was so suprised by how it sprung open it distracted me, plus I had never done it before. Any way, I got the new one on, the guards back down... I got behind it and lined it up for a cut and the teeth were backwards >:(, for a second I started to get mad thinking I had bought the wrong blades. Then I figured out to flip it inside out.
Coiling them back up was mentioned, I searched and didn't find anything. There is a local guy (40 miles away) who I have been taking them to, he is quitting. I am going to have to started sending them out. I have tried to figure how to coil them, I'm not having much luck. I have about 30 I am going to take over before he quits.

Tom · October 13, 2005, 03:46:15 PM

Check out the knowledge base. There are instructions there. click on "Forum Extras" at the top right of the page and the knowledge base link will appear.

It's in the "milling-bandsaws" section.