band saw blades ????

[karl credeur]

hi I have finally decided to order my first real band saw 14 inch grizzly g0555lanv... im looking for some suggestions of blades I understand that the blade that comes with the saw is not much.. any suggestions on a couple or three blades I should have there are so many to chose from I am hoping the experience from the members on here can help me thru the learning curve... again any suggestions brand, size etc is greatly appreciated. thanks

[fRED mCnEILL]

I have had a General bandsaw for 30 years that never cut properly.Resawing a 1 inch wide board ended up with i piece 1/4 in and the other 3/4. Then I watched this video by Alex Snodgrass of Carter products.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGbZqWac0jU. After tuning the bandsaw it cut nice and straight even with crappy blades. Then I ordered a good resaw blade from (Kerfmaster) Spectrum supply. The secret is 3 tpi.Now it cuts smooth and straight. And the blade was $16 VS 35-$40 from other sources. The process of tuning your bandsaw is surprising easy. Took longer to watch the vidro than tune up the bandsaw.

[karl credeur]

thanks so much I watched the video it was very good a lot of good info for a beginner with band saws... it looks like on the smaller saw he used carter guides to replace the regular guides on the saw

[Phil Thien]

thanks so much I watched the video it was very good a lot of good info for a beginner with band saws... it looks like on the smaller saw he used carter guides to replace the regular guides on the saw

Not necessary to get good cuts. All that is required is a decent blade and proper setup of the saw.

Lots of people post that link to the Snodgrass video, which says to run the gullet in the center of the top wheel. I think more people follow the wisdom found in bandsaw books by Duginske and Bird which indicate to center the band itself on the top wheel.

So: (1) Good blade appropriate for the job. (2) Center it on top of wheel, it should ride slightly forward of center on bottom wheel. (3) Apply enough tension (perhaps a notch beyond the factory indicator). (4) Use an appropriate fence if resawing thick stock. (5) Don't feed too fast.

[John Schweikert]

I have the G0555LX for a few years now. Great bang for buck. I've had no issues; it does everything I need. Throw away the blade that comes with it (not really, just set aside for cutting something which may have metal in it). My main blades are Olson 3/8" 4TPI, 1/2" 3TPI and a 1/4" 14TPI. Those cover all my needs. Other people will probably say go for more expensive blades but I don't see the need. Proof is in the pudding. The 1/2" takes care of resawing but I find myself using the 3/8" most for everything including resawing. Only when I need tighter curves do I change to the 1/4". I sharpened the 3/8" myself on an 8" slow speed grinder wheel and the blade cuts better than new. The only time I ever had issues with drift was solved by sharpening the blade after a year of use. Otherwise drift does not exist for my saw. I set the fence to rip or resaw and move on. The saw is a daily used tool in my home shop.

I saw that Snodgrass video and I found some useful tips in tuning my saw.

As said, have the blade centered on the top wheel. Set all the bearings correctly, keep blades sharp and clean of pitch and you should have very good success. You'll learn as you go.

[John TenEyck]

The Snodgrass video is misleading IMO. The guy says not to worry about wheel alignment - that the saw manufacturers have taken care of it. Maybe on a new one, maybe not, but definitely not on a used one. I couldn't get my 14" Delta with riser to track straight until I got the wheels coplaner, which involved shimming out the top wheel a good 1/8". Now it's a dream. I use the standard guides but use Cool Blocks which allows you to get away with some sins you couldn't with the steel ones. IMO, the guides are less important to cutting straight than having a sharp blade that runs true on the wheels. I also use an Iturra Spring which allows me to run a little higher blade tension than the factory one. However, you'll never be able to run at proper tension on these 14" cast iron BS's; about 12K psi is the most you can practically get w/o undue frame deflection, compared to the minimum 18K psi recommended by the blade manufacturers. You can still get nice straight cuts, you just can't saw as fast as you could at higher tension. Anyway, if the saw is set up properly you should be able to set the fence parallel with the miter slot and get nice straight cuts. Adjusting for drift means something is wrong and should be fixed. Your BS will always be a source of frustration unless you get it to cut straight.

I use Olson MVP bimetal blades mostly, 1/2" - 3 tpi most of the time, but also the same two others mentioned above. I recently started using an X-TRA Edge Resaw blade from Saw Blade Express, which looks exactly like a Wood Slicer at 1/3 lower price, and it's great for cutting veneer (very, very smooth) but worthless for resawing thick stock. It has almost no set in the teeth so if the kerf pinches shut at all you're done unless you have a lot of HP. I have a 1.5 HP motor on mine. Do not try to use anything wider than 1/2" on these 14" saws. You can't get proper tension on 1/2" blades, with the 3/4" ones there's no hope.

John

[Jim Finn]

I have a GO555 also and like the saw. Mine has a riser so I purchased new blades and gave away the one that came with it. I get my blades at Grizzly and find the 1/4" blade works fine but I mostly do re-sawing with this saw so I got a carbide resaw blade form Grizzly that works well for me.

[Rich Riddle]

I went to Lenox band saw blades long ago and never regretted it. If you want a resaw blade, then look into the Laguna blade. Here is the link for Lenox:
http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/lenox-lenox-band-saw-blades.aspx

[Curt Harms]

I went to Lenox band saw blades long ago and never regretted it. If you want a resaw blade, then look into the Laguna blade. Here is the link for Lenox:

http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/Category.aspx?category=BAND+SAW+BLADES

Rich, that link takes me to 404 land.