wrote in message .. .

On 2020-12-13, John Doe wrote:

Seems my DeWalt portable bandsaw causes blades to break prematurely.

I read this whole thread and no one mentioned blade tension. I'm not
familiar with that bandsaw so don't know if tension is even adjustable,
but over tensioning will certainly cause blades to fail prematurely.


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Usually there is no indication of tension and all the user can do is follow
the manual's instructions. The tension counteracts the blade's tendency to
deflect back and twist sideways in the cut. It has to twist if forced to
bend back, once the tooth edge goes into compression it has no other choice.

The recommended tension for the sawmill blades I use is 22,000 PSI, which
amounts to 1000 Lbs per side, or 2000 Lbs pushing on the wheel axle, since
the gullet cross-sectional area is 1/22 inch. The motorcycle tires (and
presumably the alloy wheels) are rated for only about 1/3 of that so I
compromise at 1000 Lbs pressing on the axle carrier, measured with a
hydraulic force gauge.