This woodworker, cutting ash with his Shopsmith Mark V, was using the band saw attachment. He got a bunch of sparks but couldn't find any trace of metal in the wood. Now his blade is cutting poorly and he wonders what to do next.

Someone suggested he may have hit the roller bearings behind the blade because they were gunked up and frozen. Others thought he may have hit the guide blocks. Still others thought there was probably hidden metal somewhere in the wood that he couldn't see.

Everyone agreed, however, that he needed a new blade, that there was no way to redeem the now-damaged blade.