Saw blades are designed for cutting lumber, veneered plywood and panels, laminates and plastics, melamine, and non-ferrous metals. What a blade does best is determined in large part by the number and condition of teeth on the saw. In general, blades with more teeth yield a smoother cut, while blades with fewer teeth move material faster. How long the blade and teeth last greatly depends on the quality of the material that goes into making the blade, as well as the impact resistance of the teeth. How long the teeth will stay sharp, how clean they cut and how many resharpenings are needed depends upon the quality of the cutting tips and the process used to attach them. Failure of teeth upon impact can have both economic and safety related consequences. Damaged saw blades cause downtime and reduced efficiency, and a tooth that chips off may cause injury to a bystander.
Our
CEAST 9350 is suited for determining the impact performance of saw blade teeth. During operation, the tip of each tooth faces the greatest impact load as it strikes the material that it is cutting. To duplicate this event, an Izod-style tup insert made from hardened tool steel is positioned in line with the cutting tip of the tooth. The blade, or tooth, itself is held in a custom fixture. Data from the impact event is recorded and analyzed with the DAS 8000 Data Acquisition system. Using this configuration, you can perform tests to understand the impact force and energy limits of the cutting tip. Understanding how each tip or how different processes used to attach them to the tooth fails can help lead to improvements in the specification of better materials or manufacturing processes.