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March-April 2015

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palletcentral.com PalletCentral • March-April 2015 33 5) The Tooth Geometry: Knowing what angles to grind on a blade for the sawing application. These are the angles on any saw tooth: face (hook); back clearance; tangential; radial; top of tooth geometries. 6) The equipment used in manufacturing and re-sharpening. Is it CNC (computer numeric controlled) or manual pull downs? 7) The customer's equipment will also contribute to the success of a saw blade. Sam Lacey, national account manager, HUB Industrial, offers additional advice to pallet manufacturers and repairers on saw blades: Blades are precision cutting tools and must be kept sharp. A dull blade will cause heat to build up in the cut, leading to sap/pitch and other residue to collect on the body of the blade leading to further strain and heat damage. Heat will cause the blade body to expand. The expansion slots on the edge of the blade absorb some of the expansion, but too much heat and the blade will warp causing temporary and sometimes permanent damage to the body. When this happens, cracks can start to form, which can lead to catastrophic damage, i.e. chunks of blade coming off. Another benefit to sharpening blades before they get too worn, is the sharpening machinery doesn't have to remove as much carbide to get an edge, thus increasing the number of possible sharpenings, prolonging the life of the tooth. Blades that are made for the pallet industry are designed to cut through nails. Any cracks in the blades can be hazardous and may cause injury, so it is recommended that you replace blades immediately. The carbide teeth are especially formulated to absorb some of the impact of steel against the tooth. However, hitting these nails will dull the teeth quicker than just the wood. A dull tooth has a harder time cutting through these nails and then starts to fracture and break off. A fractured or broken tooth puts that much more strain on the next tooth in line, causing a domino effect and furthering tooth damage. Also, broken teeth can cause on out of Operators need to understand the time taken to replace a dull blade with a sharpened one will pay off in time and money by extending the life of the machine and increasing production time.

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