# Bandsaw blade handy reference



## Sideways

Some months ago during a bandsaw upgrade project, Deema and myself got in touch with Ian at Tuffsaws to ask for information about blade types, steels, recommended tensions, etc. The help that we received was excellent and to educate us further, we received a selection of blade samples through the post.

The Minimax S45 bandsaw refurb is covered in it's own thread but the blade samples are a very useful resource so I'd like to share it with everyone here.

The blade details are written on all but the smallest sample. They can be hard to pick out against the darker carbon steel blades so, from top to bottom

1 inch 3tpi Premium
3/4 inch 2tpi carbon steel
3/4 inch 3tpi M42 steel
3/4 inch Fastcut
3/4 inch 3 - 4 tpi varitooth premium
3/4 inch 6tpi premium
5/8 inch 3tpi carbon
1/2 inch 3tpi Sabercut
1/2 inch 4tpi M42
1/2 inch 6 - 10 tpi varitooth M42
1/2 inch 10tpi carbon
3/8 inch 4tpi carbon
3/8 inch 6tpi premium
3/8 inch 6tpi carbon
1/4 inch 6tpi carbon
1/4 inch 4tpi
3/16 inch 14tpi carbon







Some points to note :
M42 blades are noticeably thicker as well as a more durable steel
Fastcut blades have a low tooth count plus a smaller raker tooth in between to clear the cut efficiently.
Sabercut has deep gullets making it well suited for ripping
Varitooth designs combine wider and closer spaced teeth for a combination of a finer and faster cut than either of the same tpi blades.


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## Spectric

I am really glad we do not need that many for our mitre or circular saws.

I was told that for any given cut you should have at least three teeth in the material but no more than ten, this chart shows number of teeth in a given thickness of material for the number of teeth on the blade. Greyed out areas are those that do not comply or are borderline.


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## Sideways

The two most common problems I encountered with bandsaws used at a local men's shed were :
1. People trying to force blades into cutting overly tight curves - answer, use a narrower blade and stop forcing it.
2. People using 1/2" fine tooth blades to try and rip thick planks. We used to snap a blade a week. Putting a 3/4" 3tpi blade on the biggest bandsaw fixed that.


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## cerro

Which is recomended for general strait cutting thick softwoods on a charnwood 730 and which one for cuting wood and metal to save changing blade


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## Sideways

cerro said:


> Which is recomended for general strait cutting thick softwoods on a charnwood 730 and which one for cuting wood and metal to save changing blade


Straight cutting thick softwood I would choose a 3tpi blade. It's important to have big gulleys between the teeth to get the fibres out of the cut.
Straight cutting, wider blade is better but wide blades need a strong saw to be able to tension them properly.
Considering it's for a Charnwood 730 I would suggest a 1/2" 3tpi blade which it shoul be able to tension and I'd pick the premium type because they are a nicer blade for just a bit more money.
Look at the 1/2" sabercut in the photo.

One blade for wood and metal ? No.

I don't know what type of metal you want to cut but your bandsaw isn't intended for metal - it's too fast. Plus, a metal cutting blade is lousy for cutting wood / wood blade equally bad for metal. 
Would you use a hacksaw to cut a plank, or try to use a carpenters saw to cut a metal bar ?


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## Spectric

Sideways said:


> Straight cutting thick softwood I would choose a 3tpi blade. It's important to have big gulleys between the teeth to get the fibres out of the cut.


If those fibres don't get out then you may find the blade starts to wander and go off line. I found that out by being lazy and not changing the blade to a more suitable one.


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## cerro

Sideways said:


> Straight cutting thick softwood I would choose a 3tpi blade. It's important to have big gulleys between the teeth to get the fibres out of the cut.
> Straight cutting, wider blade is better but wide blades need a strong saw to be able to tension them properly.
> Considering it's for a Charnwood 730 I would suggest a 1/2" 3tpi blade which it shoul be able to tension and I'd pick the premium type because they are a nicer blade for just a bit more money.
> Look at the 1/2" sabercut in the photo.
> 
> One blade for wood and metal ? No.
> 
> I don't know what type of metal you want to cut but your bandsaw isn't intended for metal - it's too fast. Plus, a metal cutting blade is lousy for cutting wood / wood blade equally bad for metal.
> Would you use a hacksaw to cut a plank, or try to use a carpenters saw to cut a metal bar ?


Thank you Sideways sabercut it is then.


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## MARK.B.

Thanks to both Sideways and Spectric for this very useful information that i know will certainly be of use to me and i am sure many others


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## Molynoox

Spectric said:


> I am really glad we do not need that many for our mitre or circular saws.
> 
> I was told that for any given cut you should have at least three teeth in the material but no more than ten, this chart shows number of teeth in a given thickness of material for the number of teeth on the blade. Greyed out areas are those that do not comply or are borderline.
> 
> View attachment 140060


This is pretty interesting, my take away from that is to place my wood next to the blade each time and simply count how many teeth line up 'inside' the wood. If it's between 3 and 10 the blade is suitable.

Because I will never find that chart when I need it 

Great advice from both of you, thanks
Martin


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## Spectric

Molynoox said:


> Because I will never find that chart when I need it


Unless you stick a copy on the side of the bandsaw!


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## Molynoox

Spectric said:


> Unless you stick a copy on the side of the bandsaw!


Skills!


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## rogxwhit

Bandsaw blades do come in various thicknesses - I had trouble with a batch of blades snapping prematurely (ie long before they were blunt). I think that they were 0.32" thick and my wheels were 14" - sourcing blades of similar spec but that were 0.25" thick seemed to eliminate the problem.


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## Chisteve

Any recommendations for cutting hardwoods typically beech/Ash up to 100 mm thick straight cuts I tried M42 1/2 inch 4 Tpi but this appears to have worn it out quickly it’s for a metabo 2 wheel bandsaw x 2240 long


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## clogs

just saying.....
I have used T/Saws M42 vari tooth metal cuting blade (bought 2, one still wrapped).
the best blade I have ever used.....My metal cutting saw has coolant and it spends it's days cutting 70mm diam and 10"x1/2 plate steel...slow speed tho....
gotta be 6 years old now.....just a couple of teeth missing but no worries on the thick steel....
Not sure I'd wanna cut even Ali on a wood band saw....let alone brass or steel....
n forget cutting Stainless....


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## Sideways

Chisteve said:


> Any recommendations for cutting hardwoods typically beech/Ash up to 100 mm thick straight cuts I tried M42 1/2 inch 4 Tpi but this appears to have worn it out quickly it’s for a metabo 2 wheel bandsaw x 2240 long


From what I've seen, Metabo bandsaws are DIY machines, so my suggestion would be stick to 1/2" or 5/8" wide blades max so the saw can tension it.
You are ripping a thick piece of hardwood, that needs a low tooth count.
Personally I would be interested to try a 1/2" 3tpi sabrecut blade from the photo at the beginning of the thread. I don't known how it will wear but it will clear a ripping cut well, has a sensible tooth count for the job and is wicked sharp out of the packet.


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## Chisteve

Thanks for the reply


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## Spectric

With wood 100 mmm thick and a 4 TPI blade you will have almost 16 teeth in the wood, as @Sideways has said you need less teeth otherwise it will not keep the gullets clear. 3 TPI gives you 12.


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## chaoticbob

Bit late to this thread, but can you tell us what tensions Ian recommended for the various blades? My reason for asking is that I read an article in my metalworking comic describing the construction of a blade tension measuring device and realised that I actually have one, bought as a curiosity from a junk shop. It doesn't matter much to me practically as I just twang the blade and I pretty much know from experience what will work, but I'd be interested to see if I'm getting anywhere near the recommended tensions on my Record 350S. 
Bob.


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## deema

Ian’s recommendation is Carbon blades 17,000 PSI and M42 25,000 PSI. This is consistent with other manufacturers we spoke to,


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## chaoticbob

deema said:


> Ian’s recommendation is Carbon blades 17,000 PSI and M42 25,000 PSI. This is consistent with other manufacturers we spoke to,


Thanks deema, and apologies for delay in replying - I've had guests, so little workshop time...
Preliminary measurements suggest that my 350S can indeed hold that 'tension' with a half inch blade, but yet to try with a a 3/4 " claimed to be OK for the machine by Record. I'm sceptical frankly.
Bob.


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## Terry - Somerset

As a purely hobby user, if I changed the blade every time the size of the wood changed, I would spend far more time blade changing than cutting.

This is probably the root cause of my cutting problems - mostly I just leave a compromise blade on, use a slow feed when necessary, and change it when blunt.


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## GrahamRounce

chaoticbob said:


> Thanks deema, and apologies for delay in replying - I've had guests, so little workshop time...
> Preliminary measurements suggest that my 350S can indeed hold that 'tension' with a half inch blade, but yet to try with a a 3/4 " claimed to be OK for the machine by Record. I'm sceptical frankly.
> Bob.





chaoticbob said:


> Is the (musical) pitch of the blade when twanged a reliable guide? Would it vary depending on the width? Any hopes of a "note" column being added to the chart?


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## Jitter

Sideways said:


> Some months ago during a bandsaw upgrade project, Deema and myself got in touch with Ian at Tuffsaws to ask for information about blade types, steels, recommended tensions, etc. The help that we received was excellent and to educate us further, we received a selection of blade samples through the post.
> 
> The Minimax S45 bandsaw refurb is covered in it's own thread but the blade samples are a very useful resource so I'd like to share it with everyone here.
> 
> The blade details are written on all but the smallest sample. They can be hard to pick out against the darker carbon steel blades so, from top to bottom
> 
> 1 inch 3tpi Premium
> 3/4 inch 2tpi carbon steel
> 3/4 inch 3tpi M42 steel
> 3/4 inch Fastcut
> 3/4 inch 3 - 4 tpi varitooth premium
> 3/4 inch 6tpi premium
> 5/8 inch 3tpi carbon
> 1/2 inch 3tpi Sabercut
> 1/2 inch 4tpi M42
> 1/2 inch 6 - 10 tpi varitooth M42
> 1/2 inch 10tpi carbon
> 3/8 inch 4tpi carbon
> 3/8 inch 6tpi premium
> 3/8 inch 6tpi carbon
> 1/4 inch 6tpi carbon
> 1/4 inch 4tpi
> 3/16 inch 14tpi carbon
> 
> View attachment 140052
> 
> 
> Some points to note :
> M42 blades are noticeably thicker as well as a more durable steel
> Fastcut blades have a low tooth count plus a smaller raker tooth in between to clear the cut efficiently.
> Sabercut has deep gullets making it well suited for ripping
> Varitooth designs combine wider and closer spaced teeth for a combination of a finer and faster cut than either of the same tpi blades.



Very useful info Sideways. I’m going to print this out for helpful reference in the workshop next to the S45. To be honest, the wider blade you guys picked out for me does well with hardwood up to 150mm or so which is more than good enough for what I do. It also does well for gradual curve cuts and although I’ve not tried the narrower blade yet, if I do need to cut tighter curves, I think it would do better in that respect. 

I find that allowing the blade to do the work with gentle pressure works best with oak. Elm feeds faster with the same pressure. I try to give the blade a chance to cool between cuts too, I think this helps to retain sharpness for longer. 

Anyway, thoroughly enjoying the use of the saw, you guys have done a great job with overhauling it. Thanks again.


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## Mikebart

chaoticbob said:


> Thanks deema, and apologies for delay in replying - I've had guests, so little workshop time...
> Preliminary measurements suggest that my 350S can indeed hold that 'tension' with a half inch blade, but yet to try with a a 3/4 " claimed to be OK for the machine by Record. I'm sceptical frankly.
> Bob.


I have a 350 sabre and regularly use it with a 3/4 blade to re-saw hardwoods and tensions up fine in fact it’s a brilliant bandsaw for the money


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