Breaking-in a band saw blade

Bimetal band saw blades

Sharp cutting edges having extremely small edge radii are required for high cutting power. WIKUS blades are predestined for that.

For keeping the optimal blade life we recommend to break-in the blade properly. Please determine the correct cutting speed (m/min) depending on the material to be cut and its dimension. Our cutting data slide rule is a helpful tool. It is important to break-in a new blade with only 50 % feed rate. Micro breakages caused by too large chip thicknesses can thus be avoided.

New band saw blades may tend to vibrations and noise. In this case, a slight reduction of cutting speed is also helpful. With small work piece dimensions approx. 300 cm² of the material should be cut to break-in the blade. In case of large work piece dimensions we recommend breaking-in over a period of about 15 min. After breaking-in, the feed rate may be slowly  increased up to the full value.

Carbide band saw blades

After choosing the optimal parameters for your application by using our carbide data slide rule you should break-in a carbide-tipped band saw blade with approx. 50 % feed rate and 50 % cutting speed.

It is very important to avoid vibrations and noise. In such a case it should be helpful to reduce the cutting speed.
After a breaking-in period of about 15 min or 300 cm² please slowly increase the cutting speed and then the feed rate up to the full value.

Further to the band tension, which should be about 300 N/mm², please also check the oil content of the cooling lubricant before first use. Hand refractometer and band tension gauge are available at WIKUS.