Bandsaw Blade for Green Blanks

[Joel Albert]

All,

I am looking for advice on which Bandsaw Blades to get to saw GREEN wood for bowl blanks. I will have a Powermatic 14" with riser (105" band blade).

What do you suggest I use?

Joel

[Prashun Patel]

The best blade I've found for my 14" saw is a 3/8" 3tpi hook tooth raker set blade. Any wider is harder to tension on a 14" saw, and is harder to navigate the circle.

I think Woodslicer makes a green wood blade, but I recently bought 10 blades from bandsawblades.com for ~$100 shipped.

[Dale Winburn]

Suffolk Machinery Corporation has both 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch bandsaw blades for green wood, I use the 1/2 inch for my Delta with riser and have been very pleased with the results.

http://www.timberwolf1.com/silicon_steel_selection.asp

[Scott Hackler]

I just use a run-of-the-mill 1/2" blade in my saw. I dont, generally cut blanks totally round but rather just slice off the corners and round it on the lathe. I cant turn a tight corner with that blade, but the extra width gives me a stiffer blade for resawing.

[George Guadiane]

Suffolk Machinery Corporation has both 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch bandsaw blades for green wood, I use the 1/2 inch for my Delta with riser and have been very pleased with the results.

http://www.timberwolf1.com/silicon_steel_selection.asp

STRONG second on this company. First time buyers get a special, go for it!
I buy mine 12 at a time to get the volume discount.

They don't just sell you what you ask for, they ask questions and make sure that you get what you NEED to do the job(s) you have.

[Prashun Patel]

I ain't no Suffolk basher, but I have experienced a bad weld on a TWolf blade. Further, they counselled me wrongly on a diff occasion to get a 3/4" blade for my saw, which I was unable to tension properly. They have a script they go thru, but while the operators are friendly and quick, I wouldn't call the ones I dealt with 'experts'.

If you search this forum, you'll find other stories that corroborate my experience.

I've ordered blades from a number of places including the one I ref'd below. If you order by phone, many places have a person who will guide you at least as much as the Suffolk operators would.

Last, I don't find the quality of Twolf blades anything to write home about.

Just one person's experience here...

[Tony De Masi]

Another user of the Suffolk Machinery TW blades here. I use the 3/8" x 3tpi AS blades. The AS blades are mades specifically for green wood.

[Ken Glass]

One more vote for Suffolk Machinery and Timberwolf blades. Any problems I have had have been immediately addressed. They are also very helpful about what is the best blade for what wood. also I believe thier quality is among the best.

[Reed Gray]

I don't know where you live, but chances are that there is some one near by that can make the blades for you, and if you tell them what you are cutting, they can set you up. They can probably recommend a sharpening service as well. I prefer the Lennox bimetal blades. 1/2 inch by 3 tpi. I believe it is called a Die Master. The thing about the bimetal blades is that they will cut through just about anything, even nails without destroying the blade. They keep an edge a lot longer as well. One friend of mine, who has been production turning for 20 plus years tried one on my advice, and that is what he uses now.

A 1/2 inch blade will cut a circle about 6 inch diameter.

robo hippy

[steven carter]

Another user of the Suffolk Machinery TW blades. I use the 3/8" x 3tpi AS blades. The AS blades are mades specifically for green wood and work very well for me.

steve

[Dennis Ford]

Another user of Lennox diemaster 2 blades here. I cut a lot of wood with my band-saw and the Lennox blades last longer than others that I have tried. I use 1/2" 3 tpi but don't know if your 14" can tension those or not (they are thicker than many other blades).

[Dan Forman]

If you want to get going in a hurry, look around locally for a place that will make blades for you (if you are in a medium to large city, there should be shops that do this). There is a sharpening outfit here that will make blades to order, pick up on the same day. I use a 1/2", two tooth alternate set blade. Cuts fast and doesn't clog. I'm going to try the bi-metals that Reed suggests, but will have to order over the net, nobody sells a course bi-metal blade here.

Dan

[Steve Schlumpf]

Joel - you will get lots of recommendations for specific brands - and they all work - but I would suggest a 1/2" 3 tpi blade. You will want something that is a skip tooth design so that the blade can remove the long shavings from the green blank. I found a 3/8" blade wanted to wander a little and the 1/2" wasn't quite as bad.

One thing - make sure that whatever size blank you are going to round on your bandsaw is flat on the bottom side. If not - no matter how strong you think you are - your bandsaw will slam the blank down onto the table when it comes to that unsupported area - scaring the heck out of you and badly bending the blade! I managed to do that twice within a 20 minute period a few years back! Now I just trim the blank with the chainsaw and round it on the lathe!

Be safe!

[Prashun Patel]

your bandsaw will slam the blank down onto the table when it comes to that unsupported area - scaring the heck out of you and badly bending the blade!


...and bruising my - um one's - fingers.

[Reed Gray]

Dan,
I think you can order them through Fastenall (there is one in Spokane), or I get mine here, ask for Duke. He has forgotten more about bandsaw blades than I will ever learn.

Oregon Industrial Supply
Toll Free: (800) 452-6071
Email: sales@gooregonindustrial.com

robo hippy

[Joel Albert]

All,

Just went over to the Lenox website and got hopelessly confused by the choices--sigh. Can someone provide a quick link to the Lenox model they recomend?

Grin, wonder if they would trade a lifetime of bandsaw blades for a few hours on usability advice!

Oh well...

Joel

[Jake Helmboldt]

Dan,
I think you can order them through Fastenall (there is one in Spokane), or I get mine here, ask for Duke. He has forgotten more about bandsaw blades than I will ever learn.

Oregon Industrial Supply
Toll Free: (800) 452-6071
Email: sales@gooregonindustrial.com

robo hippy

Lennox use to have a dealer finder function on their webpage. Fastenal (here) is pricey. There is another local supplier that will weld them to length if they have the blades in stock, and for much less than most places. I need to get some new blades myself.

[brian watts]

for me i use TW for awhile until i try the woodslicer and will not buy anything else..i buy a few a month.

[Mark Levitski]

Ditto on Woodslicer.

[lawrence michael smith]

As many of you know, I round a lot of blocks. I us 3/8 and 1/2 inch with a TPI count of 2-4 teeth per inch. I am pretty flexible on these sizes because I get most of my blades off EBAY. Always buy 100-200 ft coils and never pay more than $4.50 per blade delivered. I can get them welded for $3.00-$5.00 per blade--thus my final cost is $7.50-$9.50 per blade. At the local wood store blades run about $15-$17 per blade--plus tax. Pretty much a 50% savings.