Ad campaigns for bandsaw blades tend to focus on their toughness.
Designing them, however, is a more delicate process—one that requires balancing tooth strength with abrasion resistance to build the most durable and effective blade possible for uniquely grueling work.
Customers wrap the whip-thin elliptical blades around the two wheels of a bandsaw machine, where they’re twisted up to 90 degrees, run at speeds of 300 feet per minute or more and tensioned at 20,000 to 40,000 pounds per square inch.
Upgrading top-selling products capable of withstanding those conditions, as LENOX has done with its bimetal ALLOYWOLF™ QXP blades, raises the stakes even further, requiring manufacturers to increase both tooth strength and abrasion resistance even though they tend to work against each other.
Bandsaw Blade Materials Engineering
“It really comes down to the metallurgical characteristics of the high-speed steel” used, says Matt Whinery, product development engineer with LENOX. “Certain grades are better at abrasive wear resistance but not as good with durability. There’s a similar challenge with carbide blades, where higher hardness usually means less fracture toughness, and vice versa.”
Founded in 1915, Massachusetts-based Lenox built its first bimetal blades in the 1970s. Today, blades such as the ALLOYWOLF™ QXP combine a spring-tempered alloy steel backer with tooth tips of high-speed steel.
High-speed steels are tool steels with alloying elements that allow for faster cutting of materials than previously provided by high-carbon steels.
ALLOYWOLF™ QXP offers exceptional hardness combined with abrasive wear resistance and hot hardness, or the ability to maintain strength at high temperatures.
“We’ve learned that there’s always a tradeoff between abrasive wear resistance and toughness of the tooth material when it comes to edge chippage,” Whinery explains.
Extending Bandsaw Blade Life
With the next-generation QXP, a new high-speed steel-edge configuration combined with the company’s new proprietary heat-treatment process “has enabled us to optimize the shape and size of the carbides within the high-speed steel,” he says. “On a small scale, what’s going on inside the tooth allows us to prevent chippage and arrest cracks before they spread and create a bigger problem. You end up with steadier, controlled micro-wear rather than large unpredictable chunks being ripped off the tooth.”
Finding techniques like that to extend tool life is a priority for manufacturers and machinists as they grapple with stubborn inflation, disruptions in supply chains and a workforce shortage expected to reach 2.1 million by 2030, conditions that not only drive up costs but can also hinder timely deliveries to customers.
The success of Lenox’s bandsaw enhancements is reflected in customer satisfaction during trials. More than 80 percent of users liked the next-generation QXP better than the bandsaw they were using previously, says Cameron Guthrie, national account manager with Lenox.
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