Go To Bandsaw Blade Size

[fritz eng]

I was watching a well known wood worker who said that his "standard" blade for general cutting is a 1/4" wide 6 TPI blade. He uses the Timber Wolf brand. Curious as to what size blade others are using as their go-to blade. Thanks

[John TenEyck]

On my 14" Delta with riser it's a 3/8" x 4 tpi blade. I can cut the curves I normally want but still resaw 6" stuff. My larger bandsaw is dedicated for heavy resawing and slicing veneer so it always has a 1" x 1.3 or 2 tpi blade on it.

JOhn

[Myles Moran]

3/8" x 6tpi timberwolf on my 12" hitachi. I'll break out the 1/4" x 10tpi for tighter curves/thinner material (rarely cut anything below 3/4") and the 1/2"x2/3tpi for resawing.

[Pete Staehling]

I have been keeping a 1/2" wide 4 tpi blade on my 14" delta and have considering trying putting a narrower one on it and seeing how the re-sawing goes. I hate changing blades. Not sure why i am so lazy about that. I do have a little 9" saw with a 1/8" blade that I can cut tight curves on.

Reading, John's post makes me think about actually trying a 3/8" 4 tpi blade. Cutting curves with the 1/2" is pretty limited.

[glenn bradley]

Certainly it would depend on what your "standard" use of a bandsaw is. I keep a 1/4" on my 10" saw and a 1/2" on my 17" which is almost exclusively a resaw tool. Many people won't resaw with anything smaller than a 3/4" but, I find the 1/2" let's me slice veneers without issue. The small saw will run 6 or 10 teeth. Changing blades takes less time than brewing a cup of coffee so I change to the blade that suits the job. After going through many blades, these two tooth counts seem to meet all my needs. Timberwolf or Olsen PGT seem to work equally well on the smaller saw. Carbide for the larger saw. Your use, and therefor your specs, may vary.

[Erik Loza]

1/2" skip-tooth blade. Rips decently, cuts curves decently, cheap, etc.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

Generally a .5" 3-4T blade is on my MM16 for general cutting including incidental resawing. But what's right for you is based on what you generally will be using your bandsaw for.

[Rod Sheridan]

1/2" X 3 TPI, the other blades I keep in stock are 1/4' X 6 TPI and 3/4" X 2/3 TPI...........The 1/2" blade does most of the work in my shop......Rod.

[Edwin Santos]

I recommend you read over the forum thread linked below on bandsaw blades and selection, and from there you will have the information you need to determine what "standard" should be for you, your type of work, and your particular machine:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....andsaw-blades!

[John K Jordan]

I was watching a well known wood worker who said that his "standard" blade for general cutting is a 1/4" wide 6 TPI blade. He uses the Timber Wolf brand. Curious as to what size blade others are using as their go-to blade. Thanks

Like others said, what are you cutting with your bandsaw? The blade I almost always use wouldn't be useful to some people.

I cut a lot of thick wood up to 12", wet and dry. For me a 1/2" 3-tpi blade is perfect. Someone making a bandsaw box wouldn't use it.

[Robert D Evans]

I like Timberwolf blades. I usually keep the 1/2" 3 TPI on the bandsaw for general cutting. They are more expensive but seem to cut much better.

[Bruce Wrenn]

For me it's a 1/4", 6TPI, hook pattern, bi metal blade, often referred to as "The little blade that could."

[Derek Cohen]

I switch between a 1/2” 3-tpi bimetal for general work, and a 1” 1.3-tpi carbide for re-sawing.

Note that some bandsaws cannot use greater than 1/2”, and the recommendation of these owners will skew the curve.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Darcy Warner]

3/8" 3tpi on all my BS, big saws 30" and up.
Resawing is for the resaw which runs a 3 1/2" 1tpi.

[scott lipscomb]

Ive been switching between a 1/2" 3 tpi and 1" 2 tpi on my 30" bandsaw, depending in the task. They're actually not all that different.