Found out my band saw blade was dull from a cut test, not a feel test

I've been cutting for 12 years and always judged blade sharpness by running my thumb along the teeth. Last Tuesday I had a pork shoulder that kept shredding instead of slicing clean, so I finally did the test my old mentor swore by. You take a piece of scrap paper and try to cut it in a straight line with the blade off the machine, just pressing down. My blade went through like butter for the first inch then tore the paper after that. Turns out the teeth were fine at the tip but duller toward the back where I do most of my heavy work. I switched to a new blade and the difference was night and day, same cut took half the force. Has anyone else used the paper test instead of trusting the thumb feel? I'm wondering if I should teach my apprentice this method too.

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota4151mo ago

Paper test works but check the back teeth too, my apprentice picked it up in a day.

tyler8541mo ago

Back when I was learning this stuff, I remember reading an old forum post where some vet tech mentioned checking the molars on larger dogs especially. Turns out the paper test can miss a lot if the dog is squirming or has a thick coat hiding the jawline. Once I started running a finger along the gumline in the back, I caught issues way earlier. Also, I've heard some people say to watch for drool or changes in chewing habits as a backup clue. It's not a perfect system on its own, but it beats just eyeballing the front teeth. Apprentices pick up the habit fast if you show them the trick, that's for sure.