The bandsaw blade twist

[kityuser]

nope not a dance, I`m talking about the black art of "folding" bandsaw blades to store them.

Some may know that quite a while ago I used to do uni summer work at a local wood yard helping to manufacture chestnut fencing.
Anyhow, every now-and-again the saw doc would pay a visit to sharpen the BIG blades for one of the HUGE forester bandsaws at the yard. (we are talking 4" blades here! on a machine running straight from a sub-station 3 phase spur).

anyhow, I remember the old timer "twisting" the bandsaw blades in such a way that they "folded or coiled up".
It looked quite scary with the 8' bands :shock: with the guy standing inside the band and sort of lifting and twisting in a mysterious way.

No body else could do it, I tried and nearly cut my thumb off :roll: even the owner who had been wood cutting since he was 10 couldn't do it.


anyone else got the knack?

I`d love to be able as I`ve got several dura-edge bands for my startrite 351S that I`d like to store in jiffy bags.

Ta

Steve

 

[Racers]

Hi,
Its on line have a look here

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ ... px?id=5206
or here
http://stusshed.wordpress.com/2007/07/0 ... e-folding/
like the safety gear and unguarded fan in the back ground.

I just hold it with both hands one thumb pointing up and one pointing down and twist in opposite directions.


Pete

 

[NeilO]

Kityuser,
I`ll try to explain this SIMPLE trick ok
have the bandsaw blade in front of you touching the floor, with the teeth facing AWAY fron you, put a foot on the blade trapping it lightly against the floor, now palm the blade, with your thumbs pointing away from your body, grasp the blade centrally along both sides and fold together, the coil will start to fall backwards so watch your face till you get used to doing this, now left over right (right over left if easier Doesnt matter ) it should now want to coil of its own volition , just let it do its bit and viola! one folded (coiled) blade...

like it says , so much harder to explain than do....
edit : for bigger blades in length use a peice of wood (what else :lol: ) to elongate your foot by trapping the blade under wood and standing on that..
HTH
edit : you`ll know youve cracked it when you can do it without the need for the foot :lol:
maybe if I ever get along to a Bash , I should give a demo..

 

[Paul.J]

Hello Steve.
The way i was showed and still do it the same way today is to hold the blade in both hands between finger and thumb,with the teeth pointing away,and downwards from you,with the back of the blade in the palm of your hands,and holding the blade about a 1/3 of the way down.
Now twist the blade inwards,using your finger and thumb,but also bending your hands inwards at the same time.
This will start to bring the bottom of the blade towards you,as it does,fold the blade over onto the bottom.
You will see the coils starting to form,and as soon as the tension as gone just place the top coils onto the bottom coil.and release.
It does take some practicing and i should wear some strong gloves to start with.
Hope this is clear :?

 

[CHJ]

Here's another method:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/TipsTricks/CoilBlade/coilblade.html

Some very interesting stuff on this site.

 

[9fingers]

I don't care what you all say.
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

 

[NeilO]

Bob, next time i`m in Romsey I`ll show you how its done...

 

[Lee Brubaker]

Come, come 9fingers....it's not impossible cause even a dummy like me can do it & if you do any resawing you better learn how. In the latter case you can ruin a resaw blade by hanging it uncoiled over wall pegs.
I keep the cardboard backer that a new blade is mounted on. When I want to store that blade after removing it from the saw, I recoil it & reattach it to the cardboard backer & then hang it on the wall using the hole slotted in the the backer for this purpose.

Lee

 

[iajon69]

It is hard to explain how to coil a bandsaw, but easy to do and to show someone - if anyone is ever passing our workshop in South Wales then you are more than welcome to pop in for a cup of tea/coffee and I will only be too happy to show you how to coil a bandsaw and give a little tour of our workshop with the bandsaw welders and saw sharpening machines

Ian

 

[devonwoody]

Also~When releasing from a twist, I ensure I have goggles on and throw the wrapped blade away from me.

 

[Mcluma]

Also~When releasing from a twist, I ensure I have goggles on and throw the wrapped blade away from me.

this is the best advise so far :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[OPJ]

Once you've done it once, that's it, you'll never have to worry about how to do it again. :wink:

As for un-coiling a blade, with shorter blades, as you gradually release it, keep your hands holding the two parts of the blade where you can 'feel' the tension within the blade. As long as you have hold of these, the blade cannot suddenly spring open.

Always point the teeth AWAY from you. Always temporarily 'hold' the coil with a bit of masking tape or similar when it comes to storing them.

 

[Digit]

Also~When releasing from a twist, I ensure I have goggles on and throw the wrapped blade away from me.

Definitely!

Roy.

 

[9fingers]

WooHoo! Done it!!

Well I was not going to be outdone by a bloody bandsaw blade.

Last night my interweb connection had treacle in it and I could not use this link
http://stusshed.wordpress.com/2007/07/0 ... e-folding/

but tonight I saved the 7 minute video to my laptop and took it into the workshop, telling my wife I may be some time.
Stu's technique worked for me straight away. All 4 blades I own folded before the video had finished. 1/4" to 5/8" and no gloves - no blood!
I still can't get on with the 'trap it under your foot method' but so what. I like stu's method best.

Bob

 

[Digit]

Watch it when you unfold it as well. They can get real nasty on occasion, I hold one loop and throw them away from me.

Roy.

 

[9fingers]

Thanks for the warning Roy but Stu's video shows a controlled method to unfold them too.

I guess it depends on the size, mine are 114" so not too bad - only a 3 foot circle.

Bob

 

[Slim]

I will not try to unfold a 3/4 - 1" blade. There is far to much 'spring' in them. I take them outside and throw them on the lawn.

It is easy enough to unfold a 1/4-1/2" safely by hand.

 

[Digit]

I was taught how to do it with a 26 footer with teeth like talons! definitely concentrates the mind does that!

Roy.

 

[NeilO]

Roy, you sure that was a bandsaw blade and not a great white??? :lol: :lol:

 

[Digit]

They were bandsaw blades alright and changing them was like the best of three falls. Changing the table saw blades was fun as well!
'Good for your training son!'

Roy.