Suffolk Bimetal baldes

[David Romano]

In my search for the best bandsaw blade, a quest that many of us have been on or are perpetually on, I ended up calling Suffolk. Based on what their website says, I didn't have high hopes for finding what I want. I want a 3/4" wide blade (1" if necessary), bimetal, made for woodcutting, and variable pitch if possible. Sounds impossible right?

It turns out that they have a bimetal (M-42) blade that is 3/4" x .035 with a 2/3 variable pitch and .060" kerf. This is the only blade I've found anywhere that has the 2/3 pitch in the 3/4" width, AND it's even made for wood cutting. Most other variable pitch blades are for metal cutting. This one has their VPC variable positive claw, 6 deg rake which is the same tooth as the silicon steel blades.

The person I talked to at Suffolk say that it is not yet advertised. A 142" blade costs $59.41 and they are available now.

I'll be buying it soon and let you know how it performs. Anyone else own their bimetal blades?

David

[John Thompson]

I don't but I do own Lennox Classic bi-metals in 3/4" 3 tpi which does an outstanding job for re-saw for me. Good luck with the Suffolk and post your findings as I go through about 3 bi-metals a year.

Sarge..

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

I have some Olsen bi-metal blades and yes a 3/4" but haven't had the reason to use it yet.

[David Romano]

David,

I have some Olsen bi-metal blades and yes a 3/4" but haven't had the reason to use it yet.


Hi Ken,
Olson has a 3/4" bimetal with a 2/3 pitch?. Usually the pitch for 3/4" blades is no lower than a 3/4 or a 4/6. I have a Starrett blade that is a 3/4" 4/6 pitch

David

[Phil Thien]

David, it will be interesting to hear what kind of finish you get the the blade once you try it.

My perfect blade would be a VP 3/4-TPI in 1/2" x .025. The closest I've found is an MK Morse in 3-TPI x .025. Great blade, especially after I reduced the kerf. Very fast. But I think the finish would be better with a variable pitch (I get some washboarding in harder woods like wenge).

[David Romano]

Phil,
Yeah the finish is an open question, but this is something that we usually have to sacrifice for tall resaws. Getting a nice finish is less important than getting a good cut though, and there's always post finishing. I have a VP 4/6 that give a nice finish for cutting tenons and resawing up to about 3" in soft wood and 4" in hardwood. I didn't explicitly say it, but I was looking for a blade that can resaw in the range of about 3 " to 12 ". One nice thing about finding this Suffolk blade is that it should be easier to tension than my current 3/4" blade with a 4/6 pitch since the deeper gullets mean an effectively narrower blade. I check my tension with John White's (FWW) shop made tension guage.

Your ideal blade sounds like a Woodslicer/Bladerunner. But are you also looking for it in bimetal? I've never seen it either.


Dave

[Phil Thien]

Your ideal blade sounds like a Woodslicer/Bladerunner. But are you also looking for it in bimetal? I've never seen it either.


Yeah, pretty much a bitmetal equiv. of one of those blades. I've avoided using conventional carbon blades for some of the sandy exotics like wenge, because people say these species are hard even on bimetal and carbide. So I figured the regular carbon blades don't stand a chance, that they'd dull rather quickly.

Not speaking from experience here, though, just a WAG.

I like the MK Morse blade quite a bit. And I do have a drum sander. I guess I've just been spoiled by the finish I get from that Blade Runner.

[Gary Max]

Look at the pricing if you buy a dozen----I save about 30% plus get free shipping.

[David Romano]

I think I have found the ultimate blade

http://www.newbandsawblades.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/huge_bandsaw_blade.jpg

yikes!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David...I want to watch that guy fold that up for storage!

[Chris Padilla]

I've been pretty happy with my Lenox blades (and not so happy with my Timberwolves....).

I have the 1" 2/3 var pitch carbide Trimaster, which is a wonderful blade, 1/16" kerf

I also have the 1/2" 6 tpi hook style bimetal Diemaster2 that does very well, too (~0.035" kerf). I have been resawing lottsa 10-12" walnut on my 20" bandsaw. By my best estimation, I think this is the blade David Marks likes to use on his big bandsaw on Woodworks.