I needed a 105" 3/16" 4TPI bandsaw blade ASAP, and bought a Sterling
by Diamond Saw blade from Highland Hardware. Mounted it up, adjusted
tension, tracking, and guides and cut up a fresh UHDMP insert.
Powered up the saw, confirmed alignment and proceeded to gently cut
through an old 2" scrap. BAM - the blade broke 2" into the cut.
Hmmm....

Inspection of the blade confirmed that the butt weld had broken.
Annoyed about losing an hour, I drove back and they cheerfully
replaced the blade, and I bought an extra - just in case. Remounted
the new blade, adjusted it up again, let it run for a few minutes, and
gently cut up some scrap to condition the blade. Proceeded to cut a
scrolling pattern in 4.5" thick material, and managed to complete the
task. Went to cut a small wooden shim from a 2" piece of scrap and
BAM! - The blade broke again - at the weld.

Now maybe I'm a moron, but I *think* I know how to set up a blade in a
bandsaw properly and even have fancy measuring instruments that no one
else uses for those 'difficult' situations. I have new urethane tires
which, incidentally, are *much* better than the OEM units.

Closely examining the welds at the store revealed that they look
poorly done. Like some guy in his garage had welded these things up
and used a die grinder to cut off the slag. Some of them even had
cracks beginning to appear in the weld while hanging on the shelf.

According to the MFG's site, they package their sized blades in a
protective covering - these blades are simply coiled with a tag, and
held with a wire tie. Could it be that a local welder is buying bulk
rolls of blade material and welding them, and placing a Diamond Tag on
them?

Why are scarf joints not used on blades? Why are they but welded with
poor quality welds? Are Carbon Steel blades really this bad?

How much better are the Suffolk blades?
Do the welds break this easily?

I *really* had not invisioned adding $15 for a new blade to the cost
of every project...

Thanks,

Greg G.

go up the chain of command at highland hardware a few notches. explain
the problem and the amount of time and aggravation it has cost you.
I'd bet they will thank you for bringing it to their attention and
make it right.
Bridger






On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 09:09:42 -0500, Greg G. wrote:


I needed a 105" 3/16" 4TPI bandsaw blade ASAP, and bought a Sterling
by Diamond Saw blade from Highland Hardware. Mounted it up, adjusted
tension, tracking, and guides and cut up a fresh UHDMP insert.
Powered up the saw, confirmed alignment and proceeded to gently cut
through an old 2" scrap. BAM - the blade broke 2" into the cut.
Hmmm....

Inspection of the blade confirmed that the butt weld had broken.
Annoyed about losing an hour, I drove back and they cheerfully
replaced the blade, and I bought an extra - just in case. Remounted
the new blade, adjusted it up again, let it run for a few minutes, and
gently cut up some scrap to condition the blade. Proceeded to cut a
scrolling pattern in 4.5" thick material, and managed to complete the
task. Went to cut a small wooden shim from a 2" piece of scrap and
BAM! - The blade broke again - at the weld.

Now maybe I'm a moron, but I *think* I know how to set up a blade in a
bandsaw properly and even have fancy measuring instruments that no one
else uses for those 'difficult' situations. I have new urethane tires
which, incidentally, are *much* better than the OEM units.

Closely examining the welds at the store revealed that they look
poorly done. Like some guy in his garage had welded these things up
and used a die grinder to cut off the slag. Some of them even had
cracks beginning to appear in the weld while hanging on the shelf.

According to the MFG's site, they package their sized blades in a
protective covering - these blades are simply coiled with a tag, and
held with a wire tie. Could it be that a local welder is buying bulk
rolls of blade material and welding them, and placing a Diamond Tag on
them?

Why are scarf joints not used on blades? Why are they but welded with
poor quality welds? Are Carbon Steel blades really this bad?

How much better are the Suffolk blades?
Do the welds break this easily?

I *really* had not invisioned adding $15 for a new blade to the cost
of every project...

Thanks,

Greg G.

Bridger said:

go up the chain of command at highland hardware a few notches. explain
the problem and the amount of time and aggravation it has cost you.
I'd bet they will thank you for bringing it to their attention and
make it right.
Bridger

Actually, I talked to the owner while I was there the first time. For
those who are unaware, H.H is located in Atlanta in an old wooden
framed building, probably built in the 30s. Rooms lead off into other
rooms as the building was added to over the years. The upstairs area
has an open are that overlooks the lower floor - quite a quaint place.
It is in the 'artsy' part of old Highland Park - and a real PITA to
get in and out of when the strip is busy. People park illegally in
their lot, due to the scarcity of parking in that area, and sometimes
you can't find a space - but the store will have 3 customers inside.

Anyway, while I was attempting to talk to the owner, a customer butted
in repeatedly, advising me to go to KeenEdge to buy my blades and
other trivia. Personally, I would have tossed him out. g But the
end result was that I was unable to communicate the problem - this was
after the FIRST blade - I thought I got a bum blade, and didn't know
it was going to become a repeat problem. I'm sure I will communicate
further with them in the future to resolve this problem.

But I'm not sure that the carbon steel blades are worth the effort,
after reading up on Suffolk's blades. Still waiting on more input
from the peanut gallery...


Greg G.

I have used Suffolk blades (TimberWolf) since setting up my saw 2 years
ago. Never had one break anywhere. I did kink one while stupidly trying
to cut a round limb that turned.

Greg, G. wrote:

I needed a 105" 3/16" 4TPI bandsaw blade ASAP, and bought a Sterling
by Diamond Saw blade from Highland Hardware. Mounted it up, adjusted
tension, tracking, and guides and cut up a fresh UHDMP insert.
Powered up the saw, confirmed alignment and proceeded to gently cut
through an old 2" scrap. BAM - the blade broke 2" into the cut.
Hmmm....

Inspection of the blade confirmed that the butt weld had broken.
Annoyed about losing an hour, I drove back and they cheerfully
replaced the blade, and I bought an extra - just in case. Remounted
the new blade, adjusted it up again, let it run for a few minutes, and
gently cut up some scrap to condition the blade. Proceeded to cut a
scrolling pattern in 4.5" thick material, and managed to complete the
task. Went to cut a small wooden shim from a 2" piece of scrap and
BAM! - The blade broke again - at the weld.

Now maybe I'm a moron, but I *think* I know how to set up a blade in a
bandsaw properly and even have fancy measuring instruments that no one
else uses for those 'difficult' situations. I have new urethane tires
which, incidentally, are *much* better than the OEM units.

Closely examining the welds at the store revealed that they look
poorly done. Like some guy in his garage had welded these things up
and used a die grinder to cut off the slag. Some of them even had
cracks beginning to appear in the weld while hanging on the shelf.

According to the MFG's site, they package their sized blades in a
protective covering - these blades are simply coiled with a tag, and
held with a wire tie. Could it be that a local welder is buying bulk
rolls of blade material and welding them, and placing a Diamond Tag on
them?

Why are scarf joints not used on blades? Why are they but welded with
poor quality welds? Are Carbon Steel blades really this bad?

How much better are the Suffolk blades?
Do the welds break this easily?

I *really* had not invisioned adding $15 for a new blade to the cost
of every project...

Thanks,

Greg G.

--

Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA
............................................
Man is born unto trouble, as the
sparks fly upward.


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
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You can silver solder bandsaw blades yourself. See
http://tinyurl.com/34lnd.

--
--
Steve

Greg, G. wrote:

How much better are the Suffolk blades?
Do the welds break this easily?

The Suffolk Timberwolf blades are guaranteed NOT to break at the weld.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

Steve Dunbar said:

You can silver solder bandsaw blades yourself. See
http://tinyurl.com/34lnd.


Thanks, I'll have to try that - if there is one thing I don't have a
shortage of, it's soldering equipment and torches. It couldn't be any
worse than the existing welds. I am surprised that even silver solder
would hold up...

But I may still order a few Suffolk blades and try them out.


Greg G.

Nova said:

Greg, G. wrote:

How much better are the Suffolk blades?
Do the welds break this easily?

The Suffolk Timberwolf blades are guaranteed NOT to break at the weld.

Thanks, that sound like the ticket. I am surprised at having this
trouble, H.H. is generally good about selling quality products.


Greg G.

You just got hold of some bad blades / welding thing.
Maybe check the tension of the bandsaw. I tension mine by sound, i.e.:
plucking the blade with the guides not set to the blade Furthest away from
the guides to my left.
|---| ................The blade should have a high pitched ring tone. Sing
,....like tone. Jack up the tension a little ,run the blade for a few mins.
then jack up more tension.

Greg G. wrote in message
...

I needed a 105" 3/16" 4TPI bandsaw blade ASAP, and bought a Sterling
by Diamond Saw blade from Highland Hardware. Mounted it up, adjusted
tension, tracking, and guides and cut up a fresh UHDMP insert.
Powered up the saw, confirmed alignment and proceeded to gently cut
through an old 2" scrap. BAM - the blade broke 2" into the cut.
Hmmm....

Inspection of the blade confirmed that the butt weld had broken.
Annoyed about losing an hour, I drove back and they cheerfully
replaced the blade, and I bought an extra - just in case. Remounted
the new blade, adjusted it up again, let it run for a few minutes, and
gently cut up some scrap to condition the blade. Proceeded to cut a
scrolling pattern in 4.5" thick material, and managed to complete the
task. Went to cut a small wooden shim from a 2" piece of scrap and
BAM! - The blade broke again - at the weld.

Now maybe I'm a moron, but I *think* I know how to set up a blade in a
bandsaw properly and even have fancy measuring instruments that no one
else uses for those 'difficult' situations. I have new urethane tires
which, incidentally, are *much* better than the OEM units.

Closely examining the welds at the store revealed that they look
poorly done. Like some guy in his garage had welded these things up
and used a die grinder to cut off the slag. Some of them even had
cracks beginning to appear in the weld while hanging on the shelf.

According to the MFG's site, they package their sized blades in a
protective covering - these blades are simply coiled with a tag, and
held with a wire tie. Could it be that a local welder is buying bulk
rolls of blade material and welding them, and placing a Diamond Tag on
them?

Why are scarf joints not used on blades? Why are they but welded with
poor quality welds? Are Carbon Steel blades really this bad?

How much better are the Suffolk blades?
Do the welds break this easily?

I *really* had not invisioned adding $15 for a new blade to the cost
of every project...

Thanks,

Greg G.

It doesn't sound to me like your problem has anything to do with the
fact that the blades are carbon vs. silicon steel. They are just
poorly welded. I got some no-name carbon steel blades locally that
were welded on-site. The weld looked terrible and wasn't very well
aligned. Even those welds held up just fine.

After trying Timberwolf, I've had better luck with Lenox blades. They
are much less expensive than Timberwolf and seem to stay sharp just as
long. I think this "thin kerf, low tension silicon steel" label is
just marketing. The kerf doesn't seem any smaller than any other
blade I've used. The tension seems to be about the same as any other
blade. I have no idea why they think silicon helps. There's not some
kind of magic steel that the Swedes discovered that makes Timberwolf
blades a lot better than everybody else. What Timberwolf has done is
made ordering blades easy. They also provide a lot of information on
the web about using those blades.

Here's a price comparison for Timberwolf (from suffolkmachinery.com)
versus Lenox (from carbide.com):
Timberwolf 105" 1/2" 3tpi - $17.42
Lenox 105" 1/2" 3tpi - $10.72
It's amazing how much hype costs. A Timberwolf blade will definitely
not last 63% longer than a Lenox blade. In fact, in my experience,
the Timberwolf blades dull pretty quickly. In terms of the quality of
the cut, they seem to be the same.

You can get Lenox blades from carbide.com or Iturra Design. Be warned
that the carbide.com site is a little buggy, but I got my shipment
very quickly.

Mark

Disclaimer: I'm not associated with any of these companies, but I am
tired of everybody describing Timberwolf blades as a huge gift to
Humanity.



Greg G. wrote in message . ..
Bridger said:

go up the chain of command at highland hardware a few notches. explain
the problem and the amount of time and aggravation it has cost you.
I'd bet they will thank you for bringing it to their attention and
make it right.
Bridger

Actually, I talked to the owner while I was there the first time. For
those who are unaware, H.H is located in Atlanta in an old wooden
framed building, probably built in the 30s. Rooms lead off into other
rooms as the building was added to over the years. The upstairs area
has an open are that overlooks the lower floor - quite a quaint place.
It is in the 'artsy' part of old Highland Park - and a real PITA to
get in and out of when the strip is busy. People park illegally in
their lot, due to the scarcity of parking in that area, and sometimes
you can't find a space - but the store will have 3 customers inside.

Anyway, while I was attempting to talk to the owner, a customer butted
in repeatedly, advising me to go to KeenEdge to buy my blades and
other trivia. Personally, I would have tossed him out. g But the
end result was that I was unable to communicate the problem - this was
after the FIRST blade - I thought I got a bum blade, and didn't know
it was going to become a repeat problem. I'm sure I will communicate
further with them in the future to resolve this problem.

But I'm not sure that the carbon steel blades are worth the effort,
after reading up on Suffolk's blades. Still waiting on more input
from the peanut gallery...


Greg G.

Mark Wells said:

It doesn't sound to me like your problem has anything to do with the
fact that the blades are carbon vs. silicon steel. They are just
poorly welded. I got some no-name carbon steel blades locally that
were welded on-site. The weld looked terrible and wasn't very well
aligned. Even those welds held up just fine.

That's what I thought as well - poor welds. I can't say anything
about the blade's actual lifespan, 'cause they break too easily!

After trying Timberwolf, I've had better luck with Lenox blades. They
are much less expensive than Timberwolf and seem to stay sharp just as
long. I think this "thin kerf, low tension silicon steel" label is
just marketing. The kerf doesn't seem any smaller than any other
blade I've used. The tension seems to be about the same as any other
blade. I have no idea why they think silicon helps. There's not some
kind of magic steel that the Swedes discovered that makes Timberwolf
blades a lot better than everybody else. What Timberwolf has done is
made ordering blades easy. They also provide a lot of information on
the web about using those blades.

Suffolk's web site IS informative, but I agree that much of what a
manufacturer presents in oftentimes marketing B.S.
Never having used one, voicing this option was based upon the many
recommendations here in the Wreck.

Here's a price comparison for Timberwolf (from suffolkmachinery.com)
versus Lenox (from carbide.com):
Timberwolf 105" 1/2" 3tpi - $17.42
Lenox 105" 1/2" 3tpi - $10.72

Attractive Prices!

It's amazing how much hype costs. A Timberwolf blade will definitely
not last 63% longer than a Lenox blade. In fact, in my experience,
the Timberwolf blades dull pretty quickly. In terms of the quality of
the cut, they seem to be the same.

Well, another option thrown into the ring. Maybe I'll order some of
each type and draw my own conclusions.

Thanks for the info!


Greg G.

FOW said:

You just got hold of some bad blades / welding thing.
Maybe check the tension of the bandsaw. I tension mine by sound, i.e.:
plucking the blade with the guides not set to the blade Furthest away from
the guides to my left.
|---| ................The blade should have a high pitched ring tone. Sing
,....like tone. Jack up the tension a little ,run the blade for a few mins.
then jack up more tension.

I've not had any problem with other blades, just these.
I, too, pluck the blade and watch blade flutter to tension blades with
guide released. And I check before each 'run'.
I think it's just a case of extremely crappy blades.
Thanks, D


Greg G.

At the risk of splitting hairs my guess is that the problem might not
actually be with the weld but with the annealing of the joint after the
welding process. Pesonally I've welded Lenox blades on factory equipment and
I can tell you that on a 3/16" blade the weld is like glass until it is
annealed. If the guy doing the welding doesn't have the anneal settings
dialed in right the first time then he is just as likely to screw 'em up the
second time.

Right after the blade is butt welded there is quite a bit of flash that must
be ground off the weld. The physical appearance of the finished weld tells
you something about the operator skill and/or equipment used. As long as the
ground area isn't more than a coupla' thou thinner than the blade it should
be okay but a poorly finished weld might be a hint that guy doing the
welding isn't up to snuff.

Bottom line is even a perfect looking weld that isn't annealed can snap if
you just look at it the wrong way. If you want to do a little post mortem
investigating you can compare the hardness of the weld area to the rest of
the blade by testing with a file.

Steve P.

Greg G. wrote in message
...
FOW said:

You just got hold of some bad blades / welding thing.
Maybe check the tension of the bandsaw. I tension mine by sound, i.e.:
plucking the blade with the guides not set to the blade Furthest away
from
the guides to my left.
|---| ................The blade should have a high pitched ring tone.
Sing
,....like tone. Jack up the tension a little ,run the blade for a few
mins.
then jack up more tension.

I've not had any problem with other blades, just these.
I, too, pluck the blade and watch blade flutter to tension blades with
guide released. And I check before each 'run'.
I think it's just a case of extremely crappy blades.
Thanks, D


Greg G.