Learning About Bandsaws16

Learning About Bandsaws

Bandsaws have many uses, including making cutouts of radial type curves, and odd shapes. They are used in many different types of shops such as metal shops and wood shops. The bandsaw has a thin, narrow blade that is flexible and is made in a continuous circle. It has teeth all along the edge of the blade. The bandsaw blades are slid over two wheels that act like pulleys and drive the blade.

Automated bandsaws are used in mass production environments. There are advantages to this automation. All feed rates, returns, falls, part clamping and part feeding is preset and automatic. In many manufacturing facilities it is neither possible nor cost effective to have an operator to run each saw. In the case of automation, one operator is capable of overseeing many saws at one time. Many automated saws use CNC or NC controls to perform precise, accurate and faster cuts.

Headsaws are most often used in logging and milling. They are bandsaws that are large enough to cut through large logs. The teeth on a headsaw are usually spaced about two inches apart on the cutting side of the blade. The back of the bandsaw blades are equipped with sliver teeth which serve to move the slivers out of the path of the blade as it backs out of the log. When cutting logs for boards and veneers, the cut is made along the grain with a resaw. Resaw blades are wider than normal bandsaw blades, usually about three inches. Another type of large bandsaw is the double cut saw which is equipped with teeth on both sides of the band's blade.

Most logging mills prefer large bandsaws for ripping boards because the bandsaw blades are thinner than those of circular blades and result in less waste from the cutting process. The blades on these saws can range in size from four inches to sixteen inches wide. The bandsaw blades are stretched very tight across the circumference of two wheels. The men responsible for maintaining the saws and blades in a sawmill are the saw doctors and the saw filers. The saw filer is responsible for determining and maintaining the shape and depth of the teeth, as well as the sharpness of the bandsaw blades.