Longest lasting bandsaw blade?

[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-...ade-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.