Can I run 3/4" blades on Delta 14 BS?

[Harvey Pascoe]

Can I run 3/4" blades on my Delta 14 Band Saw? If so, is there any real benefit? I mainly slice veneers. Looks to me like it will just barely fit on the tires. Am I asking for trouble?

[Prashun Patel]

I have a 14" Grizzly that I tried to run 3/4" on. I was never happy with it. Could not tension it properly.

I've been able to resaw just fine with a 1/2" or even a 3/8" blade. But that's at 3-4 tpi. I'm not sure what yr using for veneers.

[David Kumm]

Harvey, What 3/4" blades do you intend to run? The lenox trimaster uses a thicker band for blades wider than 1/2 and really needs more tension than your saw will provide. The 1/2" trimaster is maxing out your saw now. Some say it can be done and I can't argue. My laguna LT18 could barely handle the 1/2 without the frame starting to flex which screws up the tracking. The trimaster runs well at 15000psi, better at 20000 and with my saw best at 25000. Depending on the spring on your delta, you may get to 15000+ or not. Delta upgraded their springs but I am not sure when. Louis Iturra has info regarding that. I don't want to get into the tension thing but if you can make a 3/4 blade work, buy a lottery ticket because you are lucky. Dave

[Harvey Pascoe]

Thanks, that's what I suspected. 1/2" works just fine for me except when blades get dull and then they wander, but other than that no real reason to change. I also have the 6" riser so it might get even more hinky.

I'm laughing at the idea of 3/4 trimaster, that would scare the hell out of me after my recent incident. Don't want bigger shark teeth!

[David Nelson1]

I had a 3/4 om the 14' Jet it owrked OK for resaws less that 5 inches, but as many have eluded to, it was marginally tensioned correctly. Switched to a 1/2" blade everything is great.

[Curt Harms]

Maybe 1/2" bimetal? That should get you good blade life without the cost and complications of carbide. There are 1/2" 4 TPI blades that should wear better than carbon steel and are still .025" thick. Woodcraft Bands sells a 1/2" bimetal that that is .032" thick. I don't know if a 14" cast iron saw would tension that correctly or not.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Even if your saw can tension it correctly, it still has a wider kerf than pretty much any 1/2" blade, and all that waste adds up when doing veneers. Unless you are resawing very wide veneers, I think you are better off with a quality 1/2" blade.

[Howard Acheson]

The optimum rip or slicing blade is a 1/2" blade. 14" band saws have a crowned tire and wider blades are not supported properly. They sort of hang over the edges. This causes the blade to not run cleanly and will result in not getting the best surface as it cuts.

All the band saw gurus will recommend a 1/2" x 2-3 tpi skip tooth blade for the best ripping.

[Harvey Pascoe]

So tell me about bi metal as I don't know a thing about them. I see 1/2 x 020, that's really thin. Price good too. What's the best tpi for resinous tropicals?

[Rick Fisher]

Harvey.. it depends on how you like to cut veneers, but 3 teeth per inch is what I use and its a good all around blade. Right now I have a Tri-Master installed, but have a resaw king in a box .. both are 3 tpi.. If you have a sander to clean up the veneers afterwards, its a great combo..

[Lee Schierer]

Can I run 3/4" blades on my Delta 14 Band Saw? If so, is there any real benefit? I mainly slice veneers. Looks to me like it will just barely fit on the tires. Am I asking for trouble?

I have a Delta 14" BS and I have a 3/4" blade that was given to me by a manufacturer that I ran across either through this site or another that I visit. He was touting his thin blades (0.022") and when I went to his web site I noted several mis-spellings and called it to their attention. In return they shipped me a free 3/4" BS blade for my saw. The blade came and it sat in my shop for several months before I had a need to resaw anything. I took the blade out of the package several weeks before I had a chance to use it and failed to keep the name of the manufacturer. I tried it and it did an excellent job. The only problem I noted is that the blade is a bit too long for my saw and the tension slide bottoms out before I can fully compress the tension spring. Even so it did an excellent job of cutting and stayed true to the line much better than my 1/2" blade and the quality of the cut was better.

[lowell holmes]

I consider 1/2" blades to be the maximum to run on my 14" Jet. A 3/4" blade will run on it, but like David said, it's marginal.