Bandsaw blade selection

Ned Bulken

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Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
OK gang,
With warmer weather on the 'near horizon', I'm thinking about placing an order for some blades for my BS. Suffolk has their buy 3 get 1 freee deal running still, but the question is what sizes... and what length blade.
I"ve got the 14" HF with a riser block installed if you remember... I'm sure they'll know what length, but please remind me if you know.

As for sizes, I was thinking of one each of 1/8, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2". I'm planning on the 1/4 and/or 3/8 for 'general' use, and the 1/8 for some bandsaw boxes and such. 1/2 for some limited resaw duties; I fully realize that I don't have a powerhouse saw but I'd like to give it a try. I have a couple of really nice maple boards which I'd like to get the most out of, and a bookmatch with the curl that is there would be special indeed.

IIRC the 1/4 twolf blades can make some pretty tight turns, so I might skip the 1/8 and go with a 3/4 for resaw, but again, I'm not sure that I could drive that much blade with my stock motor.
 
Ned, I'm about to install the riser on my Grizzly and will have to do exactly what you are asking about.
Here is my advice, and what I am going to order: One 1/8", two 3/8"X6tpi; and one 3/4"X4tpi.
I have found the 3/8" to be a very-very versatile blade. My friend, who has a large MM and does my cutting down of big hunks to manageable size for me, uses the 3/8" almost exclusively.
I don't see much point to the 1/4" blade.
 
I believe you're looking at 105" blades with the riser block.
My experience with resawing is a bit limited, but the 3/4" blade will serve you better because it will track more consistently through the wood. I just ran a 1/2" blade to resaw some 9" wide QS sycamore - it was a fairly frustrating experience. I switched to my 1" blade (same tpi) and things went much better. I'm using a Crescent 20" saw for resawing, which is great, except for the 1 hp motor driving the wheels. It works fine, but the feed rate is slow or the saw bogs down. That said, i've resawn 10" black walnut, 9" red oak, the sycamore i mentioned, and 8" mullberry - all with good results. More hp would be better, but you'd still need to be careful on the feed rate or you could heat up the blade, ruining the temper.
I think you'd be fine resawing on your saw - doesn't it have a 1-1/2 hp motor?
About the blades, for resawing, i'd go with the 3/4" with 3 or 4 tpi. Sounds like you've got a good handle on the others.
Another good resource will be Timberwolf. When you call them up, tell them what you plan on doing. I'm sure they will have useful suggestions.
Have fun with it.
Paul Hubbman
 
Paul, Suffolk machinery is Timberwolf.
I prefer the 4 tpi on the 3/4" because I have had catches with small (under 1" thick) pieces using a 3 tpi. The 4 cuts great, and, as you said, tracks very well with a 3/4" blade.
 
I just looked on HF's site, but they don't list the motor HP. I'll check when I get home. As Frank said, Suffolk is the source for Timberwolf blades. My mentor's old 12" craftsman perked up nicely when we put them on it, so I'm certain that they'll do just as well on this machine.
 
with an underpowered saw or fat wood less tpi work better `cause the motor dosen`t strain as much.
for general purpose work 4tpi is what i use.
i can cut a 3/4" dowel out of a 1x using a 1/4"x4 blade.
for resawing straight lines more body behind the teeth helps.
remember.....bandsaw blades are a disposbale item, the tips of the teeth will dull sometimes after only a couple of boards, so buying expensive blades may or may not be worth your money?
bi-metal blades all seem to last about the same to me and i use a feeder so my tests have some validity.
carbide is worth the money for a production shop but is not for anybody who cuts wet wood or bark.
 
Ned,

Good information so far. Suffolk sounds like the source. I have mostly bought Olson PRO because my source here handles them. I have one 5/8" Timberwolf that I have not used yet.

May I suggest using:
3/4"x3T for your resawing only,
1/2"x6T for general straight cutting,
1/4"x6T for larger shape cutting,
1/8"x10 or 14T for your intricate shape cutting.

Actually I use my 1/2" and 1/4" the most.

I have 3/8" and 5/8" blades that I never seem to use. No sense in spending for something that will hang on the wall gathering dust.

I recently acquired a blade welder so I am going to experiment with that for a while. I cut both metal and wood (on different saws of course) so making blades from bulk rolls is cheaper, but I have to learn how to do good welds first.

Aloha, Tony
 
I got a quote from Rockler on the blades I need 111" for my Rikon 14" Deluxe they want $35

from Suffolk they want $22

I asked for the price for the 3/8" & 1/2" 3TPI
 
LOL :rofl::rofl:

Frank,
LIke I didn't start out confused?

Seriously, thanks to All who have (or will) Chime in, this is why FWW is my primary forum I visit. Good info without the sniping about a particular brand or model.

I think I'm going to go with 1/8 x 14 for bandsaw boxes and detailed kinda stuff, 3/8 ?/in for general usage 1/2" just to have and 3/4 4 tpi for resaw.

I'll also buy another blade just for roughing out blanks, I forget if it was on Highland woodworking or another vendor, but they have it 'geared' for wet wood and chip clearing.
 
...I'll also buy another blade just for roughing out blanks, I forget if it was on Highland woodworking or another vendor, but they have it 'geared' for wet wood and chip clearing.
For wet wood, I think the one you're recalling is the 3/8" or 1/2" Timberwolf with the 3tpi AS (alternate set) teeth. Goes through green wood like it's buttah. :)

For resawing on my 14" w/riser saw, I've tried the 3/4" resaw blade recommended by Suffolk, and it was not nearly as smooth of cut as the 1/2" Woodslicer from Highland Hardware. The Woodslicer is more expensive, but worth it for my limited amount of resawing. Aside from the fact that it looks cool, I've not been real happy with any of the 3/4" blades I've tried on my saw.

Lastly, Lee Valley sells the "Viking" blade which they say was formerly known as the "TimberWolf". Their prices on single blades are a bit lower than Suffolk's, although with the "buy 3 get one free" deal Suffolk offers, they probably even out in the wash.
 
I just bought a new bandsaw - and I wanted a good starter set of blades.

Quite simple - really

I called Suffolk Machinery - I talked with Tom.

I told Tom what I wanted to do.

Tom, Spec'd out 5 blades for me.

I got the buy 3 get one free deal - so that was 4

I also wanted a metal cutting blade. - so that made 5

I also got a blade with the saw - so that makes 6

Now I am all set for blades.
 
Ned,

I have a 14" saw with a riser block. My experience is much like Vaughn's: I just haven't been happy with any 3/4" blade I've put on there. With a half inch blade, it tracks fine, no drift, life is good. 3/4"? Drift, doesn't track well, ugliness. Ruined some purpleheart that way. In fact, trying to properly tension the durned 3/4" blade, I quite literally broke the saw, and it took a while to get parts to fix it. Now I don't go above 1/2", and I love my saw.

Of course, that's just me, and as we all know I'm a complete doofus. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it worked well for other people... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
I think you'll find that a 1/2" blade will tension better on a 14" band-saw with riser DAMHIKT. What has been recommended as far as 3 or 4 TPI is right on. I use a wood slicer for dry wood & was amazed at the difference when re-sawing. Believe it or not your saw does have some flexibility it isn't completely rigid & you don't want to over stress the tension spring which is what you can do with a 3/4" blade.
 
Wisdom there from Tod and others.

I agree with the suggestion to call Suffolk. When I first learned of them, back whenever, I called about blades for my bandmill. The guy spent an hour on the phone with me, discussing sawmills in general, blade design, pros and cons, offering recommendations, etc., and I felt like I'd just taken a course. I bought some bands from them, and they were great. I now use them exclusively on my G0513 bandsaw as well.

As for size, you started out with a good range...maybe instead of a 1/4 get a 3/4 for resaw...or two 1/2"...I never could see the value of the 3/4" for resaw, and haven't had anything wider than 1/2" on my saw for quite awhile. I'd get two of those for that reason.

Then see what works for you. You can please some of the people all the time, etc..... Regardless of all the good advice available here, you still have to pay the tuition of personal experience...which we all want to hear about and learn from of course.

Cheers.
 
Not to hijack, but Tod where do you get your blades?

He once told me he gets from Ellis. They are lower price and, according to him, good. As I recall, they require a fairly substantial minimum purchase. Plus, I didn't understand all their product descriptions as they specialize in metal cutting blades and use some shop talk I'm not familiar with.
 
Just to add to the confusion Ned...I used to have a HF 14" without the riser. I could never get it to resaw well. After getting interested in Duginske's book, I bought a bunch of blades - 1/16, 1/8. on up to 1/2". What a waste of dough, The small blades, including 1/8" don't last at all.

You've seen my PM 141. There were some articles in FWW a few years ago about tuning a bandsaw, and bandsaw blades. The author recommended 1/2" 3 tpi for most everything, and a 1/4" for the rest. He recommended BCSaw.com. His contention was that bandsaw blades wear out quickly, and that there is better value in an inexpensive good blade than an expensive great blade. So for about $100, I bought 10 blades from BCSaw, and have been very happy. But I also hat changing blades.

I agree that tensioning a 3/4" blade will overstrain your machine.

One last point, is that BS blades are not like buying a good carbide TS blade, which lasts for years and is easy to change. They don't last long, and really should be considered disposable.

Good luck with your decision.
Ken
 
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