Band saw blade broke

[Marci MN]

Anyone have troubles with Timberwolf blades breaking?

Tonight we were cutting out a few patterns and out of the blue it snapped. Scared the goofies out of both of us.

We counted the projects we've cut with that blade so far and we come up with 12. Six in Basswood, six in pine. The blade looks good..no dark on it to show its been burnt. None of our projects have been burned from the blades. No extra noises or anything that we can figure on the reason for it to snap. The bandsaw is new as of last fall. It hasnt been in use till we got this new blade. Sears Craftsman 16" Bandsaw.

Hubby was real fussy on making sure everything was in place like the blade gaurds, bearing wheels.. blade centered on wheels ect.

I'm not sure on what to do now. We LOVED that blade as far as cutting. It made the wood feel like butter. But if those blades only do so few of projects we cant justify the price of more of that brand.

Any help here on what could have gone wrong? Hubby is really bummed out on this. He was enjoying cutting out my carving projects.

[Goody]

The Timberwolf blades are low tension blades. You can't tighten them up in your saw. A regular blade I usually tighten up and pluck it like a banjo string until it sings. Low tension blades I tighten up in a maybe not so safe manner. I turn the saw on without the blade cover on and stand on the oppiste side and adjust the tension until the blade stops vibrating and then give the tension knob a little tweak. I am not sure if they still do it but I think Timberwolf will reweld the blade if it broke at the weld. I always have a back up blade on hand so I can keep working if a blade breaks. A band saw will become an old freind if you keep them tuned oil them change the bearings and tires out every couple of years. My jet is 22 years old and I know its every sound and feel when its running. I can tell when its sick or needs something. As far a breaking your first blade Welcome to the club weve all done it.
By the way it's B-jeebers not Goofies!!! My saw takes a 105" blade and the fist time it broke I had to bury that pair of underware!
Goody

[Bob_in_TN]

I've run Timberwolf blades for years with no breakage. I won't repeat all that decoycarve said, but he has some good advice. The main thing, is DO NOT tension as you do other blades. I attend wood shows and have seen the demo of Timberwolf blades many times, the tensioning of their blades is the main point of the demo's. My Delta 14" is close to 10 years old and I do try to keep it tuned up, time well spent!

[Kenny_S]

B-jeebers, B-jeebies, burying a pair of shorts, been there, I have only had one Timberwolf blade and it is still on the Gizzly, but then, I haven't had it but 2 years. However, I did notice that I had the tenson way to tuight and had to back off of it. Wasn't to sure that it was correct then either but it is running fine. the delta 10 inch has some Craftman blade on it and it is roughy 10 + years old.

Contact Timberwolf and see what they will do for you!

BTW, if you have a scroll saw, no matter the make, Flying Dutchman from Mike's is the better blade there. Mike has some great deals on scroll blades.

[FrankC]

Hi all. New woodcarver/old woodworker here. I joined the forum several weeks ago and have been soaking up all the carving wisdom (and wit) - Thank you very much! Finally a thread that I can actually contribute to. Tension is in fact the key to Timberwolf blades. There is a step by step set of instructions on their website.

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/six_rules.asp

Suffolk Machinery is the US distributor for Timberwolf. You can buy directly from them musch cheaper than anyplace else that I have found.

Hope this helps.

[Marci MN]

Hiya Frank C! Welcome to WIC!! Thanks for that link.. I'll go read it and then copy it to take with to the barn where the saw is.

Hubby was just amazed at the difference of cutting from the blade that came with the saw to the Timberwolf one. He said during supper tonight.. " I'm gonna miss that blade".. LOL

Kenny.. who is Mikes? Do you have a link to share with me? We have used Olson blades in the scrollsaw.. but could use a better one. We seem to be going through them alot lately too.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Marci - All the way on the left of your screen, scroll all the way to the last entry, right under the "diy", there's an entry "To view the Scroll Saw Workshop Message Board." Click on that link and it will take you to the companion forum to this one. Mike frequents that forum. You will find many testimonials to his blades there and be able to talk with Mike. He's sort of a crotchety old goat, but really a good guy. He'll send you some free samples and if you tell him what your cutting; type of wood, thickness, intricacies of cuts, he will make sure you get exactly the right blade.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

The only blade I ever broke was an el cheapo that I got from shopsmith....el cheapo in quality...not price! and it was 1/8th inch that I guess I must have tried to turn a radius to fast or something? Anyway, most of the time it is operator error.....read all the tutorials on suffolk machinery's site and then call and talk to one of their techs....are your cool blocks adjusted right? a piece of thin paper between them and the blade on each side? there could be lots of reasons? Don't give up on wolf brand tho, they are great blades!

[Ron Davidson]

I just bought some Timberwolf blades for my 14" and it does have detailed instructions for tension on the package acording to my friend that uses it. By the way he said they are excellent blades.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I had a timberwolf break on me several years ago. They replaced it with no problem. Looked at it with a magnifying glass and you could tell it was a bad weld. It happens. Those and the Olson all pro's are the only blades that I will use. Can't tell the difference between them so I use whichever I can get quickly.