Your favorite place to buy band saw blades?

[Mark Rainey]

I usually order from Bandsawbladesdirect.com but just tried Spectrum. The prices looked better & I decided to try them out and ordered 3 blades for a total of $35 dollars. I was surprised shipping was $16 and tax 3.10. I then got my order and somehow I got 4 blades with a charge of $47 and shipping of $22 plus tax so my order was $73.75. I called them & showed them my original order. Someone promptly returned my call but the man seemed uncertain and asked if I wanted to return the extra blade. At that point I thought it just wasn't work the hassle and said let it go. As indicated in an earlier post, shipping seems on the high side.

[David Powell]

I, too, have purchased from Bandsawbladesdirect before for the Diemaster 2 blades I use. Most recently I purchased from Hastings Saw in San Rafael CA; great customer service.

[Bruce Wrenn]

"Only" thirteen years? Sheesh... LOL

I may pick up a couple for sure. I don't do a lot of band saw work but still hate bands that start to dull noticeably with my light use.

Then don't buy Swedish Steel bands. Sharp out of the box, and then it's down hill

[John K Jordan]

I'm about to acquire a new band saw, it takes a blade length (4258 mm, 167=1/2") that seems to be not so commonly found off-the-shelf. Do you have a favorite place that offers reasonable prices and consistently good welds?

Probably looking for Lenox Diemaster and perhaps a Trimaster carbide blade, because I've had good luck with them. I'm open to other possibilities.

The local Lenox shop I mentioned will make blades to any size. They will make them to the length you request or measure a blade you bring. If not too busy the guy in the shop I use will make them while I wait. The Lenox web site has a list of their shops. The one I use is part of a large industrial gas and welding supply company.

The guy's welds are good. He said if one breaks he will fix or replace it. He doesn't carry stock to make the carbide blades - had to order those but the price was less than I could find anywhere.

JKJ

[roger wiegand]

15 minutes of Google-ing and I can't tell if I have any kind of local source. The Lenox site refers me mainly to plumbing supply places and Lowes when I search for band saw blade dealers, plus Fastenal who will charge me 50% more than what the other sites referenced above charge for the same blade. The one place I suspect might be a source (I've used them for sharpening) has zero web presence, I'll need to call them. I wonder if all local saw blade shops are internet-invisible. I'd be delighted to use someone local.

[Carroll Courtney]

Bandsawbladesdirect gets my vote, here the reason why. I had order few blades for my PM143 which is metal and I also order a blade for PM 87 which is also for metal. The blades came in so I installed the blade on 143 and use it. I was in process of restoring or rebuilding the 87 but wanted the blade on hand so I could take my new to me saw for a test run. Well the test run come several months later, but there was a problem with the blade. When blades came in I only took out of the pizza box size the blade for 143 I never look at the blade for 87. So when I took out the blade for the 87 it was the same blade that is for the 143 but had a tag on it listing the length of the blade for the 87 which I think is little over 144". So made a call to them with my invoice in hand (which I always keep so I don't have try remember) and they commented on the length of time which really was close to being a yr vs few months. I was not expecting anything due to amount of time but give it a try. Well I be dang, in few days I had my blade for the 87 and they told me to keep my extra blade for the 143. These are the Lenox Diemaster blades, yea I know it was their fault. But they made it right, and by the way I also use the Lenox Lube Tube it really works.
Another note: I have also purchase from Ittura Design but no internet only phone call, but you talk to a person who knows BS blades make suggestions

[Carroll Courtney]

15 minutes of Google-ing and I can't tell if I have any kind of local source. The Lenox site refers me mainly to plumbing supply places and Lowes when I search for band saw blade dealers, plus Fastenal who will charge me 50% more than what the other sites referenced above charge for the same blade. The one place I suspect might be a source (I've used them for sharpening) has zero web presence, I'll need to call them. I wonder if all local saw blade shops are internet-invisible. I'd be delighted to use someone local.

I think they are referring to Lenox blades for Porta-band saws which plumbers use.

[Michael Cuthriell]

I use Kerfmaster blades from Spectrum Supply. I originally bought them to try to get away from the high price of Woodslicer. These are 0.022" and cost about half of a Woodslicer. They perform just as well.

[Jim Becker]

Then don't buy Swedish Steel bands. Sharp out of the box, and then it's down hill

Yes, I've come to this conclusion...and have been working through existing "inventory". There was no point in buying new before I used up those I had already purchased. Dimaster will be getting the nod when I do buy more blades, either the 4tpi or 3tpi half-inch bands. The former has a thinner kerf.

[John K Jordan]

15 minutes of Google-ing and I can't tell if I have any kind of local source. The Lenox site refers me mainly to plumbing supply places and Lowes when I search for band saw blade dealers, plus Fastenal who will charge me 50% more than what the other sites referenced above charge for the same blade. The one place I suspect might be a source (I've used them for sharpening) has zero web presence, I'll need to call them. I wonder if all local saw blade shops are internet-invisible. I'd be delighted to use someone local.

Roger,

This is the page that lets you search for Lenox bandsaw blade shops in your area. I put in my zip code and it gives a list - those with the label "Lenox Certified Weld Center" can make blades. At the bottom of the page I see that some listed as "On Site Welding" may also be useful but I don't know what they are not "Certified."

https://www.lenoxtools.com/FindRetai...stributor.aspx

When I type in the zip code 01779 I get this:

blade_shops_01778.jpg

I see most of the dealers are Fastenal which in my experience don't always have the best prices. There are some others further down in the list. The guy at the place I use seems to go out of his way to help me with the blades and the price. Maybe it's because I'm a repeat customer and usually buy a quantity.

Note that parts of their web site are REAL SLOW right now and I got an error at some point when looking for this page. Maybe it's temporary.

JKJ

[Bruce Wrenn]

I use Kerfmaster blades from Spectrum Supply. I originally bought them to try to get away from the high price of Woodslicer. These are 0.022" and cost about half of a Woodslicer. They perform just as well.

Aren't they the same blade?

[John K Jordan]

Aren't they the same blade?

Wow, and half the price for my bandsaw!

[roger wiegand]

Thanks John for the link, I didn't initially find the way to limit the search you pointed out. I ordered a couple blades from bandsawbladesdirect yesterday to get started.

I won't have the new saw until Saturday, so I should have a couple of choices shortly after it arrives. It currently has a huge carbide resaw blade on it that the current owner says is near the end of its lifetime. Got a new 30A circuit installed and rearranged the shop and DC connections to be ready. Now it just needs to stop snowing for a while!

[John K Jordan]

Thanks John for the link, I didn't initially find the way to limit the search you pointed out. I ordered a couple blades from bandsawbladesdirect yesterday to get started.

I won't have the new saw until Saturday, so I should have a couple of choices shortly after it arrives. It currently has a huge carbide resaw blade on it that the current owner says is near the end of its lifetime. Got a new 30A circuit installed and rearranged the shop and DC connections to be ready. Now it just needs to stop snowing for a while!

I've heard that carbide bandsaw blades can be sharpened but I haven't worn one enough to investigate. I personally would try sharpening myself as I do other blades, but with a diamond disk.

[Justin Rapp]

I've have blades direct from timberwolf, https://www.timberwolfblades.com/ and in-person shopping at woodcraft stores. I also have a blade Laguna sent me when I bought my bandsaw.