Best all around horizontal/vertical bandsaw blade?

[lbpd716]

I do a lot of tinkering and ugly welding in my garage now as I am retired. I was gifted a new vertical/horizontal bandsaw by my parents which I am picking up on Tuesday.

I'm wondering what would be a good all around blade for it, as I'm fairly certain I will burn up the factory blade pretty rapidly learning how to properly use the saw. From what I understand, the stock blade is good for mild steel and not stainless. I have some projects I want to start on which will use both mild and stainless.

Any recommendations or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dr_clyde]

What kind of saw do you have? Flood coolant? What thicknesses are you cutting?

For the vertical bandsaw, I prefer Bahco or Morse bimetal blades, usually 14/16 variable. If I’m cutting thick blocks, I’ll run a 4/6. Thin stock gets a 18 or 20 tpi blade. Usually 1/2” width.

For cutoff saw duty, I run Amada Protector blades as my go to, in the 4/6 variable tooth pattern. My saw is an older DoAll. These blades last an incredible amount of time, and cut everything from acetal plastic to 316 stainless. If I’m cutting 6” solid or bigger, I switch to a 2/3 blade. That saw takes 1” blades.

 

[lbpd716]

I mostly tinker with things and can see myself cutting a variety of materials and thicknesses. Doubt I would be going anything above 1/2 inch plate. Occasionally some thick walled tubing.

The saw is a Jet HVBS-712D. I will be picking it up on Tuesday due to the holiday, along with some coolant.

 

[strength_and_power]

A coarser blade ( less teeth per inch TPI) will chew through thicker material fast. On thin metal, the material can drop into the gullets of the blade and either strip teeth, bind or break the blade. Conversely a fine toothed blade with work better on thinner materials but cut slow on the thicker stuff. A variable toothed blade 4/6 8/11 helps with the different material. Feed pressure and blade speed affect cut quality, blade life and cut time. I’d buy a blade in the middle range or geared for what you will be cutting the most of.

https://littlemachineshop.com/info/bandsaw.php


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[plinker]

The one shop I was at had a larger Ellis unit and they bought Lennox blades. Not sure on tooth count, around 14 to 16 TPI I'm thinking. We'd cut anything from 1/8" to 3/4" usually, plate, angle, rec., round pipe/tube as well. They seemed to hold up well considering the variety of material and shapes.

 

[lbpd716]

Cool - Thanks for the input everyone - Now I know what to shop for.

 

[Monza Harry]

Softer materials may require a coarser blade, when i was cutting an aluminum block my saw starts cutting nice and straight and then takes a turn [literally] for the worse. I shut it off while still engaged (bad practice I know but sometimes useful for for diagnostics) lift it up and find the "gullets" full and the blade resisting removal from the kerf, overpacked! So a coarser blade and or a finer feed was required. I was at the minimum tooth count blade available [or that I could find] at the time (6-10 IIRC, 1/2" x 0.25" thick) for my saw, so I turned the feed almost to stop and lifted/cleared often until finished. Just some more things to confuse and confound...I mean help out! Harry

 

[lbpd716]

I know I have a heck of a learning curve ahead, but I do look forward to the challenges.

Any wasted aren't really a waste, as I can use them to get more practice melting metal together.

 

[astroracer]

Here is a link to MSC:
https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn...12105948#navid=12105948+4287238530+4288246269
Keep an eye on the site as they put these blades on sale a couple of times a year. This is a link to what I use in my saw which is an old chineseum machine that requires a 64 1/2" long blade. Your saw may be different...
You do want to stick with the bi-metal style blades though. They will last a long time if you keep an eye on them. I have been using the same blade on my saw for about 4 years now... it does a lot of cutting.
Mark

 

[lbpd716]

Thanks for the link - One of the reasons I enjoy coming here is such a wealth of knowledge from everyone - Ive learned a lot for sure.

 

[toolchaser]

Both Lennox & Starrett make good blades, my local welding supply also custom welds blades from coil stock, probably also Lennox. I've had good service from Blades.com, but the choices are overwhelming

 

[lbpd716]

Picked up the saw this morning. Also got a gallon of Rel Saw concentrate. Now to clean and get ready to break in the stock blade.

 

[zmotorsports]

Picked up the saw this morning. Also got a gallon of Rel Saw concentrate. Now to clean and get ready to break in the stock blade.

I had that exact same saw for several years before purchasing my Baileigh about 5 years ago. I purchased my Jet used (and abused) and brought it back and put it into service. It worked well for the several years I used it. I did/do all of my sawing dry thought, I never did hook up the coolant. I'll use Relton's Stick Kut on my blades.

 

[toolchaser]

My Wilton is almost a carbon copy of your Jet other than placement of the hydraulic cylinder & paint, although it looks like yours got better wheels.

 

[lbpd716]

Wilton and Jet are in the same company group, so not surprising.

Did some clean up on it today and hope to start breaking in the 1st blade this weekend. Was given a nice 2in chunk of round bar from my local machine shop and invited to come by any time to root around for any scraps to play with.

It's working out to be a great week.

 

[toolchaser]

Nice having a local shop for access to drops & scrap pieces. When I do smaller quantity custom machining jobs, I have to order from Speedy Metals or McMaster if I don`t want to invest in a 12 or 20 ft. piece. Donuts or breakfast burritos to grease the wheels at your local shop ( I would have suggested biscuits, but I see you're in California, more of a southern thing). Enjoy your retirement, I jumped off last August & haven't found a downside yet.

 

[lbpd716]

Now that I'm about done breaking in the factory blade, (is doing great on mild steel BTW) I have another thought/question regarding the pump.

Would it be advisable to put a couple of the "Cow magnets" I have rolling around here into the leech side of the tank to help avoid chips getting into the pump, or would that just be wasting time?