Broke my band saw blade mid-shift yesterday

Was breaking down a whole pig at the shop in Austin and the blade just snapped. Sent a piece flying into the walk-in cooler door. Had to switch to hand saws for the last hour before my supplier could get me a replacement. Anyone else had a blade go out at the worst possible time?

3 comments

3 Comments

jennifer9657d ago

Used to think band saws were invincible, but that changed after I saw one grenade in a buddy's shop. The cleanup took forever and he lost a whole batch of ribs to bone fragments. Now I keep a spare blade within arm's reach at all times.

brian_ramirez7d ago

Wait until you've had a blade snap and send a chunk of bone through your glove before you call it no big deal, @jennifer965. I've seen guys lose fingers to those machines over less. It's all fun and games until your insurance deductible goes up.

jennysullivan7d ago

Sent a chunk of bone through your glove"? Man, that's one of those details that just sticks in your head. I've seen plenty of accidents on jobsites but nothing quite like that. A blade snapping is bad enough but having bone shards punch through thick glove leather sounds like a whole different level of nasty. Makes me rethink how casual I am around my own saws at home. You can't plan for that kind of freak thing. Just goes to show no matter how careful you are, sometimes the machine decides to remind you who's boss.