Carbide Bandsaw Blade Care

[Andrew Joiner]

I just got some new carbide tipped bands shipped to me. One had a plastic sleeve on the teeth, one didn't. Every carbide table saw blade or router bit I've ever bought has had some protection on it. None of them came close to the $200 price of this bandsaw blade. So I'm very frustrated.

Just coiling and uncoiling will scrape carbide to carbide on an un-sleeved blade. I would never stack my carbide table saw blades together and scrape them around! I'm very careful not to EVER touch my carbide blades and bits to metal.

My plan is to tape the the teeth when I install and remove the carbide blades.

What do you do to protect your carbide bandsaw teeth?

[Jeff Willard]

I coil it, secure the three coils, and hang it carefully in an out-of-the-way place. My TriMaster came with the flexi-guard that you mentioned, but it's such a PITA to replace that I don't mess with it.

[John Terefenko]

I don't either. I bang the blade more up just trying to get it on and off.

[Andrew Joiner]

Thanks for the replies.
So with out protection coiling, uncoiling, installing and removing hasn't dulled the teeth much?
I guess it may be impractical to protect the teeth. I still think I'll cover the teeth with masking tape till the blades are older. It will only take 5 minutes and give me some peace of mind.

[William Falberg]

Watch out the tape residue doesn't gum up your blade guides.

[Keith Westfall]

Can carbide harm itself?

With a bit of care it doesn't seem like there would be a lot of damage...

[Rick Fisher]

I never worry about it.. Just coil it up and hang it on a hook..

[Jamie Buxton]

Carbide is pretty tough stuff. I've been using carbide bandsaw blades for about four years, long enough to wear out several of them. As far as I can tell, the wear-out process just involves cutting miles and miles of wood.

[Andrew Joiner]

I see most users of carbide bands don't worry about it. Good to know.

Funny,I bet if I started a thread " Do you protect your carbide table saw blades" everyone would say YES!

I guess the bands are so hard to protect no one does it even if they cost more than circular blades.

Thanks for your feedback.

[Jeff Willard]

You certainly want to protect the teeth from impact. Carbide is brittle and will chip easily. Abrasion is another story, the reason for carbide is because it handles abrasion so well.

[Phil Thien]

Originally Posted by Andrew Joiner

Funny,I bet if I started a thread " Do you protect your carbide table saw blades" everyone would say YES!

I think the difference is that the carbide on a band saw blade is on a flexible band that will absorb shocks.

[Jamie Buxton]

Originally Posted by Andrew Joiner

Funny,I bet if I started a thread " Do you protect your carbide table saw blades" everyone would say YES!

When I take a carbide circular saw blade off the saw, I hang it on a peg on the wall with several other blades. That's it. No protection. It is the tip of the tooth that cuts, but the side of tooth that touches other blades.