Learning About Bandsaws6

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.

In the logging and sawmill industry, there are several different types of bandsaws commonly used. The first cut into the log is usually made with a headsaw. The headsaw has teeth that are two inches apart along the cutting edge of the blade. On the back side of the bandsaw blades there are teeth called sliver teeth. Sliver teeth are useful for moving slivers out of the way as the blade is backed out of the log and keeps it from getting hung up. The second blade used in the sawmill is the resaw. A resaw is used for making cuts along the length of the board and is most often utilized in cutting boards for veneers. Double cut blades have teeth on both edges of the saw 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.