Rant: new band saw blade snapped mid-shift and I almost lost a finger

Yesterday I was breaking down a 40 lb pork shoulder and the blade just let go with a bang, no warning at all. It whipped around and smacked the guard so hard it dented it, scared the crap out of me and my apprentice. I had to stop everything, fish the pieces out of the meat, and swap in an old blade I'd been meaning to replace for weeks. Has anyone else had a blade fail like that on a busy day, or am I just cursed with cheap metal?

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taylor.hayden1mo ago

Same thing happened to me with a brisket a few months back. The blade popped right where it was welded together, no warning at all, and I had meat everywhere. I started keeping a spare blade already tensioned and ready to go on a shelf near my station, so when one goes bad it's a two minute swap instead of a whole production. It still scares me every time it happens, but at least I'm not losing half my shift to it now. You got the pieces out without cutting yourself, so that's something to be thankful for.

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