What are new blades good for?

[Crossroads]

Finding metal, 🙈 took out 3 brand new turbo 7's today. Found some fence staples about 3" deep in a log. We cut the end with the staples off, then rolled it and sure enough, the second cut on that face hit a staple too. That log got ejected. Had high hopes that would be the end of the the metal for the day, but nope. One more log had a staple in it also and it got ejected after one strike. 

[Wlmedley]

That sounds like my luck.

[Dave Shepard]

At least tramp metal is someone else's fault. Wednesday I put a brand new blade on and five minutes later I let a 2x slip past the dragback and it pushed the band off. Made a real mess.

[Crossroads]

Ouch, I haven't done that one yet, but I'm sure I will 

[Dave Shepard]

I'd get it out of the way tomorrow. That way you won't have to worry about it sneaking up on you.

[Crossroads]

Lol, I'll pass. I'll wait until I can do it with a audience 😂

[DanMc]

 Better to hit junk in the log, than to take a bite out of the log dogs on the mill.  I think I'm up to 5 or 6 blades, and it's often right after putting on a fresh blade.  On the HM126, the dogs are on the opposite side of the track from the operating side so the log hides the dogs.   Sometimes I get going and forget to check, and, oh that's a very bad sound hitting metal.  

I have only hit steel in a log one time so far.   Hit a bullet once but that got sliced in half without any issue.  

[lumberjack1986]

Joe Maine's Silver Tip Turbo 7 don't cut metal worth a darn.  I had maybe 30m on the blade, first time hitting the mill, glad to get that out of the way.  🤦🏻






 


 

[terrifictimbersllc]

 Does that mess up the blade?

Don't you like it when a customer asks that?   :laugh:

[Walnut Beast]

Caveman made some knife blades and into some really nice knives that he gave for some awards. Maybe he could post another picture 

[OlJarhead]

wow those bands are smoked!  I've hit a lot of nails but never done that!!!

[lumberjack1986]

I was mowing along pretty good. 1.3 cuts away from turning a log into 35 pieces of 3x3" dunnage... slow is smooth, or something.

[Crossroads]

My clamp has a mark similar to that! I was holding an odd shaped, oversized maple when I made a blade that was safe for practicing folding and unfolding. 

Yes TT, that's a frustrating question after it is made clear before we start that metal strikes ruin blades. 

[Southside]

I am going to have to disagree here. Joes T7, Silvertip,  1.75" bands will put a very nice, deep, cut into the clamp when being driven by a 55 HP turbo diesel, or so I have been told. Cough, cough..... :D 

Probably the worst one I ever had was a brand new, out of the box, band that cut maybe 6" into a White Oak and hit something like 5 pieces of wire and a couple of staples.  I tried to dig the garbage out then was so disgusted grabbed the Husky 372XP log shortener and removed about 4' off that log.  Put on another brand new band - instantly hit metal again.  That log went into the burn pile after that.  

[lumberjack1986]

I haven't tried 1.75" blades.  The guy I bought the LT70 from ram 1.25" blades for reasons unknown.

That 1.5" got through the chrome layer of the clamp pretty good, did 1.75" make it to the cylinder's rod?😳😂

[Cedarman]

A blade like Lumberjack's takes all the stress out of deciding what to do with it.
It is those blades that you think you can save that  really cost you time and money.

[Crossroads]

I don't have my grinder yet, but at this point , if it hits metal, it goes in a special pile that will eventually get sold by the pound at a scrap yard. 

[OlJarhead]

Oh my!  That's horrible!  I work very hard to avoid the clamp cylinder after running the guard under the band guide wheel into it at WM back in '16 when the mill was new.  Tweaked the guard something fierce but we fixed it...Now I look constantly!  Also, when I'm walking beside the mill (since I'm a walker - as in no remote or stationary control) I reach down and feel the clamp to make sure it's a half inch below the last cut once the CANT is made and short enough to not flip sideways on me (ask me how I know that can happen)...too me a few hundred hours or more to work that out :P

I'm assuming you didn't have to replace the cyl?

I hit some big monster nails in a job in May up north...right in the center of an 18" pine...must have been there 50 years or more!  Sheesh...and I'd already wiped out a new band on the first face!  Grrr....it does always seem to be a NEW band when it happens too 

[Daburner87]

Better to hit junk in the log, than to take a bite out of the log dogs on the mill.  I think I'm up to 5 or 6 blades, and it's often right after putting on a fresh blade.  On the HM126, the dogs are on the opposite side of the track from the operating side so the log hides the dogs.   Sometimes I get going and forget to check, and, oh that's a very bad sound hitting metal.  

I have only hit steel in a log one time so far.   Hit a bullet once but that got sliced in half without any issue.  

Someone on here swapped the metal dogs for ones they made out of hickory I believe.  If you hit it it's not the end of the world, but you'll notice you're cutting something harder.   I plan to make a few some day and try them out. 

[Larry]

A bunch of amateurs sawing soft steel. :D

Get it really cranked up and hit a ceramic insulator full bore.  Second are an increment borer some forester broke off in a tree, and third is a log full of concrete with rebar that the homeowner put in a hollow spot in the tree.

By far the ceramic insulator's are the winners at taking out a band.

[moodnacreek]

Buy a good coin finder and check you logs before they get near the mill or any metal. I keep 2 , one in the log truck [picker] and one in the mill. I could not operate without them.

[caveman]

I installed a new blade last week to try to quickly knock out a few 4x4's a repeat customer ordered.  While sawing the first pecker pole, I nearly stalled the Yanmar and knocked the set out of the blade by 1/4".  I ended up cutting the blade out with an angle grinder and removing the log was tricky since I had six more logs between the mill and the tractor.



  A few knives that I made out of saw blades:  I've got a couple that I use when cooking large quantities of food.  They hold an edge well.



 

 

[chet]

This end of da UP of Michigan is an old Iron and Copper mining area. I think it was part of the culture back then to nail porcelain insulators to every tree, and if they missed one, attach lots of barbed wire. Your band would stand a better chance hittin' an imbedded  '56 Buick Roadmaster than that tiny insulator.   :D

[RAYAR]

...On the HM126, the dogs are on the opposite side of the track from the operating side so the log hides the dogs.

Turn your carriage around 180 degrees and they'll be on the operator side, then watch out for your back stops. ;)

[boonesyard]

A big lag bolt in an elm made short work of some interesting blade geometry. All the teeth are bent the same direction and are rolled over past 45 degrees. No stress in figuring out what to do with this one  

[Percy]

Sometimes when Im opening a box of brand new blades, Im tempted to just fold and bust a couple right off with a hammer/whatever. Could possibly save some time as it seems  the rocks/railroad spikes, horse shoes etc can smell new blades easily...

[GAB]

A big lag bolt in an elm made short work of some interesting blade geometry. All the teeth are bent the same direction and are rolled over past 45 degrees. No stress in figuring out what to do with this one  

Nice museum piece you have there.  
In my experience I find a newly remanufactured blade works just like a new one at finding trash.
GAB

[Crossroads]

Nice knives Caveman! I forge welded some blade material together right before I moved to Idaho and never did anything with it. There's a good chance that I'll have a place to set up my forge this winter and I'll try to finish it. All of the knives I've made at this point have been material removal with 1095. To bad I gave them all away and didn't keep one for myself. Now I get pictures with my knives with dead animals every fall. 

[caveman]

Thanks, I've got a coal forge that I eventually would like to learn to use to make things, especially knives.  So far, the knives I've made have been pretty basic - just remove everything that does not look like a knife blade and put a handle on it.  The knives pictured were made for my senior FFA officers the year all of our students were sent home in March 2020.  The seniors went home for spring break and missed a lot of their senior year' events (grad night, prom, awards ceremonies and banquets) when school did not resume for us in person until August. 

[YellowHammer]

@caveman 
So you just ground them to shape and they worked?  What about hardening?  Do you heat treat and quench, air quench, or use them as is?  They look great.  What thickness were the bands originally, or did you find one thickness works better than another?  As many times as I'ver been cut by a band, I keep telling Martha I ought to make a knife out of them!  I know they will cut, they've bled me more than once or twice.      

[Stephen1]

@caveman
So you just ground them to shape and they worked?  What about hardening?  Do you heat treat and quench, air quench, or use them as is?  They look great.  What thickness were the bands originally, or did you find one thickness works better than another?  As many times as I'ver been cut by a band, I keep telling Martha I ought to make a knife out of them!  I know they will cut, they've bled me more than once or twice.      

Yes please tell us the recipe for making a knife. Your right YH , this is the 1st year I have been wearing shorts sawing. My shins are a mess from flipping blades open and closed,  I like the shorts but i'm tempted to go back to long pants. But then I end up with all sorts of holes in my pants. lol

[Magicman]

My shins are a mess from flipping blades open and closed

 
I have no idea how it made this pattern??  :  ???

[beenthere]

Again?  Not too long ago saw one similar. 

[Crossroads]

I
Here are a few examples of the knives that I've made. They were all material removal with 1095 except the one balanced on the deer horn, it was a file. They were all quenched in oil then 2 cycles of heat treat for 2 hours at 500° if I remember correctly. 

[caveman]

Those knives are far superior to any I've made. 

 Robert, generally, I've just grinded anything that did not look like a knife blade away.  I keep a can or a bucket of water close to the grinder when rough grinding to quench the blade.  As I get close to a knife shape, I take a little more time to keep the blade from getting too hot.  After it is roughly shaped, I start grinding an edge using a coarse, 60 or so grit belt.  The ones I've previously made were out of .045 and .050 blades but the .055 should be even better unless you are shooting for a fillet knife.  

[Crossroads]

Thank you, I hope to get back into it soon. Unfortunately I won't be able to take one of my own custom knives to Alaska with me moose hunting in September.  My partner will have the one I made for him though.