Problem | Possible Causes |
Premature and excessive tooth wear | Feed pressure too light Band speed too slow Insufficient coolant, improper coolant mix, or wrong coolant Improper tooth selection Feed pressure too high Guide hitting teeth alignment Improper break-in with new band |
Tooth strippage | Teeth too coarse for material thickness (select finer pitch blade) Material not securely vised Insufficient or improper coolant Excessive feed pressure Band speed too slow Chips loaded in gullet (replace or adjust chip brush) |
Finished surface too rough | Improper blade selection (select finer pitch blade) Band speed too slow Feedrate too high Improper coolant for material being cut |
Premature blade breakage | Thicknes of blade too heavy for diameter of guide wheels Band tension too high Improper speed Excessive feed pressure Brittle weld Saw out of alignment Improper coolant Band wheels worn |
Cutting rate too slow | Incorrect band speed Incorrect feed pressure Blade pitch too fine |
Gullets loaded with chips | Speed too slow Blade pitch too fine Chip brush not working properly Insufficient coolant, improper coolant mix, or improper coolant used |
Band squeals | Feed rate too slow Insufficient coolant flow |
Belly shaped cuts | Improper blade tension Guide arm is too far from workpiece Blade pitch too fine Excessive feed force |
Blade leading in cut | Excessive feed force or feed rate Possible hard inclusion (use cutting oil) Chip brush not working properly Blade tension too low |
Band develops twist | Wrong blade width for radius being cut (select narrower blade) Binding in cut (adjust blade tension) Saw guides too close to workpiece |
Band stalls in work | Feed pressure too great Improper blade tension Blade pitch too coarse for material being cut |
Burring or mushrooming of back edge | Improper blade tension Excessive feed pressure Blade pitch too fine Improper guide alignment |
Band scoring | Band has side wear or grooving Improper alignment of saw guides Worn guides |
Blade not running true against saw guide backup bearing | Clicking noise against saw guide backup bearing indicates burr on back edge of band Weld not in proper alignment Saw guide backup bearing worn Improper blade tracking (check band wheel alignment) |
Band develops negative camber | Band is riding on saw guide backup bearing too heavily Excessive feed force Poor tooth penetration (select a coarser pitch blade for increased penetration) Saw guide is too far from workpiece or not locked |
Blade vibration | Guides poorly adjusted Improper band speed Blade tension too low Feedrate too low Blade pitch too coarse for material being cut Workpiece not properly secured |
Chip welding | Excessive feed pressure Excessive cutting speed Chip brush not working properly Insufficient or improper coolant |