Band Saw Blade Storage

By Tom Hintz

Band Saw blade storage that works, for free! Click image to enlarge

   Band saw blades can be a problem to store in a manner that is safe for the blade and you. Coil them up in a drawer and they may strike out the next time you open it. Hang them on something in the shop and they can be damaged, or damage you when you forget they are there and rub against the exposed teeth.

   Not being fond of bleeding or danger-laden surprises I thought there has to be a better--and simple--way to store band saw blades.

   Having recently completed my new band saw circle-cutting jig I was happily making round pieces out of other shapes when I had an idea.

   I tilted my band saw table to 10-degrees and made another cut; the jig still worked. I found a scrap of ¾-inch-thick by 5-inch-wide pine and set my jig for a 7 ½-inch circle, with the table tilted to 10-degrees. I drilled a hole for the circle jigs pin and cut a pice out.

   After cutting the rounded and beveled profile, I removed the jig, brought the table back to zero and trimmed the end to the desired length.

   A single drywall screw in the center of each piece holds them firmly to my cabinet doors while allowing any undue stress to turn them if I happen to catch a blade with something in the shop. Be sure to attach the blade holders with the taper facing the cabinet door so the blade slips towards the door. I attached the first blade holder to the top of the door, hung the blade on it (teeth in or you negate a big purpose of this whole deal) then, with the bottom holder in the blade I stretched it downwards until there was just enough tension to hold the blade securely. Run the bottom screw in and you are done.

I used my circle-cutting jig, with the table set at 10-degrees. Click image to enlarge.

   The resulting arc of the stored blade is wider than when they are packaged so there will be no damage in that regard. If you have a lot of cabinet doors and blades, you could label each one to make finding a specific blade faster.

   I have tried slamming these cabinet doors, hitting the doors while open and even taunted the blades verbally once when nobody was around, but they never moved from their holders. Problem solved, for free.