February 2025 Volume 7

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

the tooth pitch for the blade, variable-pitch blades can greatly reduce harmonic vibra tions. By varying the tooth spacing, sawing rhythms are interrupted, chip evacuation is improved and vibration is reduced, resulting in less noise and a better overall cut. For blade width and thickness , all production type saws or any saw that is capable of running carbide-tipped blades will be designed to work with one size (width) blade. Check your machine blade specifications as defined by the band saw machine manu facturer. Tooth set is the side-to-side bending of the teeth, left and right. This provides clear ance for the blade to move through the cut by helping to clear chips. In addition, the tooth set can affect how efficiently the blade cuts and the quality of the resulting surface finish. Material plays a key role in determining the tooth set. When cutting a wide range of shapes and materials, rather than hundreds of pieces of the same material, a general purpose blade might be the best choice, as it will take the abuse from cutting through different materials and shapes. However, if cutting one challenging material such as high-nickel alloys or stainless steels in high volume, a production facility carbide tipped-blade is a good choice for productivity and cost per cut. Most production cutting band saw blades feature a 5-degree or greater positive rake. The advantage of a positive rake is that it is going to cut faster because it is more aggressive. The disadvantage is that it’s not going to take abuse as well as a general purpose blade. Most general-purpose blades will be 0 to a 3 or 4-degree positive rake, something that takes abuse better. • Partner with a reputable saw blade supplier or manufacturer that has blades for addressing today’s sawing challenges. Materials are continually evolving, so blade design and manufacture needs on-going research and development to fine-tune, upgrade and keep up with changes. A good research and development process collects data during every test and uses it to troubleshoot and determine any necessary adjustments to blades. If a blade is not cutting effectively, testing continues until the blade works as intended. The process to perfect a new product can take up to five years from drawing board to market. • Real world application examples offer insights that can help when selecting the right carbide-tipped blade. A customer cutting over 50 variations of castings had a challenge with their current blade “dulling out” quickly and leaving a rough finish. With the assis tance of a Starrett saw specialist and implementing the Advanz FS Carbide-Tipped Blade, blade life was increased by approximately 30% and the finish was improved, while main taining a high production rate. Another customer was cutting very large forgings and having production issues, which delayed milling operations. By introducing the Starrett Advanz MC7 Carbide-Tipped Blade, they were able to keep the milling machine in full production, without putting stress on the blade and significantly extending blade life.

All images are courtesy of The L.S. Starrett Co. www.starrett.com A carbide-tipped blade with a multi-chip grind and high-low sequence produces more chips spread out over more teeth, offering faster cutting to maximize productivity and blade life.

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2025 17