Bandsaw Blade Dull?

It happens from time to time. A blade seems suddenly to dull and then the drift. You should have ordered more in but you procrastinated and when you need a reasonably sharp blade you’re out. Bandsaw blades have hardened teeth and cannot be sharpened with a file like a conventional saw any more.  That’s the price you pay for any hard-point at the business tips of all saw blades. Of course turnaround is very quick here in the UK. Standard sized blades come off the peg so to speak and you can order on one afternoon and receive it in the morning. But if it happens on a Friday afternoon you can be without until mid week after the build up of orders over the weekend. What to do?

This happens as I said. As a quick fix you can use a diamond paddle to put a micro bevel on the back of each of the teeth. Going quite lightly, this should take the tooth down to fresh steel sufficient to give a half decent cut again. It can take a while if you have long blades and I might not do this if I hit a hardened nail or screw. Mine blades are around 13 feet long and it took me about ten minutes, but I was back cutting again and so for the cost of a paddle and ten minutes I had only minimal downtime.

I used an EZE-Lap diamond paddle they call a hone and stone. The medium one. By the time my blade was done `i would say that the paddle had used about 25% of its life because the hard point teeth are so localised to the teeth tips they wear very quickly. But the paddles cost about £5 so I still have a paddle fully operational for general honing or to do more on bandsaw blades.

To clamp the blade securely I simply use my regular saw clamp, the one I clamp in the vise, and elevate one end of the bandsaw blade at the exit end and the other lower in the saw kerf. That way I can slacken the vise slightly, retain enough pressure for light friction, and slide the saw blade along as I finish each section.