Longest lasting bandsaw blade?

[Rob Edmiston]

I am fairly new to woodworking and have had to replace my bandsaw blade more often than anticipated. I will be working on small projects where I will be cutting oak on my bandsaw and need to know what manufacturer makes the longest lasting blades and if there is any particular type I need to look for. I normally use a 72" x 3/8" blade and will be doing some long gentle arcs in 3/4" thick white oak.

Thanks

[Loren Woirhaye]

Such short blades are usually used on band saws with smaller wheel diameters. This results in breakage.

I solder up my own blades from coil stock. The equipment to do it costs about $40 for a blade holding jig, solder and flux. Good for repairing broken blades too. I buy coil stock on ebay.

Rip-tooth band saw blades can be resharpened by mounting them inverted on the saw and grinding the gullets with a moto-tool held in a simple cradle.

[Tai Fu]

Usually bands that short requires special thin blades, and those can't be home welded.

Your options are few unfortunately. Diemaster lasts about 6 months, then it breaks (the blade is still sharp too)

[Gus Dundon]

If you're using a 3 wheeler band saw, blade breakage is a normal thing. I just found out there are manufacturers that specifically make blade for 3 wheeled bandsaw.

One of the problems with some saws use short band is that, due to the small diameter of the wheels, the blades are subjected to greater flexing, hence, blade fatigue/ breakage is likely to happen.

[Bill White]

I've used 73 1/2" blades for a LONG time without a break (watch me have one today).
Correct tension, correct band width and tooth profile goes a long way.
What tooth count are ya using?
Bill

[Loren Woirhaye]

I haven't found 3/8" and wider blades prone to breakage. I break a blade every few months on my INCA 710, which is a 3 wheeler with 10" wheels. The blades are 1/4" wide.

I guess the question would be for the OP, "are you looking for sharpness retention or resistance to breakage?"

[Yonak Hawkins]

Rob, here's a pretty standard chart to determine if you're using the correct blade width for the arc you want to cut :

292713

[Myk Rian]

See if Supercut sells blade stock. I've always had good life with their blades.

[Rob Edmiston]

Sharpness is what I am after. Thanks

[Loren Woirhaye]

You can get "carbide impregnated" steel blades. This hardens the steel around the tips more than standard hardening, in theory. I've never tried them. they are supposed to stay "sharp" longer.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Myk, I've heard that some others got good life out of Supercut blades, Unfortunately, I didn't have the same experience. I bought 5 blades from them and they all broke within a week. One lasted less than an hour. It seems like that would be an aberration but, after I returned the blades to be re-welded, I had the same thing happen again to the re-welded blades. On the positive side, I liked the way they cut but I guess that could be due to the fact that the blades never had a chance to get dull. I have not had any similar problems with any other blades.

[Tai Fu]

You get the best life out of bimetal blades, but unfortunately with a band that short chances are your wheel is tiny, so the blade will break in short order. Lenox Diemaster 2 is pretty flexible and can last a few months on a 9" wheel (note: TWO WHEELED only) but they will still eventually work harden and break before getting dull.

[Curt Harms]

See if Supercut sells blade stock. I've always had good life with their blades.

+1 on Supercut. They make blades for 3 wheelers 3/16" - 3/8" .014" thickness for flexibility with less metal fatigue. Rob hasn't said if the saw is 2 or 3 wheel but it sounds like small diameter wheels either way. There are 3 vendors I know of that only do bandsaw & bandsaw blade business. 1) Woodcraftbands.com 2) Iturra 3) Supercut. I assume someone like that would be better versed than a company with a broad product line.

[Peter Quinn]

I like Olson MVP bimetal blades for a good life versus cost factor on a saw that size. Carbide is the longest lasting but I'm not sure of any available for such short lengths.

[Tai Fu]

The problem with those thin blades is the metal is so soft that the blade is dull by the time you get the guide adjusted.

[Charlie Plesums]

Everyone seems to be worried about breakage, not sharpness. A rule of thumb is that a steel bandsaw blade will be dull in 2-10 hours of use, and few people find it economical to sharpen them. Carbide tip blades last a lot longer, but require bigger wheels - I know one brand that will work on 16 inch wheels, but many brands require a minimum of 18-20 inch wheels. (I ordered two new carbide blades yesterday, 178 inches long)

One person I met was looking for a better bandsaw. He did not know how much use he had on his blade. I convinced him to buy a new blade, and the next time I saw him, he was no longer looking for a new bandsaw - he was happy with his, and a believer that 5 hours is a lot of cutting for a bandsaw blade.

On my small (14 inch) bandsaw, I normally use Timberwolf blades, although some people claim there are other brands that are cheaper and better. On my big (24 inch bandsaw) I use Lenox Woodmaster CT (Carbide Tip) blades.

[Tai Fu]

If you have a 14" bandsaw, get a bimetal blade and they will last a lot longer than steel, that's a fact.

Fact is no one is going to sharpen a bandsaw blade unless it has less than 3 teeth per inch... no machines can do it well. Sawmill blades get sharpened all the time and they usually use steel, but that's because they often have way less than 1 tooth per inch.

[Steve Menendez]

In the bandsaw industry, width, thickness, and TPI are the basic dimensional constraints. For three wheelers and bandsaws with smaller diameter wheels, thinner blades will last longer before breakage. That is, a blade of 0.020" thickness will far outlast a blade of 0.032" or even 0.025" thickness. This is due to the bending stresses which result from passing over the smaller wheels.

Wider blades (i.e. 5/8" versus 3/8") are more suited for cutting straight, as opposed to curved cuts. The width of a blade has no relation to the bending stresses as described above.

TPI depends more on the type of cut being made, and the thickness of the material. As the previous poster noted, it is not cost effective to re-sharpen small blades. It is cheaper to make a new one.

With respect to sharpness, the method of manufacturing the teeth and subsequent heat treatment are main factors. Punched and sharpened teeth are at the bottom of the heap, followed by milled teeth. Grinding of the teeth during manufacturing results in the sharpest teeth. Then, the heat treatment of tooth tips has a huge effect on how long the teeth stay sharp. Flame hardening is better than no hardening. Induction hardening and oil quenching is far superior in terms of quality control and consistency.

Ask your vendors how their blades are made, and where they are made. If the vendor can't answer your questions, that should tell you a lot.

There are some top-notch, made-in-USA blade vendors out there. Some of them are sponsors of this site. If you like this site, please support them.

Other suppliers are simply re-sellers of foreign made bandsaw blades and stock. Just because they have American sounding names doesn't mean that their bandsaw blades are made in the USA.

Steve.

[Myk Rian]

Harbor Freight sells the Supercut blades. You could get a 93 1/2" x 1/4" blade and cut it down for under $12.
http://www.harborfreight.com/93-1-2-half-inch-x-1-4-quarter-inch-carbon-tool-steel-supercut-bandsaw-blade-97109.html

[Yonak Hawkins]

Thanks for the valuable lesson on comparative quality and application of bandsaw blades, Steve. ..But don't be so coy. This isn't a commercial site but an indepent woodworkers' forum. Please name some of the sellers of quality US-made bandsaw blades.

[Rich Riddle]

I use Lenox blades and have had great luck with durability and the blades not breaking. For resaw, I go with Laguna's blade.

[Tai Fu]

You forget that the OP needs the 72 1/2" blade, and most including Lenox simply doesn't work on it. They require special thin blades that can flex around a tiny wheel. Unfortunately they also have poor life because any attempt to harden them would cause them to break early.

[Gus Dundon]

Anyone have tried to use flex back carbon band saw blade for cutting curves?

[Steve Menendez]

Thanks for the valuable lesson on comparative quality and application of bandsaw blades, Steve. ..But don't be so coy. This isn't a commercial site but an indepent woodworkers' forum. Please name some of the sellers of quality US-made bandsaw blades.

I work for a bandsaw manufacturing company in Missouri, but we do not sell directly to the public. We sell through distributors, some of which have been named in this thread. Since I don't have explicit permission to name those distributors, I won't do so. However, I do have permission from one company that we supply blade stock to, who is a sponsor of this site. www.sawbladeexpress.com sells made-in-USA, precision ground and induction hardened blades. I can't vouch for every other item they sell, but the blade stock that we provide to them is as good as any blade stock from anyone.

There used to be 2 other big USA manufacturers that were direct competitors of ours. Both of them (KASCO and Atlanta Sharp-Tech) were bought by a holding company. First, the KASCO plant in St Louis was closed, and the assets moved to Atlanta. Then, all of the employees of the combined company were eliminated, and all of the equipment was moved to Mexico. The manufacturing jobs in the USA were completely eliminated.

I don't want to see any more manufacturing jobs lost to foreign "competition".

Steve.