sam530•1mo ago

Just dropped $450 on a new band saw blade and it's already toast

Got this fancy 'super cut' blade for my band saw last week, thinking it would make breaking down whole hogs faster. Used it on maybe three animals total, and the teeth are already duller than my old one. The supplier said it should last through at least 20 full breakdowns. Now I'm stuck finishing a big order for a local restaurant with a backup blade that's not cutting straight. Has anyone else had a brand new blade fail this quick, or did I just get a bad batch?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarahsullivan1mo ago

That's brutal. Happened to me with a "premium" blade from a big supplier last year. Went through a single side of beef and it was pulling teeth. The weld even popped on a simple cut. Felt like throwing good money after bad. Some of this new stock is just junk straight out of the box.

felix_jones1mo ago

I ended up going back to an old school supplier for my breaking knives after that happened to me twice in a row, @sarahsullivan. The first blade I got from them lasted me through three whole primals before it even needed a touch up on the steel. I've been using the same maker for about a year now and the heat treat is consistent every time, no soft spots or wonky welds. Sometimes you just gotta pay a little more upfront to avoid the headache of junk steel that fails on the first job.

eric_ramirez671mo ago

My buddy runs a small shop and he swears the heat treat is off on a lot of new blades. He got a batch where the steel was too soft, like it skipped the final temper. They'd take an edge but lose it after two chickens. Makes you wonder if they're rushing batches out to meet demand and skipping steps.