Bandsaw Blade, Where do you get yours?

[multihobbyguy]

I broke down and purchased a new band saw from HF last week and have been using it quite a bit. I went through and did all the adjustments from the 4x6 yahoo group and it seems to work great. Everything I have read says to replace the blade with a good one and ditch the one that came with it. Mine works well but I figured I should order a couple of new ones and keep the original for a spare. My question is what kind and where did you get yours from. My size is 64 1/2". Is there a brand that would be best? If you have some insight that you would like to share that would be great. Thanks, Chris.

 

[kd7fhg]

I use Olsen's 10/14 tpi. but any good name brand will work, I stay away from the one from HF. Here is something that might be usefull.
http://***************.com/index.php?topic=258.0
Rex

 

[Kermit]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_52320_52320

after my two 'good' blades broke, I went back to the cheaper ones. Don't see much difference. I seem to break 'em well before they get dull. SO. $15 is easier to kiss goodbye than $26 plus shipping.

 

[Metal Butcher]

Chris. I get the bi-metal variable tooth ones from Enco. They track better and last a lot longer than carbon blades, Trust me on this one. I always keep 2 spare ones on hand, just in case.

I was using two carbon blades a year, and after switching over to bi-metal I am on my second year with the same blade. Also, I get a noticeably smoother finish.

-MB

 

[dgjessing]

You might look in the Yellow Pages for "saw sharpening" or the like - might be a local shop that makes them. (Several here in Columbus OH...)

 

[GWRdriver]

Sawing frequency and material has a lot to do with it, and I may or may not do more sawing than you, but the preference of most folks I hear from is for high quality bi-metal HSS blades, such as Starret and Lennox. My local saw & sawmill supply shop was a great source (per the above comment) but was forced out of business a few years ago by urban "upscaling." That's the punishment they get for staying in business for 100 years in the same location. (The Hilton didn't want a 100 year old sawmmill supply next door.) So I decided to begin making my own blades and went to eBay and took a chance on a 100ft roll of 5/8"x.025"x18T carbon steel Eclipse bandsaw stock (Eclipse was sort of a British Starrett) for a very low price. First of all 5/8" was oversized for my saw, but it did fit, and ran well, so for the price I would live with it. My thinking was, let's see how it works out using a very low cost-per-blade (<$2 ea) carbon stock vs. the correct good HSS blade.

My results were that this blade stock does OK, with certain drawbacks. The drawbacks of carbon blade stock as I see them are:
CS is more susceptable to overheating and softening when silver-soldering the joint, which is a tapered lap joint, not butted.
Broken teeth tend to "domino" so that one broken tooth can eventually lead to a whole section of adjacent teeth breaking.
The first teeth to go are around the lap joint which have been unavoidably annealed to some degree.
As the blade wears and dulls it tends to favor one side or the other resulting in the cut drifting toward the sharper side.
Fresh blades cut great in copper, brass, bronze, ally, and cast iron. They cut OK in mild steels. They wear quickly in hard alloys and most SS.
I figure I use 3X more CS blades than I would HSS.

ALL of these comments are also true of HSS, eventually, but things just wear faster with CS. The problem with this for me is that the low initial cost of the blade material has not been a good tradeoff for the extra time spent cutting, dressing, soldering, and grinding the joints for more blades than I would otherwise use. Had I it to do over again I would still make my own blades, it's very convenient to be able to have a new blade NOW, but next time I will go with a good HSS bi-metal blade stock.

 

[awJCKDup]

On the subject of broken blades, my 4x6 has gotten a large appetite for blades lately. I went through and replaced all the bearings on the blade guides, they certainly needed it since the saw is a 1989 model. Realigned everything, but it is still breaking blades, cheap or expensive, doesn't seem to matter. The breaks are always across the blade (90 degrees to teeth) occasionally at or near the joint, but not always. Broke one today, been on the saw a couple of months, still sharp.
What am I missing? any thoughts would be appreciated

John

 

[DaveH]

John,

Could be too much blade tension, do you release the tension after use?

Dave

 

[awJCKDup]

Dave --no I don't relieve the blade tension, is that a normal procedure? I might have read the manual back then---no probably not. Like I said, I've had this saw since 1989, and never had this problem before. Although since my retirement it is getting used a lot more.

 

[DaveH]

It is normal procedure to reduce the tension after use. If you don't the blade will stretch and then slip; so lets tension it a bit more to stop the slipping. So after a time it just gets pulled apart.

Dave

 

[Lakc]

It is normal procedure to reduce the tension after use. If you don't the blade will stretch and then slip; so lets tension it a bit more to stop the slipping. So after a time it just gets pulled apart.

Dave

I have never heard of that before, but it doesnt sound like good practice to tension a blade beyond its yield strength.

 

[DaveH]

Hello Jeff,
Me thinks you may have misread what I said.

I didn't say it was good practice to over tension the blade. (that's why some break)

I said it was normal procedure to reduce the blade tension after use.

Dave

 

[steamer]

Hi Guys,

Most of the 4x6 saws have iron wheels without tires. I've had my 4x6 saw for 10 years and I don't relieve the tension and I have'nt had any problems. However, saws with rubber/plastic tires can have issues with tire set due to blade tension, and my 14" delta is one of them. I always let the tension down on that saw after use otherwise you get flat spots in the tires and all kinds of vibration next time you use it.

Dave

 

[Lakc]

Hello Jeff,
Me thinks you may have misread what I said.

I didn't say it was good practice to over tension the blade. (that's why some break)

I said it was normal procedure to reduce the blade tension after use.

Dave

Hi Dave, I didnt misread, I was trying to make sense of why it would work. If a blade is made of steel with a 20,000 psi (example, not a real value) yield strength, then 17,000 psi of tension should not permanently stretch the blade. Only if it was tensioned to >20,000 psi would it exceed its elastic value and become a larger circle.

 

[Tin Falcon]

well cant remember the lat time I bought one
my horizontal came with a box of spares have not bought one yet.
My bench top grizzly I bought a roll of stock and make up a few when I had access to a blade welder.
first of all read this http://metalwebnews.org/machinist/ch6.html
select the tooth per inch based on stock size.
material : depends on what you are cutting.if aluminum and brass and some steel then carbon steel should be fine if you are cutting any hard steel or mostly steel bi-metal.
brand lenox or starret come to mind but. for the home shop probably not an issue . I can not even tell you what "brand" band saw blades i have.
Check out the usual suspects as far as industrial supplies.
1: http://www.use-enco.com/
2:http://www1.mscdirect.com/
3:http://www.mcmaster.com/#
Tin