My head is spinning.... What bandsaw blades to get.

[Richard Dragin]

I run the Timberwolfe blades also and have been very pleased with them. I have purchased through Constitution Saw and Suffolk of Washington. Both have been very helpful and will recommend blades based on your needs.

There is no one magic blade to do everything and getting the right blade with a good setup makes your bandsaw work the way you dream about. Figure what you plan on cutting and let those guys help you determine the best blade for the task. Then it's up to you to use the information from your books to get proper tension and alignment. After you try a few differant blades the learning curve smoothes out and you'll be an expert, posting on here like the rest of us.

[glenn bradley]

Thats what I get for reading to much, I read that a 14 inch would not handle a 1/2 blade, so I guess the 1/2 would be the best for resawing.

Thanks Jim..

I ran a 1/2" 2-3T Timberwolf on my old 12" C-man. The current owner is still running that blade.

[Greg Cole]

Howard, I have the Bandsaw book by Lonnie Bird and am reading it. The problem is I just get so over loaded with information after awhile I still don't have any idea what I am doing.

Bill,
If you take your BS book in the shop and stand in front of your saw that might help. Many of the pics-terms etc are sort of general so if you can see exactly what the book is referring to on your specific saw, that might be more helpful.
My wife bought me the new Duginski book for Christmas (she knew I just got a new BS, but didn't seem to remember I had one for a year or so, sold it and replaced it). It's a good book and honestly, I picked up some from it after having a BS for awhile it was a bit easier to get through. I wouldn't have bought it, but that's mostly from me not being a "text book" style guy....
Cheers.
Greg

[Wilbur Pan]

Hi Bill,

You may be overthinking things. Bandsaw blade selection really isn't that hard. There are only two things you need to keep in mind.

First, for long straight cuts, you'll want a wider blade. A 14" bandsaw should be able to handle a 1/2" blade, which most would say is as wide as you can go.

Second, the thinner the wood, the more TPI you want, and the thicker the wood, the less TPI. That's why for resawing, a 3 or even 2 TPI blade will work well. But for making basic cuts in 4/4 stock, a 6 TPI blade will work better. A good rule of thumb is to try to have 4-6 teeth in the thickness of the board, which is why scroll saw blades have such fine teeth.

If I picked out my three most commonly used blades, it would be a 3/4" 2-3 variable TPI blade for resawing (my bandsaw is a larger one capable of dealing with a 3/4" blade), a 1/4" 6 TPI blade for tighter curves in boards 1" thick or less, and a 1/2" 6 TPI for long straight cuts in boards 1" thick or less. Out of these, the 3/4" 2-3 variable TPI blade gets used the most by far.

In your case, you would want a 1/2" 2-3 variable TPI blade (or a 1/2" 3 TPI blade), since a 14" bandsaw won't be able to deal with a 3/4" blade. Add on a 1/4" 6 TPI blade and a 1/2" 6 TPI blade, and you'll be able to cut anything unless you are making very tight curves, or stock thinner than 1/2" or so.

All of my blades are Timberwolf blades, from Suffolk Machinery.

[Jerome Hanby]

My Shopsmith 11" bandsaw runs a 1/2" Timberwolf with zero problem...

Thats what I get for reading to much, I read that a 14 inch would not handle a 1/2 blade, so I guess the 1/2 would be the best for resawing.

Thanks Jim..

[Tom Henderson2]

Hi Bill,

You may be overthinking things. Bandsaw blade selection really isn't that hard. There are only two things you need to keep in mind.

First, for long straight cuts, you'll want a wider blade. A 14" bandsaw should be able to handle a 1/2" blade, which most would say is as wide as you can go.

Second, the thinner the wood, the more TPI you want, and the thicker the wood, the less TPI. That's why for resawing, a 3 or even 2 TPI blade will work well. But for making basic cuts in 4/4 stock, a 6 TPI blade will work better. A good rule of thumb is to try to have 4-6 teeth in the thickness of the board, which is why scroll saw blades have such fine teeth.

If I picked out my three most commonly used blades, it would be a 3/4" 2-3 variable TPI blade for resawing (my bandsaw is a larger one capable of dealing with a 3/4" blade), a 1/4" 6 TPI blade for tighter curves in boards 1" thick or less, and a 1/2" 6 TPI for long straight cuts in boards 1" thick or less. Out of these, the 3/4" 2-3 variable TPI blade gets used the most by far.

In your case, you would want a 1/2" 2-3 variable TPI blade (or a 1/2" 3 TPI blade), since a 14" bandsaw won't be able to deal with a 3/4" blade. Add on a 1/4" 6 TPI blade and a 1/2" 6 TPI blade, and you'll be able to cut anything unless you are making very tight curves, or stock thinner than 1/2" or so.

All of my blades are Timberwolf blades, from Suffolk Machinery.

Hi Wilbur-

I was delighted to see this thread as I have the same question. New-to-me 12" BS and wondering about blades.

The blade width and tooth count I understand.

But where I fall off the turnip truck is when the tooth design issues come into play -- "positive claw", "alternate set", Raker, etc.

Any comments that might help us newbies out?

-TH

[Bob Stegemann]

I've used a 1/2" blade on my 14" Jet for sometime it worked well. I just started using a 5/8" Olsen blade for resawing and it is great. Not only does it work great it cost half the price of the 1/2" blade.

[Wilbur Pan]

Hi Tom,

About the different tooth geometries -- again, it's easy to overthink things. If you look closely at the types of Timberwolf blades available, you'll see that for, say, a 1/4" 6 TPI blade you only have the choice of a positive claw. The 10 TPI blades only come in raker geometry. The only real choice you need to make is for some blades that exist in either positive claw or alternate set geometry, and all you have to know is that the alternate set gives you a thicker kerf, so it's good for cutting green wood, roughing out bowl blanks, or other really aggressive cutting operations. There's also an "alternate set special" that they say is specifically for veneer cutting, but I haven't tried this blade myself.

The various choices in tooth geometry are geared toward the thickness of the wood being cut. Raker geometry is good for thin pieces of wood and leaves a very smooth finish, as in scroll cuts. Positive claw geometry is good for thicker pieces of wood because it cuts more aggressively, which is what you need for cutting thicker pieces of wood.

So it makes sense for the tooth geometry to match up somewhat with the TPI. If you are doing scrolling type cuts in thin stock, you'll want to have a high TPI, but to then make that a positive claw tooth which is aggressive makes no sense. Likewise, if you are sawing thick stock, you want the cut to proceed with some speed, so using a raker geometry would be counterproductive.

The one exception I've seen to this rule of thumb is as a bit of a lark (there was a 5 for the price of four special, and I needed something for the fifth blade) I ordered a 3/4" 10 TPI blade that came with a raker cut to try on sheet goods. Again, there was only one choice as far as tooth geometry. That blade gave me a cut nearly as smooth as a tablesaw. But I wouldn't use this blade on solid wood.

Hope this helps!

[Tom Henderson2]

Thanks Wilbur -- I appreciate the smple explanation.

-TH