machines

Superb New (to me) Bandsaw Blade

During a recent round of machine maintenance and associated exercises I reflected on my current 14″ bandsaw set-up, particularly relating to the blade that was on the machine.  Now, there was nothing wrong the current blade as it was in fine shape but I was willing to go afield in this regard.  I had been thinking long and hard about buying and in$$$talling a carbide-tooth bade especially after watching a Stumpy Nubs video on his transition to carbide bandsaw blades.  The great Winston Churchill quote, “The American people can be depended on to do the right thing after all the alternatives have been exhausted,” comes to mind; I do not mind spending dollars, even high dollars, on a performance-enhancing option but only after I have been absolutely persuaded it is the only reasonable option.  Or sometimes exploring a different, less expensive option that might come close.

In the end I decided to try a different route than the carbide-tipped blade$ and opted instead for one of these variable pitch blades (unevenly spaced teeth) and I was frankly astonished at the performance.

As you can see in the photo, the re-saw on the right was with a 1/2″ x 4 tpi blade in excellent shapeand the result on the left was one of these new variable pitch blades with the spacing being 2 to 3 tpi.  As different as day and night with virtually no chatter

In addition, the sawing itself was nearly effortless, and an unexpected benefit was the great reduction is noise.  The blade is not silent, it is cutting wood after all, but dramatically quieter than the previous blade.  All the result of disrupting the harmonics resulting from equal spacing between the teeth.

Since I have smaller bandsaws for finer work I will probably leave this one set up for joinery and small re-sawing.  I am finding myself using the band saw for more routine work especially since outfitting it with the excellent Kreg fence.