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I've got a cheap 4x6 Clarke bandsaw and I'm needing a new blade. What blades do you all recommend for speed of cut? Longevity is second to cut speed. I love being able to set up the saw and turn it on and go work on something else but my current blade is so slow that I've just been using the plasma cutter which ends up with about as much time grinding a smooth edge. I'm still not very good making straight cuts with the plasma.
Sandvik or other quality Bi-Metal blades are worth the extra they cost, both in cut speed and blade life.
I use Supercut blades in my metal band saws 14 or 18 TPI and wood band saws they have performed well with no problems. Bi metal vari tooth blades are great also but for heavier applications and most need coolant.
Supercut is in Idaho blades are made in USA , I have seen there blades at the local HF
I'll see if I can find the guys card. I bought one some time ago, couldn't find the emails or info on it.
But this one has been used a lot, and still cuts great. They sold me one at a discount to try it. Have not killed it to get more. It has some type metal M## (I think two numbers), but i googled it back then and heard all good and very impressed with the blade.
Will post it if I find it. Like said, a quality blade is worth it when cutting metals.
I bought some cheap blades to try and save a few bucks..... Junk! Didn't last very long so you get what you pay for!
I bought a bunch of Lennox bi-metal blades and really like em. The port-a-band I have didn't use to cut anything and now it goes through pipe and tubing like butter. I converted a Craftsman 14" wood bandsaw to cut metal, and only had one issue with the blade after the conversion. It was taking forever to go through a piece of 1/4 plate and I was starting to have a bad feeling about the blade. Turns out I installed the blade with the teeth facing the wrong way. Still made it about 4 inches into the piece with the teeth pointing up instead of down. After I flipped it around, took about 20 seconds to finish the other 4 inches and has worked great since.
Blade on backwards,,,lol,,,I hold the record for the longest time to cut a piece of 11/2 inch aluminum round bar,,,1 hour 40 minutes,,,before I realized it was on backwards,,,to top that off my neighbour borrowed my chainsaw and returned it with the blade on backwards,,,it ran like that until I figured it out,,,these things can happen,,,duh,,,the obvious sometimes eludes usQuote:
Originally Posted by agent4573
Now that's funny! It's not so bad when you catch these silly mistakes immediately, or if you're tired, mad, stressed, (insert other reason for being absent minded), but I hate overlooking the most obvious problem for a long period and wasting time for no reason! It's even worse when you look like a dummy in front of others, or a clueless female sees the problem, points it out, and then brings it up every chance she gets (just to drive you crazy!)!Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer
I'm interested in fitting a 3/4" wide blade to my portable bandsaw and someone I know said they found those blades online (pre-made), but I have yet to find them in 3/4" width. I might just make some out of blade stock like we used to do at work. The saw will have to be slightly modified so that the blade won't flex and break, but I think it might work out okay. I'll have to experiment a little and see.
I use Lennox neo-type, (in 1/2" x .025") which is stocked by my local "sharp shop", and sold at a reasonable price by the foot, in a variety of teeth pitches. I have tried 24 teeth per inch, and 18 teeth per inch, and prefer the 18 (which works even on very thin steel downspout sheetmetal.) This works on my older craftsman industrial bandsaw (something like a 3"x6" capacity, which takes a 5 foot long blade) when I get it set up properly with enough blade tension. I've done some good and bad blade welds myself with TIG welding, but it's tricky. Getting a good, smooth blade weld that doesn't "catch" as it goes through the cut is important. I'm trying out having the local sharp shop use their blade welding machine for me on the next one. :)
I'm going to try getting a few old broken blades from my past employer since the current shop foreman doesn't repair the broken blades (we used to keep like 15 of them around for those "rainy day" repair projects, but it never rained). The blade stretch out is over 100" for that bandsaw and we never kept the broken blades that were missing a ton of teeth or were totally useless.
In a shop where 20+ employees from other departments had access to the shop tools, there were more than a few idiots (mis)using the equipment by trying to cut sharp curves or using force to cut things. You could tell they were idiots because we posted a brightly colored 20"x20" sign right on the front of the saw that read:"Don't force the material through, LET THE BLADE DO THE CUTTING!!!":(
I like Lenox and DoAll blades. When you temper the blade properly they seem to last a long time.