# Homemade Tools > Basic Homemade Tools and Tips >  Check those band saw blades!

## bobs409

Bought a new band saw blade today and tested it by cutting some 1018 3/4 solid round. It took about 3 minutes!!!  :Smash: 

Turns out that either when they coiled it up for packaging or perhaps the way I unwound it, the teeth were facing the wrong direction.  :Lol:  I removed it and with a pair of gloves was able to twist it inside out.

So if you ever had a band saw blade that didn't cut right from new, this might be why.

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Paul Jones (Jul 1, 2017),

Seedtick (Jul 3, 2017)

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## Frank S

I went to the industrial supply once to order a new blade the guy said if yuo have time to wait we'll get one made up for you.
I knew it normally took them around 10 minutes to cut from a roll and weld one up so I waited when the blade was laid on the counter the first thing I did was inspect the weld as previously they had a new guy who forgot to grind it properly but what I saw this time floored me the guy had apparently cut it too short then added an inch to it I wasn't about to have a new blade with 2 welds in it only an inch apart but that wasn't bad enough the 1inch section was a different tooth pitch I always buy a 7/14 pitch but the section was a 3 /9 pitch

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## NortonDommi

It might pay to check the teeth as the peaks are proberly rolled over now. Sort of like running a mill cutter or your lathe in reverse due to brain fade, I think Forrest Gump summed it up aye.

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## metric_taper

When you uncoil your blade, you can end up with the teeth flipped.

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## ncollar

> When you uncoil your blade, you can end up with the teeth flipped.



NO, the teeth always go the same direction! That said if put on right will cut fine. OR VISE A VERSA

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## metric_taper

> NO, the teeth always go the same direction! That said if put on right will cut fine. OR VISE A VERSA



You missed the point of my post, you can take a welded blade, that has been "folded" into 3 coils, when uncoiling these, you can end up with the blade reversed so that the teeth are backwards when installed in the bandsaw.

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## mklotz

> NO, the teeth always go the same direction! That said if put on right will cut fine. OR VISE A VERSA



You have to take into account the fact that a blade can only be mounted on the saw in one orientation, i.e., with the teeth on the outer side of the drive wheel.

Try this gedankenexperiment...


Blade on (assumed vertical) bandsaw - teeth pointing down (will cut on downstroke)

Flip blade as shown on video, teeth still point down but I have to rotate blade 180 degrees about vertical axis to remount on bandsaw (toothed side of blade must be on outside of drive wheel). 

Teeth now point up and will not cut.


Draw some teeth on a strip of paper and try it using a coin or bottle cap to simulate the bandsaw drive wheel.

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## NortonDommi

I've had that uncoiling the wrong way several times so always check, same as I always look at hacksaw blade orientation if I use someone else's. I always look at a drill bit cutting end as well as I have seen right hand bits sharpened left hand even from new. Keeps life interesting.

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## bobs409

I've only had my band saw for a short time and never realized you could flip a blade so it never occurred to me to check. I will be from now on! Luckily, the blade was not damaged and I've been cutting a lot of steel with it since.

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## NortonDommi

With a new blade keep an eye on the tension for a while as it will relax and blades need to be tight to work properly and try and get supports as close to the work as possible. One thing to watch for on some of the 7" x 12",(or 177.8 x 304.8mm if you like metrickery),is that the blade support at the drive end can be adjusted out enough to foul the bed preventing the cut from finishing, I've been caught a few times.

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## mudnducs

> You have to take into account the fact that a blade can only be mounted on the saw in one orientation, i.e., with the teeth on the outer side of the drive wheel.
> 
> Try this gedankenexperiment...
> 
> 
> Blade on (assumed vertical) bandsaw - teeth pointing down (will cut on downstroke)
> 
> Flip blade as shown on video, teeth still point down but I have to rotate blade 180 degrees about vertical axis to remount on bandsaw (toothed side of blade must be on outside of drive wheel). 
> 
> ...




I'm lost. If the teeth are pointing 'out'...you just orient the blade so the teeth are pointing down when you install it...?

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## NortonDommi

Try this with the piece of paper strip:
Cut strip off long side of piece of A4 paper about 3/4",(19.05mm), wide.
Glue ends together with paper glue.
Draw teeth on outside with an arrow above denoting direction of cut and which edge faces 'down' towards material to be cut.
Flip loop of paper inside-out as per video and place with drawn teeth in 'down' position.
Drawn teeth and arrow will now be on the [I]inside[B][B] of paper loop and facing in opposite direction to what was originally drawn.

I've been caught out enough times by assuming something that I make a conscious effort to double or triple check all set ups before applying power of any kind including human.
Assumption is the mother of all stuff-ups and presumption is the father.

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Paul Jones (Aug 10, 2017)

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## gunsgt1863

A place I used to work at had a BIG old Grob band saw with a built in blade welder so we would make our own blades. So the FNG that "knew" how to do it made a blade with the welded ends opposite each other (teeth on one side on one side of the weld, teeth on the back side on the other side of the weld so the blade ended up a Mobius strip!). So I said (after the WTF moment) "we can cut the weld and re-weld it" since there was about 2-3 inches of adjustment. So I cut the weld, clean the ends and sure enough, he cut it 6 inches short. BTW, he was fired 4 months later.

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## Frank S

> A place I used to work at had a BIG old Grob band saw with a built in blade welder so we would make our own blades. So the FNG that "knew" how to do it made a blade with the welded ends opposite each other (teeth on one side on one side of the weld, teeth on the back side on the other side of the weld so the blade ended up a Mobius strip!). So I said (after the WTF moment) "we can cut the weld and re-weld it" since there was about 2-3 inches of adjustment. So I cut the weld, clean the ends and sure enough, he cut it 6 inches short. BTW, he was fired 4 months later.



 Those guys usually don't last long, they can bring a well functioning shop to it's knees in a short while just having to go behind them and correct their mistakes.

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gunsgt1863 (Sep 3, 2017)

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