Pacific/Hoe Saw & Knife Company

Band Saws

Band Saws The bandsaw steel that Pacific/Hoe uses is unique in that only a handful of companies in the world are suppliers of this very special material.

Pacific/Hoe's rigid quality control procedures go into effect immediately upon receipt of the steel. It is checked for proper chemical content as each coil is accompanied by its own individual spec sheet furnished by the steel supplier.

Equally importand are the steel's physical characteristics which also receice Pacific/Hoe's rigid inspection checks for hardness, flatness, thickness and straightness of each coil. If any of these physical properties are not met, Pacific/Hoe refuses the shipment. To do otherwise would result in an inferior product which would not live up to our Commitment to Quality.

Quality Control
During production each process and step is thoroughly checked before Pacific/Hoe releases the saw to the next operation. This is because no mistake in manufacture can subsequently br rectified in the making of the quality band saw that we are willing to certify to a customer. When a new Pacific/Hoe bandsaw is finally crated, it is the best bandsaw available anywhere.

Tooth Punching
After the steel has been cut from the coil stock to the proper length, the first operation to be undergone is tooth punching. All initial shaping is done at this stage whether the saw is to be a single cut, double cut or slivertooth bandsaw.

Welding
In the next stage of the process, the toothed steel strips are taken into the welding shop where specially trained Pacific/Hoe personnel butt-weld the saws, anneal the welded area, dress the welds and closely inspect the saw.

Tensioning
After welding the saws are carefully tensioned and levelled prior to the teeth being gummed and fitted. In the case of smooth back saws, the back of the saw is ground at this stage also.

Shaping and Gumming
When the saws have been tensioned and levelled they move on the fitting and gumming process. Here the teeth are swaged to their proper shape and the saws are gummed. The avoidance of case hardening the gullets is essential. Every element of the Pacific/Hoe process is engineered to get proper gullet shape without adding the burden of case hardening. During this process, Pacific/Hoe adjusts the grinder so the wheels take a light cut; this requires several passes, but the superior quality and absence of any case hardening is well worth the extra time it takes to keep from removing metal too rapidly. We know that the slightest case hardening will cause gullet cracks to start. When fitting and gumming is completed many saws will require a trip back to the tensioning bench before moving on to final heat-treat.

Pacific/Hoe originally helped develop special grinding wheels for gumming, not only for our own use, but because many of our customers came to us for advice on gumming in their own filing rooms. As a result, we now sell these wheels as well as use them in our manufacturing plant.

Final Heat-Treat
Many other bandsaw manufacturers will consider their saws finished and crate them for shipping after they have been ground and tensioned. Pacific/Hoe has learned that a final application of controlled low temperature heat gives the saw the last full measure of quality. This low temperature heat-treat results in a saw with noticeable stiffness which causes the saw to run truer and hold its tension longer. Another benefit of the stiffness is that it reduces the possibility of crate bends.

More Information
Pacific/Hoe provides a free, comprehensive bandsaw brochure to customers. The brochure contains helpful information and diagrams on how to fit saw teeth, figure proper strain, determine proper thickness and more. It also includes charts for most common widths, gauges and toothspaces as well as a specifications listing of most makes of mills and machines and actual sized drawings of all of the standard dies for bandsaw teeth with their specs and identifying letters.

Click here to order your Pacific/Hoe Bandsaws brochure or go to our Locations page to get the telephone number of the Pacific/Hoe facility in your area.