Bandsaw Blade Recommendation

[johnnycanuck]

I've been reading posts for awhile on the options for replacing my Porter-Cable abrasive chop saw and today picked up a HF 4x6 bandsaw. Hopefully I'll get one that runs true. I'm a hobbyist making furniture out of wood and mild carbon-steel. I'm cutting 14 ga - 1/4 inch material, square tubing and bar stock up to two inch width.

Every fan of bandsaws has their favorite blade brand it seems e.g., Lucas, Morse, Olson, Farm and Fleet, some even think the HF is ok.
On top of the brands there are so many variables - raker teeth, variable teeth, TPI. Any suggestions that would fit with my needs?

[monsoon-mech]

a few years ago, I had 2 of my 4x6 saws cutting side by side, the one that got used all the time had an Olson 14/18 blade on it that had ALOT of miles on it mostly cutting sched 40 pipe and 1/4"x2x2 square tube, the other was the "backup" saw and had a Harbor freight "supercut" 14/18 blade on it, both saws were cutting the same 3" diam sched 40 pipe the olson blade consistantly finished a minute or better ahead of the HF bladed saw... I still got that like new HF blade its hangin on a nail on the wall all 4 of my little bandsaws run olson blades now, one has been in steady use for 1.5 years and still cuts bout like new... I do use Hougen 11745 Slick Stik Lube on my blades though and it really makes a difference in how long they keep cutting...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[arcflash]

On my 4x6 I switched to Lenox .030 Diamaster blades and am so much happier with the lack of flex. Will never go back to the .025 blades.

[johnnycanuck]

monsoon-mech, thanks. Your vehicle looks like something out of a Mad Max movie. Very cool. After doing more research your reco for a 14/18 blade seems spot-on. I've ordered the Olson. I also ordered an iMachinist 24 TPI Bimetal for my 14ga. stuff. I woulda never thought of this lube stuff. It addresses one of my concerns buying the 4x6 since most don't come with a cutting fluid system.

Break-in seems to be really important too. I pulled this from a site: "For softer materials, such as carbon steel and aluminum, adjust the feed pressure to 50 percent of the normal cutting rate for the first 50 to 100 square inches." I'm not sure how to do this with a gravity-drop head but I guess just hold the weight and lower it real slow. And what's it mean to cut 50 square inches?

[Louie1961]

two rules of thumb: you should always have 2-3 teeth in contact with the metal at all times, which means there is no one size fits all blade. Thinner material will require a higher tooth count/pitch, and thicker material will need a lower tooth count. Second, on square tube and angle iron, try not to cut along the line of a flat surface. Turn or tilt the stock in such a way that the blade is never really contacting too much material at one time. I always cut square tube so that no side is parallel to the base of the machine/the blade).

I have never had too much trouble with my cheapo Harbor Freight saw using cheapo harbor freight blades so long as I followed these rules of thumb. Also don't put too much down force, and definitiely don't try to force the cut. The number one cause of a band saw cutting off angle is a dull blade.

[Broccoli1]

monsoon-mech, thanks. Your vehicle looks like something out of a Mad Max movie. Very cool. After doing more research your reco for a 14/18 blade seems spot-on. I've ordered the Olson. I also ordered an iMachinist 24 TPI Bimetal for my 14ga. stuff. I woulda never thought of this lube stuff. It addresses one of my concerns buying the 4x6 since most don't come with a cutting fluid system.

Break-in seems to be really important too. I pulled this from a site: "For softer materials, such as carbon steel and aluminum, adjust the feed pressure to 50 percent of the normal cutting rate for the first 50 to 100 square inches." I'm not sure how to do this with a gravity-drop head but I guess just hold the weight and lower it real slow. And what's it mean to cut 50 square inches?

Cutting Solid stock.

"How To Determine Area of a Round
Diameter squared X .7854 = Area of a Round
Example : 6” round X 6 = 36 X .7854 = 28.27 square inches"


From Morse-
https://www.mkmorse.com/fileman/Uplo...aw%20Blade.pdf

[Broccoli1]

and dont be afraid to tighten the blade tension.

[M J D]

One thing I try to avoid when cutting tubing, is placing the seam at the bottom. The seam is often harder than the tube itself. Best place to put the seam is on the side, as it is the least contact for the teeth of the blade.

[Lis2323]

One thing I try to avoid when cutting tubing, is placing the seam at the bottom. The seam is often harder than the tube itself. Best place to put the seam is on the side, as it is the least contact for the teeth of the blade.

Also good to plan on not having to drill through a wall with a seam.

Or if you need to drill through both walls always start the hole from the side with the seam.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Welder Dave]

Seam on the top is also good because the blade will gradually go into the weld from the smooth side and a tooth won't catch on the weld. Break in is important and the right coolant can't make a huge difference in blade life and cutting speed. Even if you have to hook a small tank with a gravity feed drip is well worth the effort. M.K. Morse are good blades.

[johnnycanuck]

Thanks to all of you for your tips and suggestions. I must have rolled some eyes when I questioned how to achieve square inches of breakin - thanks Broccoli1. Today I assembled the saw and realized it does have a feed system via a coil spring. For my first cut I went with 1-in. sq tubing (1/8 in. thick). I plugged it into a 25ft. 12ga. extension cord, put the saw on slowest setting (80 FPM) and set the feed rate so it was reeeeealy slow. At about 20 min. I started increasing the feed rate and finally around 30 minutes it was just about done when the blade motion hiccuped a couple times and then stopped. The motor just stalled. I figure if the blade had hung up, it would have broken or the belt would have slipped or the blade slipped. Nope, just stopped. I tried squirting some WD40 but it happened two more times. It was late and about 40 deg. so I punted. Tomorrow I'm gonna check the gearbox oil and then see if it repeats on a different piece of stock.

[monsoon-mech]

Thanks to all of you for your tips and suggestions. I must have rolled some eyes when I questioned how to achieve square inches of breakin - thanks Broccoli1. Today I assembled the saw and realized it does have a feed system via a coil spring. For my first cut I went with 1-in. sq tubing (1/8 in. thick). I plugged it into a 25ft. 12ga. extension cord, put the saw on slowest setting (80 FPM) and set the feed rate so it was reeeeealy slow. At about 20 min. I started increasing the feed rate and finally around 30 minutes it was just about done when the blade motion hiccuped a couple times and then stopped. The motor just stalled. I figure if the blade had hung up, it would have broken or the belt would have slipped or the blade slipped. Nope, just stopped. I tried squirting some WD40 but it happened two more times. It was late and about 40 deg. so I punted. Tomorrow I'm gonna check the gearbox oil and then see if it repeats on a different piece of stock.

blade tensioner? don't be afraid to crank it down....

[gnewby]

Something I would definitely recommend is if your saw begins to not cut square do not fiddle with the adjustments. Try a new blade first no matter how many cuts the original HF blade has cut. My original blade only performed 4-5 cuts before the cut started to wonder so I started messing with the adjustments and got them out of wack. Then I replaced the blade with a new olsen blade which did not cut square with my adjustments off. Finally replaced that blade with another new blade and followed adjustment set up and got my saw to cutting square. The Olsen brand blades are typically what I use, I have not bought one for awhile but noticed that the new blades are .030 thick instead of the .025. I also use a stick cutting grease on my blades which helps quite a bit and also makes the blades cut straighter, faster, and last longer.

[monsoon-mech]

monsoon-mech, thanks. Your vehicle looks like something out of a Mad Max movie. Very cool.

Thanks, that is 1 of 4 British FV1611 Pigs I own, that one is a 1955 MK 2 that was used extensively in Northern Ireland and came to me with a blown engine.. it now has a 1993 Cummins 5.9 out of a school bus powering it mated to an Allison 1000 tranny and NP205 transfer case, not original but its the only one in the USA that will run down the interstate at 90 mph fully armored at 14,650lbs thats a barricade mover on front designed to ram through pretty much anything ya put in front of it

[johnnycanuck]

Holy frijole. So it's not just like you ran amuck with an '85 Silverado. Good thing it has the barricade mover because its got to take some time to bring ~15,000 lbs. to a halt.

[johnnycanuck]

Sorry for the delay responding. I may have figured out why the saw "stalled". I started fiddling with the blade bearings to relieve what seemed like a lot of compression on the blade. gnewby, I sorta wish I'd read your post before doing this but I learned a lot in the process. I used a metal rule to simulate the blade and played around the various bearings until I had the blade aligned and tight. However when I went to cut again, I found the blade was too high - it wouldn't complete the cut. However I didn't realize it for about 10 min. because I'd set the feed rate so slow (remember, I'm still breaking-in my blade) that it kinda hung on the switch. Lightbulb moment...previously when I thought the saw was stalling I would lift up and then gently set back down and the motor would stop. Maybe it was just depressing the switch to kill the motor, not grinding to a halt on the workpiece.

Anyway I moved the blade bearing assemblies down so the teeth are finishing the cut and it's running pretty dang well. My Olson 14/18 and iMachinist 24 should be here soon and I'll do some timing tests with each against the stock HF blade and report back. I guess I'll have to wait until they're both broken in. This could take awhile. Probably not that important but maybe it'll be useful for someone else one day.

By the way, the thing that tipped me over from the abrasive wheel saw was the deflection I was getting cutting angle stock on a 45. I found the wheel was bending-out as it transitioned to the horizontal leg. No one ever mentions this con with abrasive wheels. Mostly it's about the noise and messy aspect but you can't trim a kerf-width of the end of something because the blade always slips off the end. Now, my cut is true!

[Oscar]

In my 7x12 bandsaw, I put a L.A. Cutting Products 10/14 bimetal blade and it works pretty good. Good price on Ebay. For really thin stuff I have Lennox 18 TPI blade and that can cut down to 0.030" wall tube very nicely.

[monsoon-mech]

Sorry for the delay responding. I may have figured out why the saw "stalled". I started fiddling with the blade bearings to relieve what seemed like a lot of compression on the blade. gnewby, I sorta wish I'd read your post before doing this but I learned a lot in the process. I used a metal rule to simulate the blade and played around the various bearings until I had the blade aligned and tight. However when I went to cut again, I found the blade was too high - it wouldn't complete the cut. However I didn't realize it for about 10 min. because I'd set the feed rate so slow (remember, I'm still breaking-in my blade) that it kinda hung on the switch. Lightbulb moment...previously when I thought the saw was stalling I would lift up and then gently set back down and the motor would stop. Maybe it was just depressing the switch to kill the motor, not grinding to a halt on the workpiece.

Anyway I moved the blade bearing assemblies down so the teeth are finishing the cut and it's running pretty dang well. My Olson 14/18 and iMachinist 24 should be here soon and I'll do some timing tests with each against the stock HF blade and report back. I guess I'll have to wait until they're both broken in. This could take awhile. Probably not that important but maybe it'll be useful for someone else one day.

By the way, the thing that tipped me over from the abrasive wheel saw was the deflection I was getting cutting angle stock on a 45. I found the wheel was bending-out as it transitioned to the horizontal leg. No one ever mentions this con with abrasive wheels. Mostly it's about the noise and messy aspect but you can't trim a kerf-width of the end of something because the blade always slips off the end. Now, my cut is true!

if ya wanna really check if your saw is cutting square, get a piece of square tube (I like to do this with 2"x2"x1/8" ) set the blade so its trimming off a piece the same thickness of the blade after its cut take your micrometer and measure the thickness of the cut off piece if its uniform your set... I have some as thin as .010" laying around the shop by the saws .... just to remind the guys that the saws will cut so any f#kup is all on them! LOL

as far as stopping the pig... its got engine brake as well as 4 wheel disc air brakes, if that don't do it I just aim for a Prius

[jwmelvin]

For really thin stuff I have Lennox 18 TPI blade and that can cut down to 0.030" wall tube very nicely.

with hydraulic downfeed, I’m guessing. That seems to be key to going outside of the 3-teeth-in-the-cut guideline.

[G-ManBart]

Good thing it has the barricade mover because its got to take some time to bring ~15,000 lbs. to a halt.

That depend a lot on the barrier....this was a loaded dump truck (around 50K going off memory) at 60mph.

[G-ManBart]

I was lucky and found a local company, Detroit Bandsaw, as a great supplier and reference for all things bandsaw blades. I called and chatted with one of their techs before I put my first order in with them and everything he said was true. I ordered a spread of blades from 4/6 up to around a 10/12 as I recall....I cut a fair amount of mild steel thicker stuff, but I also cut some thinner (1/4" to 1/2") tool steel so I had to make sure I got the right setup for that. I was worried I would have to go to a more expensive blade, but their M42 bi-metal has been great. I keep an oiler on the saw filled with cutting oil and give it a few shots per cut and the blades last a long time.

They offer online shopping/shipping, but local folks can simply add "Local pickup" to the order notes and they won't charge you for shipping...and let you know when they have your order ready for pickup. I didn't see a big difference in price when comparing with bigger online places so it made sense to support a local company.

[johnnycanuck]

I would've bet on the truck. G-ManBart...always nice to shop local and build a relationship. So I got some blade data...I cut some sections of 1/4 in. x 2 in. bar stock mild steel on slowest speed and I guess slow feed rate (hard to know). Each blade was waxed with paste lube. The HF TPI 14 has about thirty cuts on it (mostly 3/4 in. angle) and it cut in 5:46 and the Olson 14/18 TPI cut in 7:40. I later cut another in around 8:00. I'm guessing the HF will initially cut faster because 14 is better than 14/18 for what I cut but hope that the Olson will last much longer.

I also cut some square tube sections per monsson-mech suggestions and they measure within a few thousands on all sides. That oughta be good enough for my limited abilities.

[gnewby]

You mentioned your feed rate do you have the factory feed rate set up on your band saw or have you updated it? Two of the first mods I did on my band saw were 1) built a much sturdier stand for it. 2) Purchased a hydraulic feed from ebay for it. I don't recall how much it costs but it was sure worth it.

[johnnycanuck]

Huh. I only have the factory system. I saw a kit for about the price I paid for the saw itself. I'll look around some.

[CAVEMANN]

I prefer a variable pitch blade, the varying pitch will help to alter the natural frequency of the blade to cut harmonics chatter. I've been buying Imachinist & they're doing well, I usually keep a 14-18 on the saw, and an an 8-12 on the shelf, I'll probably drop the 8-12 from use since the 14-18 is a good all around pitch.