Question
I am setting an old Belsaw circular mill that has been in the family for many years. It has a 52" insert tooth blade. I came across used sawmill classifieds and found quite a few mills for sale that had re-hammered blades. I've been around this mill all my life and never remembered having this done. I do remember the blade running hot and wobbling, but after quenching and redressing/replacing the teeth, the saw would be just fine. Is re-hammering done to flatten a bent blade or to re-strengthen it? Should I have this done before setting the blade on the mill? Where can I get this done?
Forum Repsonses
The idea of hammering a blade is to get out any bumps or lumps that have developed and to create a little dish in the blade. With dish, when the saw begins to spin and the outside wants to get long, it can do so by removing some of the dish (also called tension) from the saw. The net effect is a stable running blade.
If we do not have the blade tuned up, we will either have a wobbling blade or we'll be lucky. Perhaps you have a thick blade, which would also help, but which wastes a lot of wood. What style tooth do you have? There are people all over the U.S. who could recondition your blade--look in a magazine, such as Southern Lumberman or Northern Logger. There is an excellent monthly saw column in Northern Logger.
