I have an Axminster (UK) bandsaw described as professional though probably more accurately “serious hobbyist “: Which describes my use. At nearly 3x the price are M42 steel blades worth it? General use- mostly rip sawing at 6” or less. Sometimes log conversion so max 12” but usually dry blank conversion.
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M42 bandsaw blades
- Thread starter Michael Beswick
- Start date
I have been using the Lennox bimetal blades, which have M42 teeth, for almost 30 years now, and would not trade them for anything. They will cut straighter and far longer than the standard blades. Any blade that comes stock with the bandsaw is likely junk. I do have a local saw shop who sharpens them for me so I get far more miles out of them than the cheaper ones. If you hit a nail, it will not ruin the blade. It might slow it down a bit, but as I said, you can resharpen them. The bimetal blades are what are used for the pallet cutting blades, but have a different tooth count and set. some of the bandsaw mills now have carbide toothed blades that can be resharpened many times before they are junk. They do not have blades like that for house hold bandsaws. The ones we have are mostly intended for cutting veneers.
robo hippy
robo hippy
Where do you buy them?
I use 1/2” 3-tpi Lenox custom welded locally. If they don’t have that size in stock I order a 100’ roll and get a bunch made at once. (I sharpen them too, so they last a long time.) But I haven’t tried the bimetal Lenox.
I’ll ask them if they carry bimetal stock. When i wanted carbide they had to order it pre-made to size.
I did try a bimetal Starrett blade long time ago on my smaller bandsaw saw. Worked well until I used it on a 4” thick, 100-year-old walnut mantel. The Starrett blade was dull after maybe 24” of 4” thick cut. Yikes. My inclination is to not blame Starrett but the wood. No metal in it but don’t know about silicon, etc.
JKJ
I'm quite sure that the bimetal blades Robo Hippy is referring to are the Lenox Diemaster 2 . I use them for all my green wood cutting and also for dry wood bowl rounds. Long lasting and sharpnable. Available in .032 band thickness, which helps longevity. There a number of vendors and even Amazon at times.
Thanks, I found some at BandSawBladesDirect. They offer a 1/2" x.035" 3tpi for about $61 for the 142" blade my saw uses.
I'll also see if my local Lenox dealer carries them. In the past if they didn't stock what I wanted they would order a 100' roll for me then cut and weld it into 8 blades for me. However, I'd first like to get just one to try.
I couldn't find the recommended tension for that blade on the BandSawBladeDirect website. Maybe Lenox will tell me.
JKJ
I wreck mine too often. I just use the Olson PGS type.
For the 14" wheel saw owners (93" and 105" blades) where the .025" thick blade is about as thick as can be run, here is the Lenox Diemaster M42 bi-metal blade. Enter your blade length, and choose a blade width, thickness and TPI. This blade, at least through this seller, only goes as low as 4tpi for 1/2" blades (I've always gone with 3tpi blades, but, that is what was on the shelf mainly from Olson), but for woodworking use it shouln't be a dramatic change, maybe just slow the feed rate a little bit on thick stock. I think I'll give it a try when I next need blades. Note that 3/8" and 1/4" blades only show higher teeth counts, more suited for metals.
www.bandsawbladesdirect.com
Lenox DIEMASTER 2 Bi-Metal Band Saw Blades
Engineered for Contour Cutting
I have a local bandsaw blade maker, Oregon Industrial Supply, who makes them up for me. A friend I used to do concrete work for told me to go to them for my first blades. Never went to any other blade. As I said before, they cut far longer and straighter than any other blade out there. One friend who had been using the Timberwolf blades tried one and switched. They do cost extra, but are worth it. I do get the thicker blades, no clue what the # is.... 1/2 inch by 3 tpi blade on my small saw, cuts 6 inches high, and a 1 1/4 by teeth at 3/4 inch for my big saw which cuts 16 inches high.
My saw shop, when asked about the carbide tipped blades told me they were for cutting veneers only. I did try one out, just to see, and yup, they were correct. The teeth on that particular blade were fine, but too small to be resharpened. I know Hitachi used to have a resawing blade for their saw that was about 3 inches wide. The teeth were stellite, which is very similar to tantung, and probably harder then M42. I really wish there was a sharpenable carbide tipped blade for turners, similar to what Woodmizer makes for their machines.
robo hippy
My saw shop, when asked about the carbide tipped blades told me they were for cutting veneers only. I did try one out, just to see, and yup, they were correct. The teeth on that particular blade were fine, but too small to be resharpened. I know Hitachi used to have a resawing blade for their saw that was about 3 inches wide. The teeth were stellite, which is very similar to tantung, and probably harder then M42. I really wish there was a sharpenable carbide tipped blade for turners, similar to what Woodmizer makes for their machines.
robo hippy
For the 14" wheel saw owners (93" and 105" blades) where the .025" thick blade is about as thick as can be run, here is the Lenox Diemaster M42 bi-metal blade. Enter your blade length, and choose a blade width, thickness and TPI. This blade, at least through this seller, only goes as low as 4tpi for 1/2" blades (I've always gone with 3tpi blades, but, that is what was on the shelf mainly from Olson), but for woodworking use it shouln't be a dramatic change, maybe just slow the feed rate a little bit on thick stock. I think I'll give it a try when I next need blades. Note that 3/8" and 1/4" blades only show higher teeth counts, more suited for metals.
Lenox DIEMASTER 2 Bi-Metal Band Saw Blades
Engineered for Contour Cutting
That's the exact page I used. But when I entered the info for my 18" Rikon blade length at 3tpi, as you mentioned the 1/2" .025 blades are not an option, just the .035 thickness. I'll order one to try, report back if anyone is interested.
I've got some carbide blades for that saw too, but as RH mentioned the teeth are tiny, my supplier ordered premade from Lenox. The first one (1/2") broke at the weld with light use and they tried welding it but it broke again so they replaced it. Maybe something to do with the type of steel used.
I didn't even know Woodmizer offered a carbide toothed sawmill blade. I wonder if it's only for the bigger machines - mine is the little hand-cranked LT15.
JKJ
We use bi-metal blades on the metal cutting horizontal band saw. No doubt they last substantially longer and cut straighter than regular blades by about a factor of 4x.
The bi-metal blades are described as having HSS teeth. Whether they're M42 as opposed to regular M2 I have no idea. A bi-metal blade locally welded while you wait for a 14" Delta saw is around $40. $12 to weld if you supply the blade stock . Online I've found the 14" Delta bi-metal blades in the 20 buck range.
The bi-metal blades are described as having HSS teeth. Whether they're M42 as opposed to regular M2 I have no idea. A bi-metal blade locally welded while you wait for a 14" Delta saw is around $40. $12 to weld if you supply the blade stock . Online I've found the 14" Delta bi-metal blades in the 20 buck range.
Good luck John getting information from Lenox about blade tension. A couple of years ago I tried and the person I spoke with bragged about his experience and knowledge and that he got this question all the time,and then almost directly told me I was stupid for asking because there were so many variables that any number he gave would be a useless guess. And i am being polite in describing this conversation. I tension my Diemaster blade to 18-20K and they cut great.
That's good info. thanks! I tension the spring steel Lenox blades to a little less. I usually measure the tension then mark the position on the indicator l in the saw. In my experience, most of the tension needles and indicators built into bandsaws are of wildly inaccurate: if followed the blade is almost never tensioned enough. I use a Starrett tension gauge.
I did get tension info from Lennox through my dealer for the carbide blade and it was recommended at 25k minimum, IIRC. A lot of bandsaws won't handle that, at least for a wider blade where the force is so much higher.
BTW, for those who may be interested, all that blade tension gauges measure is the stretch of the steel, regardless of the size of the blade. Lots of people have made their own accurate tension gauges with nothing more than a digital caliper and some clamps, although some get fancier and make a gauge from wood or something and measure the stretch with a dial caliper. I have pictures of various designs and calculation info if anyone wants to try this.
For example, here's one. These must be calibrated based on the distance between the arms the more distance, the more precise. (fortunately, our need is more to be close than precise)
BTW, speaking of tension, some de-tension their blades between uses and some don't. For those who do it is easy to forget to re-tension before turning the saw on. I got this idea from someone years ago, an effective little plywood reminder. I keep it hanging on a nail next to the bandsaw.
JKJ
On all of our bandsaws except the Northfield 36", we check tension by pressing horizonally against the blade inside the upper housing, left side of wheel, 3-4" below where the blade and wheel meet, shooting for 1/4" deflection using moderate pressure. This method has been very reliable for everything from 15" & 20" Powermatics and 18" Laguna. As far as the Diemaster II bi-metal blade, which is the stock blade on the Northfield, that big saw is always tensioned at 1" on the gauge even though we use a 3/8" blade for resaw. The Diemaster easily handle that tension level, and a 3/8" blade (regardless of strong opinions otherwise) works absolutely great for resaw, whether it's a 3" board or a 12"+ board
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I'm curious about using a Diemaster blade for green wood sawing. There's not much set to the theeth. Our 18" Laguna is generally equipped with Highland's Woodturners' blade, which has a healthy set to the teeth, clearing chips much more effectively. Also pretty inexpensive, which is comforting, considering how likely it is that a newbie will bend the blade. 😱 The Highland blade lasts a long time barring that event.
Laguna makes a Resaw King carbide tipped blade. I have a 1 1/4” one on my 18” bandsaw, it has a ~1/16” kerf and can be resharpened (I’ve done that once so far). It’s the blade I have most on my bandsaw as usually I’m making straight cuts in kiln dried lumber. Don’t think it would work well for green wood, and it’s not cheap.
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Jamie, some times you get what you pay for. The idea of letting newbies cut things on the bandsaw scares me, and I am fearless..... When cutting blanks from a log, I start with a half section of a log. Lay it flat on the table (I need to make infeed and outfeed tables with formica surfaces). I cut one end square. Then I stand the blank on end to lay out plate, platter, or bowl blanks. This is where I use the 1 1/4 by teeth at 3/4 inch apart. This gives me almost dead flat surfaces for cutting circles. I then take the blanks to another bandsaw for cutting circles. The 1/2 inch blade works best for those. Other than that, chainsaws do not usually make for good clean square cuts. Maybe look up my chainsaw chop saw video. I have thought about making a new and improved version, but the concept is sound. Biggest problem for me now is lifting the heavy pieces up onto the big bandsaw. It was a lot easier to roll them up on a ramp to cut with the chainsaw. One problem with cutting slabs end grain, which was responsible for my "bandsaw dust ports do not suck" video is that you get a lot of very long shavings and they do clog up the dust ports, even with my new and improved set ups.
robo hippy
robo hippy
I have been using a 1/2” Diemaster blade for green turning for over 4 years now. Have found nothing significantly better including the “green wood” blades. Long lasting and sharpenable are important considerations to me. But your observation about newbies damaging blades ( which I’ve done until I learned better) is a good reason to stay with a good lower cost blade