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That Tuesday in March when my bandsaw blade snapped mid brisket trim and I finally got why old timers tap the weld
Lost a $9 blade and a whole trim on a 14 lb packer last week. The blade ran maybe 20 minutes before it let go at the weld. I stood there with half a brisket hanging and a spring somewhere in the case. My neighbor Ray, butchering out of his garage in Modesto since 1991, asked why I wasn't tapping the back of the new blade against the table before mounting it. Said a dull tap with a screwdriver handle at the weld tells you everything. Mine gave a dead thud. Turns out I could have caught it before it split. Spent 15 minutes resetting and re-tensioning and the second blade ran smooth. Has anyone else had welds fail straight out of the package or am I the only one getting a bad batch?
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charliestone3d ago
Did you check the blade date or batch number before you mounted it? I had a run of bad welds last spring, three blades in a row snapped right at the weld within the first few cuts, and the supply house admitted they got a bad shipment from the maker. Now I tap every single blade on the table before it goes on, screwdriver handle, right at the weld, and listen for that ring. A dead thud means it goes back in the box, no questions asked. Ray is right and that trick has saved me more than one trim since I started doing it. Losing a whole packer over a nine dollar blade stings bad, so you have my sympathy there.
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