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Let's talk about Bandsaw blades

M

Mike Gould

Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
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Location
Cape Cod, Ma
Ok,

I need new bandsaw blades. For the last 5 years or so I have been using 133" 1/2" 3TPI AS blades from Suffolk Machinery for my Jet 18" Band Saw. They sell the "Timberwolf" brand blades much cheaper than some of the other sources. I guess I am questioning if I have been led down the marketing path believing the hype.

My question is, do I really need to spend the premium $$$ for a fancy BS blade when all I'm cutting is green bowl blanks.

I have managed to destroy the last few TW blades I used well before their service would normally be expired. Thus rendering the added cost to be wasteful.

So, what are you guys using for BS blades and why?

Granted chainsaw blank shaping is quicker and cheaper. But, my nearby neighbors don't like me firing up the Stihl at 7AM on a Saturday.

---Mike Gould---
 
Band Saw blades

I have been purchasing TimberWolfe blades from Suffolk Machinery for many years. I have a 5 h.p. Laguna 18 SE with a 16.5 in high cut capacity. I generally cut thick green wood so I buy their 1/2" blade with the "AS" suffix which is designed for thick green wood. I have no complaints about the blades.

I've used some other brands here and there, but never experienced anything that gave me equal performance or longevity.

I don't know what kind of accidents you've been having that are damaging the blades, but I suggest figuring out what you're doing wrong and correct it before you get hurt. I think I've only bent one blade in the past 11 years and it was because it did something without thoroughly thinking through first. Thankfully, I only sacrificed a blade.


Don Geiger
 
Thanks Don,

Lets not jump down the Safety rabbit hole needlessly. 🙂

I have destroyed 3 blades in 5 years.
1 due to a hidden nail in the blank.

1 due to a kink in the blade because some long timbers fell against it while hanging on the storage hook.

And 1 due to a misalignment of the guides (my fault)

It was not a Safety problem.

Looking for bowl blank cutting alternatives.
---Mike---
 
Life of a blade is real subjective, but I use Suffolk (they actually make the blades and others resell them) and I also like the blades I get from Spence Distributors in Canada.
There are probably alot of manufacturers of silicon steel blades. I have used Laguna with good luck too.
 
I've been using Suffolk for eight or nine years and have only once had a problem with a blade (it broke at the weld and they replaced it right away). My first band saw was a Jet 16", but I've had a Mini-Max MM20 for a bit over five years. While I've been satisfied with the Timber Wolf blades, I believe they do sell carbide tipped ones too. Although they cost a lot more, they can be resharpened. I've never felt I needed them though.
 
I haven't used Timberwolf blades, but over the years, I have noticed, that some bandsaw blades are not very sharp when new. Recently, I picked up a couple of carbon steel Supercut blades, and they are the sharpest I have found in a long time. I wish you the same luck.

http://www.supercutbandsaw.com/
 
I bought 2 of the timberwolf blades and ruined them in fairly short order. I'm using a Delta 14" with riser block. They seem too flexible for green wood.
I started buying cheap $6 blades from my local saw sharpener. I get an amazing amount of blanks cut before I toss them. I've only kinked one and brocken one in the last 5 years. They are so inexpensive I just replace them when they get dull but they cut for pretty good while before needing to be sharpened. When it starts to get dull I will rotate the blade backwards by hand holding a diamond hone against the end of the teeth. It makes it cut well for another couple of bowl blanks.
I'm going to buy another high quality blade but it will be reserved for resawing dry wood. I personally don't feel the expensive blades are worth it for cutting green wood.
 
I have 2 bandsaws, a Powermatic 14 inch industrial, and a Laguna 16HD. The small saw for cutting circles, and the large one for cutting blanks and resawing lumber. I use the Lennox blades. On the big saw, a 1 1/4 inch by 150 inch bimetal Diemaster at about $70 each. On the small one, 1/2 inch by 96 inch, 3 tpi bimetal Diemaster, at about $28 each. I am fortunate to have a Lennox dealer here in town, and when I got my first bandsaw, I was told by several people to go see ole Duke who forgot more about bandsaws than I will ever learn. I told him what I was cutting, and he recommended blades for me. The bimetal is preferable to most other blades as the bimetal is a harder steel bonded onto a backing blade, kind of like the difference between HSS and Carbon steel. While hitting a nail will slow it down, it doesn't stop it. I haven't really tried any other saw blades out there. All of my blades can be resharpened. Last time, it was 5 big blades, 3 small ones, and 2 big forstner drill bits for about $70. Carbide blades are nice, but are really best suited for fine resawing, like veneers. They are not practical for cutting up green wood. If I was to go that route, I would go for the blade from Laguna, which isn't carbide, but stellite I think, and can be resharpened several times. I would not want to use a 1/2 inch blade for cutting much over 8 inches or so. It just isn't as strong, and if you are going 12 inches or more, at least a 3/4 inch blade, or more. Mostly they are a lot stronger when you are going high.

robo hippy
 
Mike, talk to the folks at Suffolk about the best blade for cutting green wood. Cutting green wood requires a larger gullet to keep the kerf clean and also provide cooling air to the blade. I have used a lot of cheap blades along with the more expensive ones and it seems like the cost comes out to about the same when you consider the amount of use that you can get out of a blade. I have a Lennox carbide tipped blade, but was told that it should be used only for cutting dry seasoned wood and not green wood primarily because of the potential for corrosion of the brazing if the blade is not thoroughly cleaned after use. Turning blanks do not require a perfectly smooth clean cut free of blade wander and bowing so I do not see any particular reason not to use cheap blades provided that they will give a satisfactory service life. I have used cheap thick Olson blades to cut turning blanks (1" wide and 3 TPI) and they seem to be OK, but when they get dull, they are really dull and it seems to happen without much advanced notice so have a spare on hand. Stuff happens, so things like nails and kinks are just a fact of life.
 
I HAVE USED TMBERWOLF BLADES SINCE 1995. had a problem with on several years ago. was immediately replaced. i use the as as they recommend, sharpen several times before destroying one. you can order directly using their 800 number
 
I've had good luck with the 1/2" 3TPI Timberwolf blades from Suffolk. I was paying about $20 or so for each one. Last year I tried the 1/2" 3TPI blades from Ellis Manufacturing. I bought the flexback blades shown at the bottom of this page. In my experience cutting everything from wet jacaranda to dry desert ironwood, they are every bit as good or better than the Timberwolf blades in both sharpness and longevity. They cost me about $7 each. Ellis doesn't have online ordering (you have to call them on the phone) and they do have a $50 minimum order, but bandsaw blades are expendables like sandpaper, so for 1/3 the price of Timberwolf blades, it made sense to stock up on the Ellis blades instead.

Nothing against Timberwolf blades or Suffolk Machinery...just trying to save some shop funds. 😉 I just can't justify spending $20 on a $7 blade.
 
Howdy Mike,
I've been using the Timberwolf blades for years (mainly kiln dried lumber) with only 1 failure and that due to operator error. For my usual purposes, it's the best bang for the buck although I do work with a variety of blades widths for given radii (sp) so I don't tend to strain a blade. We'd tried some "premium" blades a few years back and noticed no appreciable difference other than their ability to be resharpened which ended up to be less cost effective than just replacing the TW blades for us.

I recently tried the "woodturners" bandsaw blade John mentioned and found it worked very well, however I haven't cut more than 6 blanks with it yet so am unable to attest to it's longevity. It did work through the green wood noticeably easier than my std TW blades though. (Unless I've fallen victim to the afore-mentioned marketing hype😀)
 
I have also been using the Highland WW woodturners blade. One broke at the weld but was cheerfully replaced by Highland. I hit a screw and dulled the blade I am currently using but used a Dremel type rotary tool with a cuttoff wheel to sharpen it. Sharpening goes fairly quickly since it only has 3 TPI and is on a 14" Delta w/riser.

The problem I occassionally have when cutting a lot of really green wood like Bradford Pear is that the sawdust is so wet and sticky that it won't get pulled out by the dust collector and quickly builds up on the wheels. This happened a few days ago so much that the blade no longer tracked on the wheel and came off. Fortunately nothing hurt and no blade damage but now I stop regularly and scrape the wheel with a paint stick when cutting a lot of wet, green bowl blanks and other turning stock.
 
Mike Peace said:
I have also been using the Highland WW woodturners blade. One broke at the weld but was cheerfully replaced by Highland. I hit a screw and dulled the blade I am currently using but used a Dremel type rotary tool with a cuttoff wheel to sharpen it. Sharpening goes fairly quickly since it only has 3 TPI and is on a 14" Delta w/riser.

The problem I occassionally have when cutting a lot of really green wood like Bradford Pear is that the sawdust is so wet and sticky that it won't get pulled out by the dust collector and quickly builds up on the wheels. This happened a few days ago so much that the blade no longer tracked on the wheel and came off. Fortunately nothing hurt and no blade damage but now I stop regularly and scrape the wheel with a paint stick when cutting a lot of wet, green bowl blanks and other turning stock.
Click to expand...

Hint:

Simple Green at full strength is great for getting the pitch and other sticky stuff off of bandsaw blaqdes and chainsaw blades.
 
Mike,

I too use Timberwolf bandsaw blades to cut green wood. I have the Delta, 18", 2 hp industrial model. After speaking with one of Suffolk's technical advisors, I purchase the 1", 2 tpi AS blade and have experienced no more issues cutting green timber. I also use a sled to guide the wood and get very straight cuts. Just this morning, I showed someone that I could cut a consistent 1/16" re-saw with the blade.Obviously, I don't use this blade to cut curves. When you purchase their blades, you will get some literature regarding the use of their product. They suggest spraying the blade with PAM if you are going to do a lot of green wood cutting. I have not had to do this, but I do keep a special lubricant handy and sometimes clean the blade after use.

matt
 
Thanks everyone for replying.

It sounds like there are a few other choices than Timberwolf blades. Not that I have any heartburn with them. I just don't like to waste any money.

I will look at the turners blade at Highland and the Ellis Manufacturing blades sound interesting.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Timberwolf blades from Suffolk Machinery. Also sold by Lee Valley in Canada under the Viking name and they are available at PS wood Machine Company.

I have been told they are made in Sweden by
Helmuth Jensen/ Viking Company http://www.vikingsaw.dk/363
but I'm not sure if that is true.

Thanks all for the info, I have some blades to buy. 🙂
---Mike---
 
Bandsaw blades

I use the Olson blades, and when dull, attack them with my trusty Dremel and a chainsaw stone (the pink one). I can get about 3 or 4 sharpenings before the set is gone from the teeth. Takes just a few minutes to touch the gullets and away I go....I have had no blade failures, just use common sense and safe practices. I am using a Jet 16", and run 123"x1" 2 or 3 raker teeth. Got the saw about 4 years ago, and call it my "mini-sawmill", as I cut mainly 12" diameter X 4' logs into lumber. One nice saw.😀😀
 
The band material may be made in Sweden, but Suffolk doesn't make the welded blades in Sweden.

As far as resharpening, I use a 200" blade and I just don't have the patience and eventually end up just tossing them. I never found a resharpening service locally that was interested in doing the job.
 
band saw blades

If any of you want to talk to a true band saw guru there is a gentleman in jacksonville fl that i might suggest you contact. His company is Iturra design
4636 Fulton Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32225-1332
Phone: (904) 642-2802
He has a great deal of knowledge, and great products and service regarding bandsaws
 
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