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Developments in band saw blades.

Article Excerpt
Delivering cut-to-length components is becoming air increasingly important part of steel service centers' business. Manufacturers that supply the saws, blades, fluids and handling systems used to make the cuts are seeing a corresponding shift in demand for their products. Orders for production power saws with CNC controls by service centers are on the rise.

With CNC controlled band saws, operators can store multiple jobs with such data as indexing, feed rate, band speed, cuts required, material type, shape and size. The controls can he programmed to maintain performance data such as cut time and blade use as measured by the number of square inches per cut. With CNC band saws, operators can enter the job number and then go on to other work as the saw cuts the material unattended; or a single operator can be assigned to manage a number of saws.

The increase in specialty sawing along with the expanded use of CNC production power saws is also causing a shift in the demands placed on saw blades. Even through a blade on a modern band saw can be changed in minutes, the cost of the blade and the time involved in making the change can add up. Any lengthening of chip making time between blade changes lowers the cost per cut. To make unattended sawing more productive, blades are needed that deliver precision cuts faster and last longer.

The performance of a band saw blade is affected by three factors--the material used to make the blade, the method of manufacturing and the design of the tooth. The need for better performing blades that meet today's requirements is being met by changes in all three factors.

Blade material

Blades made entirely of high speed steel (HSS is a steel alloy with cobalt, tungsten and other elements) were introduced in the mid-1950s. At the...