[net.rec.wood] Carbide Saw Blade Warning

dave@fluke.UUCP (Dave Van Ess) (09/05/85)

Please be carefull when buying carbide blades. A friend of mine bought
a blade that didn't have the carbides brazed on right. His saw also
runs a little faster than normal. Anyway when he got the saw up to
speed all of the teeth flew off. The teeth went right through the
walls and roof of his garage and cut his garage right in half. Boy is
his wife pissed at him! So please be carefull, the garage you save
might be your own.

		Dave (almost the god honest truth) Van Ess
		John Fluke Mfg Co.
		Everett WA

rdp@teddy.UUCP (09/06/85)

In article <920@vax2.fluke.UUCP> dave@fluke.UUCP (Dave Van Ess) writes:
>
>Please be carefull when buying carbide blades. A friend of mine bought
>a blade that didn't have the carbides brazed on right. His saw also
>runs a little faster than normal. Anyway when he got the saw up to
>speed all of the teeth flew off. The teeth went right through the
>walls and roof of his garage and cut his garage right in half. Boy is
>his wife pissed at him! So please be carefull, the garage you save
>might be your own.
>
>		Dave (almost the god honest truth) Van Ess
>		John Fluke Mfg Co.
>		Everett WA

Ah, come on, Dave, give us a break. That same story (with only slight 
variation) was related in a recent issue of "Fine Woodworking". The
author claimed that a strange looking sawblade available in Finland
was put on a table saw. Well, it seems that this saw was sitting high
in the mountains, and the air load wasn't as great as at sea level, and
the saw ran up to some very high speed, then flew apart, cutting the shed
in half. The author then shuffled about embarrasingly waiting for laughs.

Seriously, most saws run at about 3500-4000 RPM. Taking a 10 inch blade,
and running it at something ridiculous like 7000 RPM does not result in
velocities like you would need here. Under these conditions, the tips of
the blade would go flying off at under 300 ft/sec. Given also that they
weigh maybe 10 grams or so, they don't pack a whole bunch of momentum.

As a case in point, I had mis-wired a motor with a 10 inch saw, ending
up with something running about 5500 or so RPM. One tooth on the blade
flew off, and stuck itself in a piece of nearby oak. As I can recall, it was
buried only about 1/8", and I could dig it out with my fingernail.

However, this is not to diminish the potential for very serious injury.
An eye is a whole bunch less resistant than oak! 

Now, I have to go see my physician. Seems the author above caused one of
my legs to lengthen considerably....


Dick Pierce

mae@weitek.UUCP (Mike Ekberg) (09/14/85)

In article <920@vax2.fluke.UUCP>, dave@fluke.UUCP (Dave Van Ess) writes:
> 
> Please be carefull when buying carbide blades...
> runs a little faster than normal. Anyway when he got the saw up to
> speed all of the teeth flew off. The teeth went right through the
> walls and roof of his garage and cut his garage right in half. Boy is
> his wife pissed at him! So please be carefull, the garage you save
> might be your own.
> 
> 		Dave (almost the god honest truth) Van Ess
> 		John Fluke Mfg Co.
> 		Everett WA
It really must have been a fluke! ;-)

He really should use a stronger denture adhesive to keep his teeth on. 

mike ...cae780!weitek!mae