Blade breakage

[Chippygeoff]

I know that quite a few members have Hegners and the clone, the AWFS-18 saw and I was wondering if any of you experience an above average amount of blades breaking. I am putting this down to the speed of 1450. At this speed the saw really struggles to cut 18mm hardwood using FD-UR 5 and 7 blades and it is obvious that the blades are overheating, becoming brittle and then breaking, the break usually occurs when backing the blade in a cut and turning the workpiece. On my Dewalt 788 I very rarely break a blade and when cutting 18mm hardwoods i tend to use its full speed of 1750 and it is considerably faster cutting. I use clear packing tape on the hardwood all the time as this helps speed things up.

 

[stevebuk]

hi Geoff
i am not sure its down to the speed, i have noticed on a few of Mikes blades recently that they dont seem as sharp or seem to hold an edge for long, dont know if its in the manufacturing process or what.

I considered trying a different type of blade altogether to see what the FD competition was like, maybe i still will, although i dont break many, just have to change more often..


steve

 

[RoyB]

Hi Geoff.
Both the Hegner and AWFS18 have 2 stroke lengths. Have you tried your saw on the long stroke length? I have the Axminster version and as I only ever cut thin pieces of wood I prefer to keep the machine on the short stroke as the vibration is much less, but if your machine is bolted down it shouldn't make much difference. It is really easy to change the saw over and it should show you in the manual how to do it. If not pm me.
Cheers
Roy

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Steve. Thanks for replying. I am sure the high rate of blade breakage is down to the speed. the blade is not clearing the sawdust fast enough whereas on the Dewalt I am running at an extra 300 strokes more than the Hegner and I think in the 20 years I have had the Dewalt the number of blades I have broken can be counted on one hand. I really like the FD blades. I have tried Olsen and hobbies blades and a few others but in my book nothing compares to an FD, especially the UR blades.

Hi Roy. I spoke to Hegner on the phone and like the manual they assured me the saw is factory set on the long stroke. The Hegner is firmly bolted down to a very strong bench and when I had set it up I stood a glass of coke on the table and there was not even a murmur at full speed. Its a great machine but on 18mm hardwood it struggles, I will have the dewalt back soon and then get back up to speed with my work load.

Thanks again guys for your input.