Coiling a Bandsaw Blade
George VondriskaDescription
George Vondriska demonstrates how to properly coil and store a large band saw blade for DIY woodworking projects. A WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA) original video.
Once you've taken a bandsaw blade off your saw, the next question is, what do I do with this big coil I've got laying around? I'll show you what you do with that. You get that back into a nice, neat coil that's easy to store. Now, let me show you it a little bit slower so you can do this in your shop. I'm right-handed, so I step on it with my right foot, that's the first step. I take my right hand and turn it inside out. So the palm of my hand is facing away from me, my right thumb is pointing way to my right. Then what I'm gonna do is just let this hand come back around 360 degrees, at the same time, I'm moving down toward the floor to allow the blade to coil itself. So my right hand's inside out, my thumb is pointing to the right. I'm gonna turn this coil going down toward the floor, my thumb's coming around 360 degrees. That creates a nice little coil. Now, you're not quite done yet, because this is a bear trap hanging on a wall, waiting to spring on you. You wanna wrap that up with just a little bit of masking tape so that it stays in that coil. Great way, and a safe way to store your bandsaw blades.
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This is basically the same procedure that you use to coil an automotive (or for other applications) v-belt (fan belt). Only a v-belt does not have teeth, but you might your hands dirty from a v-belt.
I was reading a story about logging and the mills taking the logs for sawing into lumber. They told of a mill in the Pacific NW that had one of the big industrial blades get loose and go bounding around the mill. When it came to rest they just concreted it in place and left it there.
I like to use a twist tie instead of tape to store my folded blades - easy to apply/remove and no residue.
How easy was that? Great tip!
You can also do the coiling a second time on longer blades which will give you 5 coils instead of the 3.
Hello George, how about direction of teeth and wear gloves and use 3/4 in. Mini Spring Clamps from box store HD instead of tape? Thanks for all ya do.
I watched several coiling videos on youtube, but I think this is the best way. Unfortunately the video quality is too bad.
Does the tape reside affect the blade when it's back in operation? Should we use some type cleaner to make sure the masking tape is completely remove?
Have you ever had the tape fail and have that coiled blade spring out?