Blade changes

[Eplfan2011]

I know there's no hard and fast rules but how often should you be changing blades?  

[preprius]

My observations are...

-when I have to put more pressure to feed wood into the cut.

-about 40min of countinous cutting with 0.75 inch thick wood with #1 mgt.

-thinner blades dull faster.

-when blades don't cut around  corners, right vs left turns act different. This can also be low tension.

-tight turns dull blades really fast.

-harder or softer woods will change above conditions.

.. every blade shows a slightly different angle to cut straight.  When I install a new blade and the angle is way different it is usually a dull brand new blade.  It happens sometimes. Be aware of bad batches also.  I usually fight the new dull blade for a couple of inches and then decide to change it. 

::  I would be very interested in more experience users opinions. 

[kmmcrafts]

The material you're cutting is going to greatly change this... not to mention the feed rate at which you're pushing through and also if you're pushing "straight" through or you have a slight drag on one side of the blade or not. Properly tensioned blade will also affect the longevity. 

Back to the material you cut.. Plywood which I cut a lot of burns through blades compared to solid timbers.. The glues in the plywood I believe are what causes this but not certain of that, maybe someone else knows more on that. Cutting a stack of five 3mm BBply I get around 15-20 minutes on a blade.. I probably change out my blades more often than others.. Blades are cheap and a dulled down blade makes inefficient cutting.. certain types of wood burn easy.. you don't want a dull blade just sitting there slowly munching and burning it's way through.. 

[Sycamore67]

I change blades when it is time to change blades. You can feel when a blade is getting dull by how it is cutting.  Typically, it is cutting slower or you are pushing harder.  I never try to time how long to use a blade as there are too many variables.

[BadBob]

I change blades when it is:

• cutting to slow
• doesn't track well
• I smell smoke

 

[Bill WIlson]

For me, the signal that I need to change blades is when I see smoke.  

 

[barb.j.enders]

Different types of ply also changes when you change the blade.  I was using a cabinet grade plywood that dulled the blade way faster than BB ply!

[Eplfan2011]

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm not seeing any burning but being inexperienced I think I'm pushing mine to far.  I think I'm Concerntrating on what I'm doing more than what's happening that's why I asked.

[OCtoolguy]

I've noticed with my latest batch of Pegas mgt #5 blades that they now have drift. The first gross seemed to cut straight. That is what impressed me. I fought with FD blades as they had a lot of drift. The Pegas that I'm using now have a noticeable drift. Not a lot but some.

[Bill WIlson]

2 hours ago, Eplfan2011 said:

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm not seeing any burning but being inexperienced I think I'm pushing mine to far.  I think I'm Concerntrating on what I'm doing more than what's happening that's why I asked.

In all seriousness, it's only to the degree that it affects the cut, that it matters.  We push our blades past their optimum limits, because we want to make sure we get our money's worth out of them.  Once the quality of the cut or the time taken to make the cut impacts us to a level where it bothers us, then it's time to change.  That point is a moving target and may well be different for everyone.

[Joe W.]

14 hours ago, preprius said:

-when blades don't cut around  corners, right vs left turns act different. This can also be low tension.

-tight turns dull blades really fast.

-harder or softer woods will change above conditions.

Amen to the above.  
Last time I did any cutting I switched from hardwood to cutting ply.
Was surprised how the blade dulled quicker but then remembered reading a post from when I first started cutting about how the glue in plywood dulls blades.
 

[kywoodmaster]

As everyone has said it depends.  I have been cutting some ornaments from Cedar wood. I have been using #7 Olsen PGT and #7 Pegas MGT blades. The material is 1.5x1.5 inches. It takes me about 20 minutes per ornament and I have been getting 2.5 to 3 ornaments per blade.

Had this been hard Maple or Oak I imagine that would reduce to probably 1 to 1.5 per blade.

[crupiea]

I use them until the break.  

Sometimes they just dont track right for whatever reason and i will change it but most times its until breakage.  I have used some blades for a year.  Not every day but for some cuts.  They are bent and rusty but still work so why throw away money. 

[kmmcrafts]

4 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

I've noticed with my latest batch of Pegas mgt #5 blades that they now have drift. The first gross seemed to cut straight. That is what impressed me. I fought with FD blades as they had a lot of drift. The Pegas that I'm using now have a noticeable drift. Not a lot but some.

While I hate to say anything bad about Pegas.. I will say their quality control for blades is horrible.. I sometimes get a pack of blades like you said and they don't track quite right.. I rarely see two blades the same length in a pack too.. While it's not a big deal for a EX type saw it is for a Hawk as you mount the blade and set the correct tension at the back of the saw.. provided you use the same style and size blade you don't need to adjust anything.. but I have to with Pegas blades every time.. A 1/6" - 1/8" difference in blade length play heck with a Hawk that was dialed in for one blade and the next is longer or shorter changes that tension for me. Highly considering going back to only using FD blades.. 

 

[OCtoolguy]

4 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

While I hate to say anything bad about Pegas.. I will say their quality control for blades is horrible.. I sometimes get a pack of blades like you said and they don't track quite right.. I rarely see two blades the same length in a pack too.. While it's not a big deal for a EX type saw it is for a Hawk as you mount the blade and set the correct tension at the back of the saw.. provided you use the same style and size blade you don't need to adjust anything.. but I have to with Pegas blades every time.. A 1/6" - 1/8" difference in blade length play heck with a Hawk that was dialed in for one blade and the next is longer or shorter changes that tension for me. Highly considering going back to only using FD blades.. 

 

So it's not my imagination?

Edited October 26, 2022 by OCtoolguy

[preprius]

40 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

So it's not my imagination?

But your running #5 blades.  I found #1 mgt batch had 3 blades dulled.

8 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

In all seriousness, it's only to the degree that it affects the cut, that it matters.  We push our blades past their optimum limits, because we want to make sure we get our money's worth out of them.  Once the quality of the cut or the time taken to make the cut impacts us to a level where it bothers us, then it's time to change.  That point is a moving target and may well be different for everyone.

Also pushing blades really depends on project.  Some projects are better to use for an optimal blade.  Other projects are not critical if it does not track the line as well. 

 

[Eplfan2011]

Bare in mind I'm a beginner and know nothing, I have the same problem as Kevin with the Pegas blades in the hawk, and on the Delta each blade acts slightly differently. I threw what's left of the 6 dozen that I bought in the draw and went back to the URFD I was using beforehand, I know a lot of you guys love them but probably because of my lack of skill I'm not partial to them. The FD blades for me are more predictable maybe I'll try again at a later date when I've improved some.

On the good side for the pegas blades they seem more aggressive and seem to stay sharper longer.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Eplfan2011

[kmmcrafts]

10 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

So it's not my imagination?

 

7 hours ago, Eplfan2011 said:

Bare in mind I'm a beginner and know nothing, I have the same problem as Kevin with the Pegas blades in the hawk, and on the Delta each blade acts slightly differently. I threw what's left of the 6 dozen that I bought in the draw and went back to the URFD I was using beforehand, I know a lot of you guys love them but probably because of my lack of skill I'm not partial to them. The FD blades for me are more predictable maybe I'll try again at a later date when I've improved some.

On the good side for the pegas blades they seem more aggressive and seem to stay sharper longer.

I should mention that if you are having a issue with the blades tracking etc.. there may be a bad batch / run of the blades and you should contact your supplier.. many times if there is a known issue they'll send you replacements.. As for the length issue.. I guess maybe not enough folks complain about it.. They used to be uniform until they all of a sudden decided to put a notch at one end or the other to distinguish the top / bottom of the blade.. but there has been no constancy to that either but I've been told that it's to mark top or bottom.. but I've found the notch on both top and bottom or just top or just bottom or not one at all so that's not consistent..  They changed something back around 2017 ish.. and it's been a **** show on the blades since then.. JMO.. on what I've observed.. 

Olsen PGT blades track straight and a really long lasting blade.. however the smallest size is a #5 and it's a big #5 compared to other brands and styles of #5 in my opinion.. SuperSharp brand blades from P.S. Wood is a nice blade and probably be my choice for thick wood ( compound cutting ) but no reverse teeth so lots of fuzzies etc.   

[John B]

9 hours ago, Eplfan2011 said:

Bare in mind I'm a beginner and know nothing, I have the same problem as Kevin with the Pegas blades in the hawk, and on the Delta each blade acts slightly differently. I threw what's left of the 6 dozen that I bought in the draw and went back to the URFD I was using beforehand, I know a lot of you guys love them but probably because of my lack of skill I'm not partial to them. The FD blades for me are more predictable maybe I'll try again at a later date when I've improved some.

On the good side for the pegas blades they seem more aggressive and seem to stay sharper longer.

Try the Olson Blades from Wooden Teddy Bear, Their Precision Ground and Mach blades are excellent. I use them for my stand up puzzles which and trinket boxes which use material fro 25mm - 50mm. I use FDUR for fretwork.

[Eplfan2011]

35 minutes ago, John B said:

Try the Olson Blades from Wooden Teddy Bear, Their Precision Ground and Mach blades are excellent. I use them for my stand up puzzles which and trinket boxes which use material fro 25mm - 50mm. I use FDUR for fretwork.

Thanks John, after a night's sleep I've come to realize I've just not cut enough wood yet to not only try different blade makes but also different styles. You can also throw different saws into the mix too, as I find the Delta more aggressive than the hawk. 

 For any type of thin material so far the FDUR work well for me on either saw, on 3/4 plus hardwood I feel the FDUR works better in the Delta than the Hawk, but the Pegas MGT works really well in the hawk but as John said with the varing length constant adjustment between blades just make me not want to mess with them.

I'll try the olsen blades next.

 

[BadBob]

23 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I've found the notch on both top and bottom or just top or just bottom or not one at all so that's not consistent.

I noticed that too.