what is the best band saw blade

[Dennis Nagle]

I bought a 12" band saw tonight but it has a metal blade. What is the best size, type, seller?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dennis you are going to get lots of answers but I have used Timberwolf blades for several years now. I have tried different blades but this does the job for me. I use a 3/8" 3 tpi since I cut mostly green wood. I do use a woodslicer blade from Highland Hardware if I want to resaw some wood.

[Bryan Cowing]

my standard is a 1/4" 6 tpi for general purpose.

[Ken Glass]

Opinions will abound, I am sure . I use the Timberwolf 3/8 3 tpi for roughing almost all my blanks, but I will use a 3/16"" 10-14 tpi for cutting shapes for knife scales, etc.

[John Bailey]

I keep a 1/4" 6tpi bi-metal on the saw 90% of the time. If I'm going to much resawing I change out to a 3/8" or 1/2" 3tpi bi-metal.

[Roger Chandler]

If you are interested mainly in cutting wood blanks for turning.........go with the 3/8" 3 tpi blade.........if you are speaking of general wood working then go with a blade that has perhaps 6 tpi, and the width that will allow you to cut the size curves you think you will be doing.......there is a chart on the back of the package of Olsen blades.......and perhaps some others.

What model saw did you get?

[Dennis Nagle]

It is the Craftsman 12". The guy said it was junk so I got it for $25. All the bolts holding it to the stand were loose, the motor mount was so tight it could not fall and put tension on the belt so it barely ran, and the guild was installed wrong so it made an ungodly grinding noise. After 10 minutes, I had it all straightened out. Today I will take it all apart and goes though it thoroughly and pick up a new blade. It is an older model and has a lot of cast iron parts for what it is.

For now, I just need it for rough cutting so I will most likely pick up a 3/8" 3tpi blade. The blade that is on it looks to be a all-in-one fine tpi so I'll hang that on the wall.

[Reed Gray]

I prefer the Lennox Diemaster Bimetal blades. On my little saw, I have the thicker 1/2 inch by 3 tpi blade, and on the bit saw, a 1 1/4 with teeth about 3/4 inch apart. These are for rough cutting wet wood.

robo hippy

[Thomas Canfield]

The best blade depends on what you are cutting. For a 12" bandsaw, a 1/4" blade might be better due to power. Green wood does require fewer teeth and that usually means aa 3/8" blade . I picked up a 3/8" 4 tooth blade locally at saw sharpening shop a while back while waiting for a 3/8" 3 tooth green wood blade from Highland Hardware and that blade has worked well on both green wood and dry and I have not changed yet.

[Dennis Nagle]

I picked up a 3/8 4tpi blade today only to find out that my tires are shot. I'll get new tires and should be good to go.

[Frank Pearsall]

I've been using the" Woodturner's 3/8 inch Bandsaw Blade" from Highland Hardware. Best blade I've tried for bowl blanks.

[Jeff Gilfor]

I was using the TimberWolf blades, but have since started using Ellis blades. The Ellis blades are just as good (if not better), and they are about $7-8 each (minimum order is $50, so you get about 6 blades for that price). Give them a call you won't be disappointed.

Oh, and for cutting blanks, and general purpose woodturning use, you want 3 or 4 TPI bimetalic blades. For certain woods like Teak, the silica content demands a specialized tooth material (carbide?), but only if you're cutting a lot of it. At $8 each, I can sacrifice a blade on some extra hard wood blanks, and toss it out when it gets dull without getting my wife all pissy with me about more woodworking expenses.

[Robert Mullholand]

what band saw blade do you use for cutting phenolic? it came wiht a zero clearance insert kit for a table saw, but i have to cut rounded ends.

let me know

thx
bob

[Scott Hackler]

Timberwolf here as well. Great blades and hold cow are they sharp. I have to put on a pair of gloves to install them (lesson learned!).

[Robert Mullholand]

Scott, i was looking for a metal or wood cutting blade, i guess i should have been more clear. where does one get this Timberwolf blade? the blades i have are called 80" wood cutting. Sears blades. does Twolf have 80"?

i googled Twolf and found their website. now i just want to know which TPI do i buy??

thx

bob

[Dennis Nagle]

I bit off subject, but what is this about teak??? Does it dull lathe tool edges as well??

[Jim Burr]

I was using the TimberWolf blades, but have since started using Ellis blades. The Ellis blades are just as good (if not better), and they are about $7-8 each (minimum order is $50, so you get about 6 blades for that price). Give them a call you won't be disappointed.

+1!!! I tried a Woodslicer...worst blade ever made. A professional Bandsaw mechanic couldn't get it to track. Picked up some from Ellis...best suggestion I received for blades!

[Reed Gray]

Some woods are harder on cutting tools than others. Woods like Teak and Ipe have high silica ( micro particles of sand) content by nature, and that will dull a blade quickly. Green Black Walnut seems to do that as well. This is where bimetal blades really come in handy, where you can cut way more with one of them because the steel wears better.

robo hippy

[David C. Roseman]

Jeff Gilfor wrote:

I was using the TimberWolf blades, but have since started using Ellis blades. The Ellis blades are just as good (if not better), and they are about $7-8 each (minimum order is $50, so you get about 6 blades for that price). Give them a call you won't be disappointed...

Oh, and for cutting blanks, and general purpose woodturning use, you want 3 or 4 TPI bimetalic blades...

Jim Burr wrote:

+1!!! I tried a Woodslicer...worst blade ever made. A professional Bandsaw mechanic couldn't get it to track. Picked up some from Ellis...best suggestion I received for blades!

Jeff - Was just on the Ellis Mfg Co. web site and didn't see a 3 or 4 TPI bi-metal blade smaller than 1". Is that what you're referring to? They have 3/8" and 1/2" flexback blades with 3 TPI, but they're not bi-metal.

Jim - Which of the Ellis blades are you using for bowl blanks in green wood?

I'll try to call Ellis on Monday; think they're closed Saturdays.

David

[Jeff Gilfor]

Sorry, I am using the 1/2 inch 3 TPI flexbacks for blanks too. Bimetal blades are needed to do a lot of cutting with high silica woods like Teak, but they may not come in smaller than 1 inch widths. I have a 3/4 HP 14 inch saw, so can't really do a lot of heavy hogging on teak; but I have a friend with a monster bandsaw, who lets me use that for bigger stuff. He gets the bimetal blades from Ellis (he also has some carbide tipped ones... very expensive). You have to alk to the Ellis dude when you call. they are VERY helpful. Regardless, they are my new favorite blades; both due to price and quality.

[Reed Gray]

I have been using 1/2 inch bimetal blades since I got my first bandsaw, and I think they can go smaller than that. I think that there are bimetal blades made for cutting metal, and some what different ones for cutting wood. Carbide is for cutting veneers, and not for rough cutting bowl blanks. I tried one out once, and the bimetal actually lasted longer. They just are not made for rough work. I would say that the only real reason to go to less than a 1/2 inch wide blade would be if you are cutting tiny circles and arcs. A 1/2 inch blade can cut a 6 inch diameter round with no problem. I do prefer the extra stability of the wider and thicker blades.

robo hippy

[Jeff Gilfor]

Agreed. 1/2 inch would be the standard size for typical woodturning chores. Thicker blades for resawing veneers; thinner for scroll-work.

I just was not sure that Ellis sells bimetal 1/2 inch blades. I don't honestly think the "flexback" ones are. I do know though, that they are sharp as heck and last a long time with routine bowl blank cutting. Once, I used one to trim the excess off some Cole chuck extensions I purchased. They were some super-duper-hard phenolic resin. Cut the last one (of the four), and then had to change blades, because it got so dull it felt like the blade was on upside down (yeh, like I'm the only one who's done that!!!).

[Gus Dundon]

I have flex back carbon blades ,its Haltbar and I have Timbers too. I usually go for 1/4" blade 4-6TPi .

[David C. Roseman]

Just spoke with Ellis Mfg and ordered some of their blades to try, per Jeff's good experience. $50 is the minimum order, which worked out to six of their blades in the 3/8" and 1/2" widths that I wanted, 3 TPI hook tooth, 105" length. The fellow I spoke with says to expect about 6 hrs. of actual cutting time per blade, give or take. That would be a lot of time at the bandsaw for me. :eek: But we'll see how they hold up to green Black Walnut. Also spoke with him about their bi-metal blades. He thought the 3/8" and 1/2" bi-metal blades they offer would have too many teeth for my purposes (10/12 variable tooth, and 6/10 variable tooth). Also would have to calculate the speed of my saw in fps, as the bi-metal can't be run at the high speeds of many woodworking saws without suffering metal fatigue (micro fractures). Still, with Reed's good experience, I'm going to look further into this.

David

[Reed Gray]

Look in the yellow pages for saw shops, and bandsaw blades. I found the Lennox site for finding their dealers difficult to navigate, but my computer skills are not great. For sure, the teeth on the Ellis bimetal blades are too fine for wet wood, and his may be intended for metal rather than wood. I have had no problems with my blades on either of my bandsaws. I have no idea how many hours per blade I get, but figure it is way more than 6. My 96 inch blades were less than $30. I figure if nothing else, I save hours of time spend changing out dull blades, and then making sure the blade is tracking properly.

robo hippy

[Jeff Gilfor]

Reed: 6 hrs is a boatload of actual wood contact time! I would guess that only a quarter of the time the saw is on is actual in contact with the wood blade time. ^ hrs would likely correlate to about 24 hrs of saw runtime for the average woodturner. Unless you are a production turner, that's probably a month or more of turning every day. At $8 a blade, that's a bargain compared to some of the others out there.

[Reed Gray]

Depending on what I am cutting, my small blades go for a year or more. Really, the bimetal is a better value.

robo hippy

[Gus Dundon]

Carbide tipped band saw blades are great too. Have you tried using hard back carbon blades?

[Harry Robinette]

Dennis
With the price of tires and blades and anything else your going to need I would check Craig's list you can get that same Craftsman saw for $50.00 or$75.00. There are all in running shape.