Replies

1. 
   user-148830 | Apr 03, 2008 12:20am | #1

   Coop,
   It's magic. Or at least it seems so. The first time I saw my saw sharpener do it I told him: "Do it again."

   Let's see if I can describe it. I place my hands at 3 and 9 o'clock on the band and hook 12 noon on the edge of a bench. Some folks just put their foot at 12. However you want is fine. Then bring your two hands together. The band will, by itself, start to fold up. You may have to push down a bit on the 6 o'clock section to get everything folded up. But just keep going until it's folded in thirds. Wear gloves.

   Once you get it, it's easy as pie. Until then, it's like unfolding a band saw blade, potentially dangerous. Good luck. Gary

1. 
   cooper1943 | Apr 03, 2008 04:17pm | #3

   Thanks for the help. Much appreciated. Coop.

2. 
   saschafer | Apr 03, 2008 01:05am | #2

   This works for me: Hold your arms out in front of you, with your left palm facing you, thumb pointing up, and your right palm facing away from you, thumb pointing down. Now simultaneously rotate both hands so that their positions are reversed (left thumb down, right thumb up).

   To fold a bandsaw blade, just do the above maneuver while holding opposite sides of the blade in your hands. As you rotate, move your hands closer to each other, and each of the unconstrained portions of the blade will miraculously fold up into a circle, with the portions you're holding forming the third circle.

   And like Gary says, wear gloves (and face protection, too). Every so often, a blade will get away from you, and you can get some nasty cuts on your hands, arms, face, etc.

   If the blade is really long (much longer than you would normally see in a woodworking bandsaw), the process can be repeated: You can take the 3-looped blade and fold it one more time to create a 9-looped blade.

   Here's a video showing basically the same technique, except with a foot and one hand instead of two hands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI1Okb4Vp9Q

   Folding a blade is actually the easy part--unfolding a blade without getting hurt is tricky. Some people just throw the blade away from them and let it bounce around--it usually unfolds itself on the first bounce. Of course, you have to do this on a relatively soft surface to avoid damaging the blade.

   -Steve