Blade breaking

[MurkyWaters]

What are some tips on how to stop breaking my blade? I'm sure this has been covered in here but I'm having a hard time trying to search.  Haven't been on a forum for years lol

[Dave Monk]

Welcome the the Village. What kind of saw and blade are you using?

[kmmcrafts]

Welcome to the Village..

What blades are you using?  It's a possibility that you could have a bad batch of blades.. Over the years I've had a few packages that had skipped past quality control.. The dealer sent out a new package to me because they had complaints and found a run of bad quality blades.. I've had this happen on both Flying Dutchman a Pegas blades over the years.. 

Any time there is blade breakage it's a good idea to ask on these forums as they could have run a bad batch.. When this happen to me I was changing saw set-up with blade tension and other common things that cause blade breaking.. pulling my hair out trying to figure it out.. then seen a post on here that there was a bad run of blades.. If that person had not posted this info I would still be fooling with my saw.. and that was over a year ago, Hahaha..

Some helpful tips for asking about breakage is.. giving the info on what brand / style / size of blades ... what saw you're using and what you're trying to cut.. Also are they breaking near the top or bottom of the blade or in the middle etc.. this gives us something to diagnose what's happening.. Once you post some more details I'm sure someone will be able to give you some advice to try to pinpoint the problem..  

[dgman]

Without more information, it’s difficult to diagnose what your problem might be. One leading cause of blade breakage is not enough tension on the blade. If you pluck the blade, you want to hear a high “plink” sound. If it goes “clunk”, it’s definitely not tensioned properly. The second leading cause is applying to much lateral pressure when making a curve or turn. Let the blade do the cutting, don’t force the cut.

[NC Scroller]

Lots of factors so in order to help you we need to know more.  Do they break immediately or after a period of time?  What size and brand blade are you using and what kind and thickness is the wood?  Is it breaking at the clamps or in the middle?

[MurkyWaters]

Wow I had no idea lol!!

Ok so they are crowntooth blades i want to say Olsen brand... was using size 9 which I thought was overkill but the 5 broke... trying to cut 3/4 inch pine (I think its pine) went through 4 of the size 9s so went back to the 5 and had no further breakage.  I was also using the tention until I heard the ping like the youtube guy showed me. It was breaking down at the bottom just above where the teeth start.  One of them broke after a few seconds.  

So maybe a bad box of them? 

Could I be pushing too hard? 

[Rolf]

Somthing is very wrong if you are breaking a #9 blade in Pine.  You did not say what saw you are using. Also if the clamp is not set correctly or the screw has an edge it may be nicking the blade. Lots of possibilities.

[NC Scroller]

11 hours ago, MurkyWaters said:

Wow I had no idea lol!!

Ok so they are crowntooth blades i want to say Olsen brand... was using size 9 which I thought was overkill but the 5 broke... trying to cut 3/4 inch pine (I think its pine) went through 4 of the size 9s so went back to the 5 and had no further breakage.  I was also using the tention until I heard the ping like the youtube guy showed me. It was breaking down at the bottom just above where the teeth start.  One of them broke after a few seconds.  

So maybe a bad box of them? 

Could I be pushing too hard? 

I am not a big fan of crowntooth blades but that is because of the way they cut and not because of breakage.

#9 blades are overkill in 3/4 pine.  My first choice would be a #5 or even a #3 reverse tooth. 

You said you switched to a #5 and it worked fine.  Were the #5 crowntooth as well?

While it may be possible to have a bad batch it is not likely especially with brand name blades.

Yes pushing can cause breakage.  

 

 

[Roberta Moreton]

Under and over tensioning can also cause breaking.

[amazingkevin]

Buying blades other than thru flying Dutchman leaves me to think I'm being sold inferior blades. Just a thought but my cut time per blade is way way way down from hours to minutes?

[Rockytime]

41 minutes ago, amazingkevin said:

Buying blades other than thru flying Dutchman leaves me to think I'm being sold inferior blades. Just a thought but my cut time per blade is way way way down from hours to minutes?

That makes me think it is not the blades. Otherwise many people would be having a problem too. That just  makes me thing there must be other variables at play. Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions other than those already stated. Guess I'm no help.

[NC Scroller]

12 hours ago, amazingkevin said:

Buying blades other than thru flying Dutchman leaves me to think I'm being sold inferior blades. Just a thought but my cut time per blade is way way way down from hours to minutes?

I have nothing scientific o show it but I feel I get probably twice the cut time with Pegas MGT blades as I did with same size Flying Dutchman UR.  Now Pegas are more aggressive so they may not be right for all cutting. 

[amazingkevin]

30 minutes ago, NC Scroller said:

I have nothing scientific o show it but I feel I get probably twice the cut time with Pegas MGT blades as I did with same size Flying Dutchman UR.  Now Pegas are more aggressive so they may not be right for all cutting. 

I can't wait to try some of the pegas blades, Thanks for the info!!!

[RabidAlien]

1 hour ago, amazingkevin said:

I can't wait to try some of the pegas blades, Thanks for the info!!!

I've started ordering the #1 and #3 Pegas MG blades by the 144-pk from Bear Woods.  FD blades are good, but they tend to cut slower and seem to pull to the side a few degrees, depending on which direction I have the blade in (their reverse-cut blade doesn't have reverse teeth at the bottom, its like every other tooth is reversed...makes it easy to know which direction to mount the blade, but slows the cutting a bit, it seems).  Not a problem, but I have to adjust for it.

 

Breaking blades, I've found, is usually less of a hardware problem and more of a meatware problem.    Overtightening, too loose, mount not cranked down tight enough, or I've run the blade for way too long and it got heated up and brittle from the friction.  I have some FD spiral blades and have discovered that the 3/0 and 2/0 blades (tiny!) tend to snap whenever my eyeball rests on them for more than 2 seconds, so when I do opt for a spiral, its usually a #1 or larger.

[kmmcrafts]

I agree with Scott... the Pegas last much longer for me.. Both are good blades and get the job done.. I like to cut somewhat faster than a lot of people do.. so the Pegas are my go to as they are a bit more aggressive than the FD blades..

 

As for breaking blades.. I've also had / seen saws that have a worn bearing or just the blade clamps be out of alignment.. which can create some heat by rubbing on the side of the wood.. and running the saw at a faster speed will increase this heat too.. So if your blade has a slight wobble look or blurry look to it when running the saw without cutting anything this movement still slightly happens when cutting.. creates heat and the blade usually will break somewhere in the cutting portion of the blade.. Yeah.. I've had some worn and junky saws over the years.. and figured this out from that.. once rebuilt or tuned for a true straight blade... no more blade breaking.. SO... there is and can be a lot of factors to play a role in breaking blades.. besides user error...