I got a new package of blades the other day from Woodmiser. They came in the same flat box as before. My question is this. What is the best way to keep and store band blades. I take care to clean and oil the blades to keep them from rusting. Is it better to store them in the flat box next to the other blades or roll them and stack them up on one another. Does it matter?
Andy
I can't see any reason to take them out of that box until you need them. I'm guessing they come with an anti-corrosion product on them when you get them.
I had a couple of plastic trash cans to store mine in. One for sharp blades one for dull blades.
Tom
I wish somebody could tell me how to "roll" a bandblade into a circle. It's about like trying to cram a four pound monkey (with sharp claws) into a one pound box.
Quote from: broker farmer on May 04, 2006, 12:43:40 PM
I wish somebody could tell me how to "roll" a bandblade into a circle. It's about like trying to cram a four pound monkey (with sharp claws) into a one pound box.
It reminds me of a song every time I fold one ;"Twist and Shout" 8)
Tony
Ask and ye shall receive.
Ye seek and ye shall find. 8) ;D
I heard that someplace.
Knowledge base article "coiling a bandblade" (https://forestryforum.com/tips/tips.cgi?display:1072831809-28681.txt)
Knowledge base article "opening a bandblade" (https://forestryforum.com/tips/tips.cgi?display:1057932493-5140.txt)
I find folding them much easier than unfolding.
hint, get belt (like holds your pants up) and practice with it, much safer! :)
grasp the band with your hands at 11 o'clock, and 1 o'clock with your thumbs pointing up on the back of the band, I put the teeth between my fingers.
rotate your wrists so your thumbs are pointing forward and your palms are point up at the same time.
the top of the band will go down, the bottom will come up, and then it will "pop" and you'll get three "loops".
I'll record a video later, maybe Jeff will host it for us :)
many thanks to JeffB!
it's a little ugly, but I'm not a ballet dancer!
1.5 Meg video of folding a bandsaw blade (https://forestryforum.com/media/folding_saw.mpg)
grrrrr I cant get the file to open.. is anyone else having problems with it or is my computer challenged?
I can't get it to open either. I've noticed that on several of these "movie" files. Some work and some don't.
Come over to the house and I'll have you opening and closing blades in no time at all. :D
Thanks to everyone for posting. Seems like folding a band blade is kind of like folding my tent. VaSawer folds his band blades up. I'm sure I can get a tutorial from him if I need it. More to follow.
Andy
nice video, it worked for me. I don't fold like that at all. Hold the blade out in front of me and kinda give it a downward shake while pushing in with my thumbs.
Hey Dan Shade,
Are the teeth pointing toward or away from you in the video? And do you have your foot holding the bottom of the blade down when you start? By the way, what kind of wood is that on the picket fence in the background?
the teeth point away from me, I start with my foot on the bottom of the band. i put my fingers in the gullets of the teeth. I really should wear gloves when I do it, but I hardly ever wear gloves, unless it involves hot stuff, or is really cold.
the fence was here when I moved in, it looks like pressure treated regular fencing.
Don't worry about how you store your blades. A little rust will be gone by the end of the 1st cut when you put it on the mill. Spend the couple minutes that it would take to oil a blade for storage sawing instead, that's what makes the $$$$$.
just $0.02 worth.
Eddie
I tried to play it on one PC and it just eat it up. Had to re-boot to get it going again. Tried it on the other and it played.
I've never seen it done that way.
I've used the flip method showed us when we were trained at WM. On the thicker blades, I hook one end agains a log or something and get it to "break" that way.
We store ours but FedEx - back to Wood-Mizer Re-Sharp.
I have to do a variation of the flip and Dan's method because of my inability to twist the one arm to finish the fold. I flip to start then use the ground to push it all together. I told Dan I could do the unfolding video, but it'll simply be me throwing a coiled blade into the grass. ;D
I had the pleasure of spending the morning with Tom, and got a hands on training on how to fold and unfold blades. It is much easier than it appears when you know how. It is GREAT to have such an expert and willing trainer so near to me :)
Quote from: Bibbyman on May 05, 2006, 07:30:48 PM
We store ours but FedEx - back to Wood-Mizer Re-Sharp.
That's the best storage I've found yet Biddy. It works albiet a little slow sometimes. I blame it on Fed-X, we've never had much success with them. I prefer the brown truck which brings the nice little blades back home from Re-Sharp.
Andy,
I'll be happy to spend a little time teaching you how to fold and unfold if you want. Just give me a call and we can work out a time. I still have those narrow blades if you want them.
For folding I start with the teeth pointing up and use the flip or snap method. The teeth end up pointing down when folded. I used to unfold my blades like Jeff does, but thanks to GMMills, I have learned the secret. When unfolding, start with the teeth pointing in the same direction they ended up in after folding, and then just drop the correct loop. In my case, I start with the teeth facing down. Finding the correct loop to drop is a little hard to describe with words. The easiest way I know is get someone to show you. Next best choice is to fold a blade and pay close attention to the last loop coming up at the end of the fold. That is the one you want to drop when unfolding. Note that after dropping the correct first loop, the other two loops simply cross each other without intertwining. Practice by folding and then unfolding without letting go of the blade. This teaches you where to hold your hands when unfolding and helps in reconizing the proper loop to drop.
I've gotten to where I will fold a blade with bare hands sometimes, but I almost always get gloves on for unfolding. Like Dan said earlier, we should ALWAYS wear gloves when handling blades.
VA-Sawyer
i'd be interested to see this "flip" method. I figured it out after looking at one of Tage Frid's books. he had a way of folding them with one hand at the top, that may work with smaller bandsaw blades than what we use.
I don't mean to butt in, but has anybody read the knowledge base or followed the link in post #5 of this thread?
I would like to know if that information is any good or just wasting space.
There are several ways to fold band blades. It unnerves me to hear of or see someone throw one. You might not get hurt and then, again, you might. You are certainly risking harming the blade. :)
I've read it, but the parts about rolling your wrists and all of that confuse me. I'm pretty simple minded at times :(
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-coiled-blade-1.jpg) Turn the coiled blade such that the teeth face you. Hold the coils with your right hand and drop a free coil with your left.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-wrong-coil-2.jpg) wrong loop has been pulled down. It locks.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-right-coil-3.jpg) Right loop has been pulled down. It is free.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-face-teeth-4.jpg) Turn teeth toward you. Grasp a leg of the "X" in each hand.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-openX-5.jpg) Open the band
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-blade-open-6.jpg)
Now to coil it back up.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-breaking-loop-7.jpg)This is the move that some sawyers orchestrate to "wow" their customers. Violent whipping of the blade isn't necessary though. A little bit of bouncing up and down with your hands might help to get the blade to "break" and begin it's coiling. Lift the hands and roll them together.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-closing-loop-8.jpg) By rolling your hands together, your thumbs will point to one another and you will be creating an "X" in the band.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-lifting-last-loop-9.jpg)Hold the "X" in one hand and lift the free coil with the other.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-coiled-blade-1.jpg) And there you are back at the beginning again. :)
Now! Wasn't that easy?
Nice! :)
So Tom you are saying that you just have to be smarter than the blade?
Will
Tom I am jealous about the hat. smiley_sombrero smiley_elf smiley_bandana smiley_indianchief
Are all your T-shirts red??? smiley_headscratch smiley_headscratch
Listen to Tom. He is very knowledgeable about a bunch of stuff. Now you skinny guys will probably have problems with blades. Tom and I are equipped with the midrift holder right above our belt. I knew it was good for something.
Yes, the hat is nice. I value it above all the rest of my baseball hat collection and actually wear this one.
That's a new T-Shirt. It's probably the reason that you noticed it, being all fresh and all. I've got two other T-shirts that aren't Red. I don't use them often. One is Green. Kind of a dark or Forest Green. One is a goldish yellow. Both are really nice T-shirts but I forget who I am when I have them on.
My other red T-shirt is in the closet now. I'll use it for a work shirt and this one will be my "Sunday-go-to-meeting" shirt until I get another sawjob. The shoes and trousers I borrowed to take the pictures in. I'll have to return them to my neighbor tomorrow. He needed some dress shoes to take his wife to town today and I loaned him my Buster Browns. I only use them for funerals any how. It's their thirty-fifth anniversary and he is taking her out to supper at the Burger King. I thought that was real sweet of him and offered to let him use my Gold T-shirt. But she had made him a new shirt out of an old bedspread and he said he would feel guilty wearing the store-bought one.
My wife has applied for another job on the other side of town. We figure, with her working two jobs, I might get another Red T-shirt soon, before this one fades too bad for church.
When I was down to Tom's we were considering going to church but didnt cause I didnt have any dress socks to wear and Tom said he couldnt help with loaner socks either cause he had plum run out of black spray paint.
I hear storin a blade for a swingmill is easier. ;)
Jim
Tom---good reply #28, "Buster Brown, Buster Brown, what will you give my if I let you down." You have this crew figured out!!
Yea, my peterson blades have never been folded, I just store them stood on edge with teeth protectors on the teeth. Tom can you give me a video or sequencial stills on that proceedure so i can master it. If you need to know, the blades are about 22" diam and are too heavy to easily flip. ;D
Maple Flats,
I think you and Jim will have to stick with the unfolded version of storage. Jim is probably right in assuming that those circular blades are easier to store. I would use one myself if I could figure out some way for it to fit on my band saw.
When I got my Peterson mill, one of the blades had a piece of clear tubing that was split lengthwise and placed over the teeth to protect them. Somehow I discarded that piece of tubing, but it is a great idea on storing the swingblades and also shipping them to keep them from tearing out of the cardboard box. I've got to remember to get some more of that tubing when I go to the hardware store.
Tom, I see just one thing missing in your photo sequence. Your 'spenders. :D
I keep'em in the truck, logwalker.
I don't wear them all of the time because the clips in the back come loose and dig into the truck seat. I dare not sit in the house and have them tear a hole in the wife's chairs. So I just save them for the times in the summer when the belt is too uncomfortable and not doing a good job either. Yep they are red. :)
that looks like one rusty blade there. :D
I've seen Tom in action, when others are out oiling their blades and wiping them down and fussing and fretting, Tom pulls one off the back of the truck, makes one cut to clean the rust, then commences to makin boards. I will be adopting that system.
Another thing I learned while visiting tom. Is that the secret to his full head of snow white hair that drives all the ladies crazy is really just spray glue and a georgia cotton plant. ;D
I never should have told Getoverit that, next time we see him he'll look like a q-tip. ;)
I'm really into red. I'm proud of my blades that obtain that "Patina". It also makes it a little easier to see in the photograph too, don't you think. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13048/white.jpg)
:D
ya just had to know he'd do it.
:D :D :D :D
Tom
Thanks again for all the replys.
Tom, Your the best. I got it down. Thanks for the pictures.
VaSawer, I'll call you.
As far as fussing over my blades and keeping them clean. I take the time after cutting to take are of all of my equipment, including the blades. It is not a waste of money in my eyes to spend my time, maybe 2 minutes on maintaining the blades anymore than I would skip an oil change on the truck. When I'm cutting and I change a blade, I put the old blade back in the box and keep going. Bottom line, good maintenance is never a waste of money.
Andy.
You're right Andy. Maintenance is not a waste of money.
The point Jeff makes and I subscribe to as well, is that one shouldn't become so compulsive that he is wasting his time.
Oiling used blades is fine. Especially if you are sending them to a "Resharp" program. Not oiling blades is OK too when you have jobs that cycle blades frequently and you sharpen your own bands. A little rust on a band has never hurt the production I get from it. The time spent keeping it bright and shiny would be a waste of time in my achieving my sawing goals. The old axiom "you can't judge a book by its cover" goes for trucks, blades, saws, as well as people. :)
Everybody has to select their own goals. It's folly to judge another's happiness by one's own needs or another's success by ones own goals.
That you have the coiling and uncoiling down has made me happy. :)
Thanks for your wise words Tom. I meant no offence to previous posters.
Andy
:D :D Look at that!!
Getoverit's got a Platinum Blonde Afro. :D :D :D
You look startled, Ken. Sometimes a fellow ages quicker than would guess. Kinda caught you by surprise, didn't it? ;D
Hey that pic reminds me of another friend who lives in that area....is it catching ???(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10677/dang%20fro.jpg)
I had a bout with it back around time we went to the sawlex deal....
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10677/buizz%20fro%20small.jpg)
I had forgotten about those :D
Dang is a good sport........he even offered me some green colars (or some such thing)while we were looking at his garden ....but I didnt want to take the mans shirt off his back. :)
Does a Green Collar mean somthing special ? Maybe you was being frocked as a Forester or something like that. ;) Of course, you was looking over his garden....maybe it is a step up from a green thumb. :)
VA-Sawyer
Heck Virginia.....
Green colars.....or collard greens....probably has something to do with those comfounded grits?
Quote from: Tom on May 06, 2006, 12:02:24 PM
I don't mean to butt in, but has anybody read the knowledge base or followed the link in post #5 of this thread?
I would like to know if that information is any good or just wasting space.
There are several ways to fold band blades. It unnerves me to hear of or see someone throw one. You might not get hurt and then, again, you might. You are certainly risking harming the blade. :)
This is where I learned how to coil the blades, I found it very informative and helpful.
Thankyou Sawman. smiley_clapping
Thanks Tom,
I have been able to coil them for a few years, but I've always struggled with uncoiling them until I read this thread :D If I keep learning stuff, pretty soon I'll be a know-it-all ;D
You're getting DanG close to it now, Br'er Noble. :D
I knew that :D :D :D I was just trying to be modest ::)
Many thanks, Tom. As it is raining yet again today, and it is getting closer to time for me to change my first bandmill blade, and since I had a couple new blades in the back of the truck, thought I would take a moment and see about the 'coiling of the blade' aspect I had read about here earlier.
Uncoiling was not a problem at all, since the blade wants to uncoil, and that worked immediately and without fanfare.
Coiling it back up, though, I had to come back and look at Tom's adept photo band coiling helper. Went back in the shop, sure enough, that was easy-breezy as well. Once it starts proper, it wants to coil back up.
Thanks again, Tom.