Thread: Which bandsaw blades?

I bought a 10" Craftsman bandsaw which came with one blade and I was wondering what is recommended for Micarta, G-10, horn, bone, etc?
Not sure how many TPI the stock blade has.

Thanks

Mike

I found the older thread from when I first bought my saw and am just now getting it set up.
Brands of blades to use would be appreciated. I don't want to spend a lot though as I am on a tight budget at the moment.

HF has some.
A narrow, fine toothed, blade for outline cutting and a wider skip tooth for slabbing off a thick material. Rule of thumb is the blade should have three or more teeth on the material thickness to be sliced.

Have a tapered/ thinned down tongue depressor or popsicle stick to hold the cut open on some materials which close together behind the cutting blade.

Also mount a table sized top piece of wood or ply that is sliced to the middle of the sheet. That allows you to cut close to the outline without breaking the material because it is full supported by the topper. That little lovable Craftsman has a huge hole in the table around the blade.

~Richard

Thank You Richard. Much appreciated my friend.
I didn't see any 70.5" blades on HF's site.

This fine tooth one is rated high on Amazon and it's just over $16 with shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Magnate-M70-5C.../dp/B0010QQKBQ

I went and ordered a Timberwolf 1/8” x 14 tpi x .025 blade from PS Wood Machines.
I hope this is a good blade for scale material.

1/8" x 0.025 HP Series Timber Wolf® Band Saw Blade - PS Wood Machines

Originally Posted by ProudMarineDad

I went and ordered a Timberwolf 1/8” x 14 tpi x .025 blade from PS Wood Machines.
I hope this is a good blade for scale material.

1/8" x 0.025 HP Series Timber Wolf® Band Saw Blade - PS Wood Machines

Looks good! Make haste slowly!
~Richard

Timber Wolf are good blades, have use them for years. Don’t know about 1/8 in blades, a 1/4 or 3/8th might be better.

1/8 in blades break easy, if a saw is not set up for that blade, too few teeth, and trying to do finish work, (sawing to the line), are where folks get into trouble with a band saw. Rough cut, finish by hand with rasps, files, sand paper or belt sander and router if you have one, are better solution.

Though a, properly set up your band saw with the right blade, can do some near finish work.

Here is an excellent video by Alex Snodgrass, (Carter tools)

, on how to set up a band saw, (they all are very simple and similar), what to look for and dispels some bandsaw myths. If it will not cut straight, it is not properly set up.

Thanks Euclid. I was wondering if an 1/8" blade was too flimsy but it was recommended to me and I am new to bandsaw use. I have used many wood tools but not a bandsaw.

Now I am wondering if I bought the wrong blade.

Before I got a metal bandsaw I used my 10" Crafstman a lot. It's fitted with a bi-metal blade. Cuts G10, CF and other dense materials like butter. It's 0.50" wide and uses 14/18 V TPI.