Bandsaw blades

[LittleBen]

Just thought I should report on the new blades I picked up.

Decided not to buy timber wolf because of the price.

Bought three Lenox carbon steel blades from one of the online blade supply places.

I've only run one of the three yet. A 1" wide, .035" 2tpi blade. It's a woodmaster C.

This thing just eats through whole logs. I'm stunned with the ease of cutting. I've been using mostly 6tpi blades and not done any resawing. Cut several mulberry logs, 8" diameter and they cut like butter.

Also bought a 3/8" 3tpi I thought might be good for staves and cutting risers out and such, and a 1/2" 6tpi.


I will report back on the smaller blades once I run them but they came very sharp and look well made.

So far highly recommended.

Might still pick up one or two of the kerfmaster blades for cutting lams, but honestly I'm not sure the kerf is critical given I'm not cutting lots of expensive wood.

I think the 1" blade has a 1/16" kerf. And the lerfmaster is like 1/32 or so.

Any thoughts on the kerfmaster?

[Mad Max]

Lenox & Starrett Blades
I did machine work and tool and die work for many years, also ornamental Iron work. I bought many blades for cutting steel.
The cheep blades did not last at all ( one or two day,s), the good blades (expensive blades) are worth what they cost.
Carbide is even better.

The wood slicer is a good blade for the cost, not the best , but a good blade.
I do not know what you have, but YOU can tell the difference, so that is good.
Good info ben, Thanks

[Mad Max]

Friction is your enemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any blade will fail if it get's to HOT.............

[scrub-buster]

I've had good luck with Olson blades.  They are reasonably priced.

[Roy from Pa]

I buy my blades at a local saw sales store. They build them from material off a big roll. I get them for $10.00 if I buy six of them. We make a lot of bows in my shop and a blade pretty much lasts a year.

[kennym]

$10 dollars a year ,Roy? You need to cut more glass with em!   :D

[Roy from Pa]

Well ok, maybe two blades a year..  

[JamesV]

I buy my blades from a manufacturer in Jackson, Ms 1/2" blades for a 14" saw cost me 3 for $24

[JamesV]

[fujimo]

if your saw can take a wider blade, try the stellite tipped blades.
they look like a carbide( swaged tips) no need for set, cut beautifully and clean, very smooth cut, cheaper than carbide, and you can resharpen them many times- we get 10 to 14 sharpenings out of a blade!- running at least 4 solid hours on each sharpening.
the very best set tooth blade will only give about 2 hrs run time, with about 2 to 3 sharpenings.

doing the math, considering the higher cost of the stellites, we get a cheaper saw cost per hour using the stellite!

mad max is right- heat is the enemy!!!!
if using a set tooth blade, make sure you have enough set on the teeth, so that the bands back is not experiencing excessive friction and generating heat.

water cooled set ups are the best, but not always practical.
you can wax the blades with bees wax or some similar compound, it will help some!
you can hold a block of wax against the sides of the band while its running- just watch the fingies!!!-      
remove platten insert first, so you dont wreck the blade!