My band saw blade snapped mid-slice on a whole pig yesterday

I was breaking down a 180 pound hog yesterday morning, right in the middle of splitting the spine, and SNAP. The blade let go and whipped around inside the saw. Scared the crap out of me. Took me 20 minutes to fish the broken pieces out and swap in a new one. Anyone else had a blade blow up at the worst possible moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor_mitchell8015d ago

OH man that is TERRIFYING. I read somewhere on a meat processing forum that blade tension is the NUMBER ONE thing that causes snaps like that. Most people crank it way too tight thinking itll cut faster. Apparently you want just enough tension to keep it tracking straight on the wheels. Too tight and it gets BRITTLE and will let go under the load of a big spine. Also make sure you arent forcing the pig through too fast, that puts a ton of extra stress on the blade. Let the saw do the work, you know? Glad you didnt get hurt, that whip can really mess you up.

tylerlane15d ago

Yeah and most guys don't even check the blade guides either.