Had a bone saw blade snap mid-cut on a busy Saturday

I was working a whole hog breakdown at the shop last month and the bandsaw blade just let go halfway through a hind leg. Had to stop everything, fish the broken pieces out of the meat, and swap blades while customers waited. Anyone else had a blade fail at the worst possible time?

3 comments

3 Comments

williams.sage6d ago

Tbh that's pretty much every butcher's nightmare right there. First thing I'd check is blade tension, most guys run them too tight and that's what causes the snap. Also if you're breaking down whole hogs, switch to a 1 inch blade with a 3 tooth per inch pattern, it handles the bone way better without binding up. Another thing is make sure your guides are set right, if they're loose the blade can twist mid cut and just let go. Keep a spare blade on standby too, that way you're not digging through a drawer while the counter fills up.

ruby_jones6d ago

Hang on, you had to pull broken blade pieces out of the meat right in front of customers? That's the kind of thing that gives a butcher nightmares for a week. I'd have just wanted to crawl into the walk-in and hide until closing time.

ryan_barnes6d ago

Wait, you had to fish metal shards out of a hog leg mid-service? That's like a surprise metal-detecting game nobody asked to play. I've had blades snap on a quiet Tuesday and it still felt like a personal attack from the universe. At least you got a built-in excuse to charge extra for "artisanal bone-in experience" or whatever we call it now. Hope your spare blade was within arm's reach though, nothing worse than playing hide and seek while the clock's ticking.