Wear testing of saw teeth in timber cutting

Wear of saw teeth for timber cutting has been evaluated with the objective to establish an experimental method for saw steel development. Laboratory test results are compared to wear as determined in a case study. The case study was made on band saw tools, exhibiting abrasive, corrosive, cracking and chipping wear mechanisms. Laboratory tests were performed cutting pine wood using the martensitic saw steel grade, UHB 15LM, hardened and tempered to 1370 MPa tensile strength. The parameters, cutting speed, feed and depth, were chosen to be similar to saw mill conditions. A circular plate with two saw teeth was set up in a milling machine and each tooth was run a total cutting length of 10 000 m, equivalent to a normal 8 h work shift in a saw mill. Wear mechanisms were identified and characterised. The test method was found to simulate the saw mill conditions, and future wear studies using extreme cutting process parameters are possible.