The bandsaw blade snapped on a Tuesday and I had 40 pounds of pork shoulder waiting

Middle of the morning rush last week, right as I was breaking down a whole pig, my 14 inch bandsaw blade just gave out with a loud pop. No warning, no weird noise before, just a clean snap in the middle of a cut on a Boston butt. I had three orders waiting for shoulder and a guy coming in at 11 for his weekly case of country ribs. I grabbed the spare blade from the drawer, but it was the wrong size. Ended up having to borrow a saw from the shop two doors down and finish everything on their machine. That cost me an hour and a half of my day. Now I keep two extra blades in the right size labeled and hung on the wall. Anyone else have a tool fail at the worst possible time and have to scramble?

2 comments

2 Comments

rosed3211d agoMost Upvoted

Did you check the blade tension after the first few cuts? A lot of folks don't realize how much heat builds up in the blade during a long run on shoulder (it really messes with the steel). I started keeping a spare tension gauge on the wall right next to the extra blades, it saves you from guessing if the new one's set right.

patricia63410d ago

And a wet blade will throw your tension reading off every time too.