How can I animate a bandsaw blade?

Question

I would like to model a bandsaw blade cutting into a piece of wood. I don't need/want to model the whole saw. I just want to see the blade (a continuous band) rotate/spin around in an oval as it approaches the wood. How can I animate this?

I have shaped a cube into a long, thin mesh for the blade. I thought I could parent the blade to an empty, have the empty follow a curve (an oval), and then add a curve modifier to make the blade into an oval.

This didn't work as I had hoped. I've added a link to a screen capture to show what happened.

https://whitanderson.com/blender/bandsaw/index.html

I am using Blender 2.8.

Thanks for any help you can give me in understanding what did happen, and how I can create the animation I would like.

--Whit

Answer 1

You can do it as explained by Jackdaw, except you could begin with an Array modifier:

• Create your module object.
• Create your blade profile with a curve.
• Put your object on the curve.
• Give your object an Array modifier. To get the exact amount of iterations you can choose Fit Type > Fit Curve and choose your curve as Curve. Or you can simply choose Fixed Count and set the right Count value. Choose the good axis in the Relative Offset field.
• Give your object a Curve modifier. Choose your curve as Object.
• Now to animate your blade, move your object on the Y (or X) axis.

Answer 2

Your saw blade mesh should use the same position as the curve as a resting position. The blade should be aligned to the Deformation Axis (X by default).

When you then animate the blade mesh object position along the Deformation Axis (X), the blade will move along the curve.

One extra note: This doesn't work well with the Bounds Clamp option on the curve.