Meat Cutting Bandsaw Blade

[John Adam]

Guys,

I inherited a band saw. It's home made - a very clever design by my friend's grandfather.

Anyway, it seems as if the blade is somewhere around 78" and the only one I can find of that size is designated a 'meat cutting' blade.

The blade sizes, tooth counts, etc. all seem the same, is there any reason I can't use a 3/8" meat cutting blade instead of one for woodworking?

Thanks in advance...

[Phil Thien]

Many people will be shocked to hear that the WoodSlicer and Blade Runner blades are made from stock originally designed for cutting meat.

BTW, you can have blades made to any length you need.

[Jules Dominguez]

Bandsaw blade manufacturers will custom-make blades to the length you need, and the premium isn't extortionate.
However, if you haven't used a bandsaw before, you might want to get a book that covers bandsaw construction and use and read it before you do anything else. It will cover, among many other things, recommended blade types and sizes (blade width) for various woodworking uses.

[John Adam]

Thanks!

Any recommendations for a place online to by a 'custom' blade?

[Glen Blanchard]

Thanks!

Any recommendations for a place online to by a 'custom' blade?

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/default.asp#

[Bill Houghton]

They're local for me, and have provided good service and great advice; but I am told they're excellent as an online supplier too.

http://www.hastingssaws.com/

[Andrew Joiner]

Many people will be shocked to hear that the WoodSlicer and Blade Runner blades are made from stock originally designed for cutting meat.

BTW, you can have blades made to any length you need.

Phil, You've mentioned Atlanta SharpTech as the source for WoodSlicer and Blade Runner stock so when I read this Charlesworth article I looked at the SharpTech site. The specs on the blades look the same.

David Charlesworth wrote an article about bandsaws and here's what he says:

Meat & Fish Blades

I am fond of using stainless “meat & fish” blades for all my precision cutting. These are manufactured primarily for the food industry. They are thinner and have less set than standard wood-cutting blades. The consequences of this strategy are:
The kerf is only about 1.1 mm wide, which creates less waste.
The surface finish is much smoother than from a blade with regular set. I feel the surface is quite good enough for gluing, but if one wishes to plane it totally smooth, only a few shavings are necessary.
The blades are absolutely useless for anything other than very gentle curves or straight cutting!
An ex-student tipped me off about these blades years ago. We use regular blades for heavy cutting and rough work, but change over for fine work. My current favorite comes from Atlanta SharpTech (sharptech.com or 800-462-7297; the blades are sold as “general all-purpose” blades for the food industry). These are beautifully wrapped and prepared. The back edge has been smoothed and rounded over, a job one usually has to do for oneself with a slipstone. I have to order 10 blades at a time, as they are an industrial supplier. The cost is slightly higher than a wood-cutting blade, but I think these blades are worth it.

Here's the article:
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Precision_Band_Saw/

[Alan Schwabacher]

Another source of inexpensive blades that work well and can be welded to any size you like is
http://woodcraftbands.com/

Note that the prices listed are for quantity 5. Add $1 per blade for smaller quantities. (It's still about the best price around.)

[Jeff Willard]

I have (ab)used hundreds of blades from Atlanta SharpTech over the years, and can't think of any reason they wouldn't do a dandy job for any application in wood requiring a 3 or 4 TPI band. Ripping, resawing, what have you. They are at least as sturdy and durable as any comparable woodcutting band I've run across. But I've never cut any wood with 'em, only dead animals.:eek:

[Phil Thien]

But I've never cut any wood with 'em, only dead animals.:eek:

Are the cut surfaces glue ready?

[Andrew Joiner]

Are the cut surfaces glue ready?

I would think with hide glue or fish glue you'd be fine.

[Jeff Willard]

I would think with hide glue or fish glue you'd be fine.

Hmmm. Frankensteer.:rolleyes:

[David Keller NC]

John - You can also order blade stock as a roll and silver-braze them together yourself. There was an article in (I think) Popular Woodworking about this last year. If you're interested, most issues of Pop Woodworking are available as electronic downloads.

[Jerome Hanby]

Blades for Shopsmith Bandsaws are about 72"...

[Joel Goodman]

The Woodslicer from highland hardware is excellent for resawing -- for narrower blades the Lee Valley work fine. I believe that both can be had in any length you need. Iturra sells a similar blade to the Woodslicer for less $.

[Chris Padilla]

Phil, You've mentioned Atlanta SharpTech as the source for WoodSlicer and Blade Runner stock so when I read this Charlesworth article I looked at the SharpTech site. The specs on the blades look the same.

David Charlesworth wrote an article about bandsaws and here's what he says:

Meat & Fish Blades

I am fond of using stainless “meat & fish” blades for all my precision cutting. These are manufactured primarily for the food industry. They are thinner and have less set than standard wood-cutting blades. The consequences of this strategy are:
The kerf is only about 1.1 mm wide, which creates less waste.
The surface finish is much smoother than from a blade with regular set. I feel the surface is quite good enough for gluing, but if one wishes to plane it totally smooth, only a few shavings are necessary.
The blades are absolutely useless for anything other than very gentle curves or straight cutting!
An ex-student tipped me off about these blades years ago. We use regular blades for heavy cutting and rough work, but change over for fine work. My current favorite comes from Atlanta SharpTech (sharptech.com or 800-462-7297; the blades are sold as “general all-purpose” blades for the food industry). These are beautifully wrapped and prepared. The back edge has been smoothed and rounded over, a job one usually has to do for oneself with a slipstone. I have to order 10 blades at a time, as they are an industrial supplier. The cost is slightly higher than a wood-cutting blade, but I think these blades are worth it.

Here's the article:
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Precision_Band_Saw/

Hmmm, these blades sound interesting but I don't really want/need 10 of them. The finish I see in the article reminds me of the finish I get with my Lenox Diemaster2 bimetal (1/2", 0.035" kerf, 6 tpi, hook style). 1.1 mm is about 0.043".

Looks like a Group Buy could be in order if anyone wants to try one of these.

I just looked it up at Atlanta SharpTeck General All Purpose (http://www.sharptech.com/Content/25.htm) bandsaw blade. They list:

5/8” .020” 4T P
16mm x 0,5mm
5/8” .022” 3T P
16mm x 0,55mm

And they also have a specialty fine-tooth blade:
3/4” .022” 822HV
19mm x 0,55mm

I'm guessing that the 4T and 3T are TPI...not sure what 822HV means. Also 1.1 mm that Charlesworth claims appears to be too high by a little more than double. Indeed, a 0.5 mm kerf (0.020") is very, very thin!! I wonder how that would resaw through 12" of walnut?!

[Phil Thien]

Chris, you can purchase an individual Blade Runner made from Atlanta Sharptech stock (from Iturra Design).

Perhaps buying in quantity 10 direct from Atlanta would save some money. I guess someone would have to call Iturra and Atlanta and compare the prices.

I nominate you, Chris.

Anyone second that?