Folks, am I overthinking bandsaw blades?

[Dave Avery]

I am a fan of Lenox blades and despite what was mentioned their prices are usually BELOW most of the other blades if you know where to look. I assume the reference to high prices was talking about the Trimaster which is a carbide toothed blade and one of the best resaw blades.

Try Spectrum Supply, they carry a full line of Lenox blades and the prices are very good. The Kerfmaster is the equal of the Highland WoodSlicer for less money that and the Iturra (I think it is bandrunnner or bladerunner) are the best resaw blades for a 14" "clone" saw. I am in the camp that a 14" cast saw can not tension a 3/4" carbide or bimetal blade correctly, but others will disagree.

Good blades are a must and I agree with those that say replace the OEM blade, nothing worse than trying to learn to tune and use something when you have part of it frustrating you and you may not even realize it.

Have fun and after you get a good variety of blades consider the Carter stabilizer for the saw, for curve cutting with 1/4" and under blades its a wonderful addition.

I use the Lenox Trimaster on my G0513X2 and it cuts incredibly well.

[michael case]

Fastenal will make up blades. I had a lot of bad off-the-shelf blades whapping my thrust bearings. Somtimes an off-the-shelf blade is good the next bad. So if you do buy them keep the reciept and try them out within the return peiord. I've found about roughly 1/4 are bad. Don't be shy, bring em right back. In general I keep a 3 tpi skip tooth raker on my saw since resaw is my thing.

[Lee Schierer]

+1 on replacing stock blade. afraid i can't agree on the t-wolf blades. had 4 brand new blades with defective welds. suffolk people were very nice but couldn't seem to get me a properly welded blade. finally got a lennox (not a high end one) from iturra design that lou welded. solved 90% of my BS issues.

here is one of the t-wolf blades. note the oscillating motion caused by a defective weld:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrxBP8YBKYM

here is the same saw, with non-coplanar wheels thanks to a crummy jet dealer, and a lennox blade from iturra design (note the nickel next to the blade):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67s4qtbxHsk

i know some people swear by t-wolf blades. i have nothing against them, they just didn't work for me. and lou iturra has forgotten more about band saws than most of us will ever know. he is an excellent source of information for anything band saw related. follow his advice and you'll get the most out of your saw.

The second video gives a pretty good close up of the cut quality. Is tehre a blade that gives a better quality surface than the one shown without breaking the bank price wise?

[Victor Robinson]

Those of you who have had not-so-great experiences with the weld on the Timberwolfs - what would you recommend in a similar price range?

[Cody Colston]

I was using Timberwolf blades exclusively but was not satisfied with how quickly they dulled. I got a 3/4" Woodslicer for re-sawing (17" GO513) and could cut 1/16" veneers with no problems at all. It was the first time that I haven't had to adjust for blade drift because there was none. I hated to take it off when I needed to change blades...it was not dull.

Right now, I have a 3/8" Lenox Bi-metal on the saw. I've been cutting bowl blanks and so far, it performs like new. I noticed that it is much thicker than the Timberwolf blades, too.

Yes, the folks at Suffolk are very nice and helpful. Unfortunately, their product is just not that good, IMHO. I won't be using Timberwolf blades again.

[Van Huskey]

Those of you who have had not-so-great experiences with the weld on the Timberwolfs - what would you recommend in a similar price range?

Lenox blades, quality from top to bottom of their line, though I don't think they make narrow blades any more, I think Starret handles those now. For standard sawing the Flexback, for low cost resawing (like the Woodslicer) the Kerfmaster, for serious resawing on a machine that can properly tension them the Trimaster, my only deviation from the Lenox line is I have yet to decide the Trimaster is THE resaw blade since the Laguna ResawKing is excellent AND is easy to get them sharpened. I have had good luck with Spectrum Supply but there are lots of industrail supply houses that handle Lenox stock.

T-wolf is an OK blade and the folks at Suffolk are great but there is just better out there.

[Victor Robinson]

Lenox blades, quality from top to bottom of their line, though I don't think they make narrow blades any more, I think Starret handles those now. For standard sawing the Flexback, for low cost resawing (like the Woodslicer) the Kerfmaster, for serious resawing on a machine that can properly tension them the Trimaster, my only deviation from the Lenox line is I have yet to decide the Trimaster is THE resaw blade since the Laguna ResawKing is excellent AND is easy to get them sharpened. I have had good luck with Spectrum Supply but there are lots of industrail supply houses that handle Lenox stock.

T-wolf is an OK blade and the folks at Suffolk are great but there is just better out there.

Thanks Van. I was expecting your recs would cost significantly more but the Flexback line is fairly cheap.

[Jeff Willard]

Seems that Van and myself see eye-to-eye on just about everything bandsaw related.

[Paul Ryan]

I had similar problems with badly welded timberwolf blades, I wont use them anymore. For more reasons than the welds on the blades. I now use laguna 5/8 shear force for resawing exclusively they are awesome blades. I use lenox blades for general work. Timberwolf blades are easy to get but there are better blades for equal price out there. Woodslicer are nice blades as well. But the laguna is the cat's azz for resawing you can even get carbide blades from laguna for a 14" saw.

[Kevin Groenke]

BC Saw, sells custom blades welded largely from Starrett coil stock, after many years of ~50 blades/year from Suffolk, we changed a couple year ago to BC Saw based on a recommendation from Micheal Fortune. The BC/Starrett combination is cheaper for comparable blades from Suffolk/Timberwolf, the Starrett's stay sharp longer and we've had less breakage - service/advice has been comparable.

BC also sells an MK Morse carbide tipped band that I thought we would compare to the Lennox Trimaster - that was 2 years ago and the Morse blade is still going strong. NOTHING beats carbide for re-sawing - GREAT investment.
http://sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php...47&postcount=2

[Tony Shaftel]

I read Lois Ventura's bandsaw box book a few years back, and in the Sources section in the back of the book she listed Woodcraft Bands, Inc. Next time I was looking for blades, instead of the usual suspects I called them up on a whim and had a nice chat with the guy who owns and runs the place. Haven't ordered bandsaw blades from anywhere else since. He makes them up custom for my 20" and 14" machines; they may be from Lenox stock, I'm not sure, but I'm very happy with them. The website is www.woodcraftbands.com.

[Tom Winship]

In all the comments about the Timberwolf (Suffolk Machinery) blade, are you using the silicon steel or the bi-metal. I am tempted to try a bi-metal for resawing life.