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I can't imagine why a plastic insert could cause this. I have the standard aluminum one that came with my saw and I have hit it many times, hard too, gashed the thing.

This sounds too me like the blade was somehow pinched. That is why I asked. One thing I learned from watching Borsen videos was the use of a sacrificial backing, glued to the billet to keep it from warping.

Mike on the laguna the insert is a square at least 3/4" thick. What I think happened but it was too fast to know for sure. I was slicing a 6" x 6" block into 1/8" slices for rosettes. I may not have had the piece flat on the table but at initial contact with the blade it grabbed the wood and slammed it down into the insert which in turn cracked in half weding the wood between the hole and the blade.
Scared the living s@#$ out of me but no injuries or damage other than the insert. The insert is already cut 1/2 way across it's width.
The new insert is 3/4" ply that I coated with CA

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
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1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

The short of it...in my case atleast - I think I wasn't paying as much attention as the task required. Pure and simple.

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

Could this be a case where a "well made" insert was made a little too well? My stock Jet insert is perhaps 0.1" thick. All aluminum. It has been attacked several times (inadvertantly) by 1" blades with no repercussions (save a slightly mangled insert).

Yet, as I utter this words, I seek a piece of solid wood to knock on...

Mike

I can definitely say in the case of the Rikon insert that this is not a case of made 'too well'. I wish I had snapped a photo of that piece of brazilian sticking out of the hole in the table top. The insert collapsed inwards. The cause of that failure, now that I write this, I guess, could have been something other than the quality of the insert.

I really just feel as though I wasn't mentally situated before I began that run. I think I could have prevented this if I were more in tune with what I was doing. Admittedly, I was excited to see what this brazilian revealed because it was my first headstock overlay run. I've never seen anything like the first bookmatched set produced and got even more excited. When I started sending the wood back through the second time...that's when it happened.

I've had instances in the past (mostly in Cocobolo) where you start to push a billet through the blade and it suddenly, for no apparent reason, wants to lurch forward. This sudden increased feed rate shocks the band a little and it makes an insane noise. I try to avoid this situation by being extra aware of what the saw sounds like all the while adjusting feed rate accordingly. Some woods you can zip right through...some you have to watch like a hawk.

I've been over this in my head a 100 times cuz I don't want to experience this again. Plus, I don't want to ruin any more wood.

Chris

_________________
There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

Chris, I just do not feel u have reached the bottom of this, and I hope it's just a general issue we can all learn from (once we know the root cause). I strongly recommend posting this on a site like sawmillcreek.org to assure this is not a machine generated issue rather than a "technique" issue.

Good explanation Todd. See ya soon.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Thanks Todd... I never knew, but do now. This has been a very usefull and informative thread. Thanks to all who contributed. I still consider my bandsaw the safest sawing tool in my shop, but nothing is 100% safe.

Mike