Whenever you get a new blade, it is important to hone the teeth in first. Breaking in a blade can increase longevity by as much as 30%
Break in Procedure:
1: Set proper blade speed metal group and size of material to be cut
2: Reduce the normal feed rate by 50% of the regular rate for the first few square inches
3: Watch the chips produced
- Small flakes – feed rate too low
- Heavy blue chips – feed rate too high
4: As you break in the blade, gradually increase the rate until you are at 100% of recommended feed for that metal group
Tips:
- Recheck tension after making a few sample cuts
- Never start a blade in a cut
- Do not stop blade in a cut without stopping feed first
- Some break in is better than no break in