On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 12:17:28 GMT, "George" wrote:


"Prometheus" wrote in message
.. .
Thinking back on this made me recall one other thing about bandsaw
blades I never really considered in the wood shop. The Lennox
bi-metal blades were "self sharpening"- that isn't to say that they
stayed perpetually sharp, but rather that they required a much lighter
feed pressure and slower band speed when they were installed new for
the first 10 cubic inches (in steel) of the material cut. Ignoring
that break-in procedure reduced the life of the blade by almost %75.
I don't know if the same logic applies to wood bandsaws, but it may be
worth a little investigation. Hard to say how a guy might slow down
the band speed with a saw that has only one speed, but it's certainly
not difficult to reduce the feed rate for the first (100?) cubic
inches of hardwood cut, and it might help the blades last longer and
cut better.

Some even recommend such a procedure. Notably the ones I purchased from
Woodworkers' Supply when they had a deal on 'em. Never seen it elsewhere.

The only place I ever even thought about it was on industrial metal
bandsaws, but I don't imagine it would hurt anything to apply the same
practice to the woodworking blades. I'll have to remember that the
next time I swap blades out myself.