Band saw blades for other than resaw on 20" BS?.

[Peter Quinn]

I recently acquired a 20" Meber BS, and realized I don't know what brand of blades I should choose. I've seen a lot of conversation about which RESAW blade to get, and the consensus seems to be a wide carbide tipped band, Lennox trimaster or resaw king or such. But what about other than straight work? in the 3/16" through 5/8" size? I'm curious which brand of blades the guys with larger saws are using.

For my 14" I typically used timberwolf for the low tension aspect, but this saw can tension pretty much any blade that will fit on the wheels. What do you guys like for curves, both tight and subtle?

[Kirk Poore]

I use a 1/4" 4 tpi blade from Suffolk for all my curved work on my 30" saw. Now, I routinely am cutting 3/4" to 2" wood, not really thin stuff. The blades last a reasonable amount of time, and I've managed to resharpen once using a diamond burr on a dremel tool. (Not sure it was worth it, but it was certainly worth trying once.)

Kirk

[Dennis Ford]

I use a Lennox diemaster 2 (1/2" 3tpi) for cutting bowl blanks from green wood up to 16 inches thick. This is a bimetal blade and lasts much longer than the carbon steel blades that I have tried.

[Peter Quinn]

I use a Lennox diemaster 2 (1/2" 3tpi) for cutting bowl blanks from green wood up to 16 inches thick. This is a bimetal blade and lasts much longer than the carbon steel blades that I have tried.

Dennis, I've been considering a diemaster, and I'm wondering, is the quality of cut better than a standard blade like a flex back or timberwolf, or is the issue primarily greater durability? I understand the trimaster gives a cut very close to a table saw with its triple chip grind carbide, and I wonder is there a performance gain from the diemaster as well?