14

After I swap out my bandsaw blade for another, I'm left with a large hoop of sharp serrated metal.

How can I store this safely.

3 Answers 3

21

You can "collapse" them into much smaller hoops (see http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-tips/techniques/skills/folding-bandsaw-blades-simple-as-one-two-three/). It brings it down to about a third of the size and can be stored in a drawer.

From the page:

Hold the blade in front of you with one hand, keeping the teeth pointing away from you. Wear a glove if you've got one handy. Put your foot inside the loop and step on the blade, securing it firmly to the floor. Simultaneously rotate and lower your hand as you hold the top of the blade. By the time your hand makes three-quarters to one full revolution, the blade will have popped into three coils.

From Woodworking Magazine

5
  • Sometimes it helps to use twist-ties to secure the blade so that it stays in a ringed coil and so it won't snap out into the full size.
    – Blue Ice
    Mar 17, 2015 at 17:15
  • I use lettuce ties (the wire ones or the velcro ones) to hold my folded coils together. Sep 7, 2015 at 3:31
  • There are good videos on the web snowing how to do this, including doung it with a sawmill-sized blade. It makes a lot more sense after seeing it, and even more after doing it once or twice.
    – keshlam
    Nov 24, 2015 at 4:05
  • I would add that you should put the blade in the arch of your foot. You don't actually want to step on it and risk damaging the teeth in that segment. The arch will hold the blade just fine and less risk of damaging the blade.
    – Dano0430
    Feb 1, 2017 at 15:34
  • I cannot comment with my account yet, so I'll add an answer, but it's really just a supplement. Just wanted to say that the collapse-into-hoops is the way to go. When I collapse the blade, I put a scrap block of wood under it so it doesn't get damaged by the floor, and still I don't put any real weight on that foot. Even more important, especially for the wider blades (eg for me, 1/2" resaw), wear work gloves when uncoiling the blade, it tends to open quite quickly and forcefully, easy for it to cut a gloveless hand.
    – Gaston
    Feb 28, 2022 at 19:04
5

They can be hung in an out of the way corner.

Ideally on a piece of wood with a curved channel the blade rests in so the it doesn't kink.

2
  • That's what I do.
    – gnicko
    Mar 5, 2019 at 1:49
  • I would "fold" as in dfife's answer, then hang, but that's just me (and I don't own a band saw ATM.
    – FreeMan
    Mar 1, 2022 at 16:38
2

Most of the time they can be twisted onto one another and looped if you're careful. I gently twist a wire twist tie to hold them in shape. Then you can hang them up with less issues.

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