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Cutting Tools
Structure of a bimetal band saw blade
TOOTH PITCH
The decisive factor for the tooth pitch is the working length of the
band saw blade in the workpiece. The table shows the respective
upper and lower limits.
Variable
Tooth distribution
ZpZ
from
working length
(mm)
to
10 –14
–
20
8 –12
10
30
6 –10
20
50
5 – 8
30
60
4 – 6
50
90
3 – 4
80
150
2 – 3
120
300
1.4 – 2
250
600
1.0 – 1.4
400
1000
0.85– 1.15
600
2000
0.75– 1.25
600
2000
0.7 – 1.0
1000
3000
BREAKING IN YOUR BAND SAW BLADES
Tooth pitch is the term used to describe the number of
teeth per inch (TPI).
1 inch is equivalent to 25.4 mm.
When blades are broken in properly, a long service life is guaranteed, see illustrations above:
1. New cutting edge with very small edge radius
2. Ideal rounding of the cutting edge through proper breaking in of the band saw blade
3. Excessive strain due to improper breaking in leads to micro-breakages of the cutting edge
Bimetal saw blades
Sharp cutting edges with extremely small edge radii are the
prerequisite for high cutting capacity.
WIKUS blades are predestined for this.
To achieve optimum service life we recommend breaking the
blade in properly. Determine the right cutting speed and feed
rate (e.g. using the WIKUS bimetal cutting data slide rule) based
on the material to be cut and its dimensions.It is important that
the new saw blade is only used with approx. 50% of the feed rate
determined. This avoids micro-splintering which would otherwise
occur due to large chip thicknesses.
New saw blades can tend to vibrate and make oscillating noises.
In this case, a slight reduction in cutting speed will help here, too.
Where small workpiece dimensions are involved, approx. 300 cm
2
of the material should be cut to break in the blade. If large work-
piece dimensions are to be machined, we recommend breaking
the blade in over a period of approx. 15 min.
After breaking in you can slowly increase the feed rate to the value
for feed that you determined before.
Carbide saw blades
After selection of the optimum parameters for the application case
on hand (e.g. using the WIKUS carbide cutting data slide rule) you
should break in the carbide saw blade at about 75% of the cutting
speed and 50% of the feed rate.
The avoidance of oscillation and vibration is very important. If this
does occur, changing the cutting speed should help.
After the breaking in time of approx. 15 min or 300 cm
2 y
ou should
slowly increase first the cutting speed and then the feed rate to the
data that you determined before.
Before you use the blade for the first time check both the blade
tension, which should be about 300 N/mm
2,
and the oil content
of the cooling lubricant. Hand-held refractrometers can be found
on
Ç
9/95 and belt tensioning measuring devices are available
on request.
HSS flat wire
Carrier band made from
alloyed heat-treatable stell
Electron or laser beam welding procedure
Bi-metal saw band
Band saw blades
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