# Bandsaw Blades -TPI???



## longbeard (May 4, 2014)

I ordered the craftsman 14" bandsaw today, $343 no more than i use a bandsaw, should fit my needs.

Question is, how many TPI do i want?

The blade is 99 3/4" long, and will accept blades from 1/4" to 3/4" width.

I would like one for rough cutting, ripping and so forth. I have small burls to small diameter pieces of wood
And one for smooth cuts with less sanding when cut. Cutting pen blanks among other things and such.

Thanks for any insight and help guys


Harry


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## DKMD (May 4, 2014)

I use a 1/2" 3 tpi blade for 99% of my cuts, but I'm generally just roughing out blanks for the lathe... You'll want more teeth per inch for smooth cuts.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## Keith (May 6, 2014)

I get a Timberwolf 3/8 4TPI from Woodcraft, they are one of the few that keep a 99 3/4" in stock. It is a good blade for general cutting, resawing and roughing blanks. but be aware, this puppy id M-E-A-N mean. and it is a low tension blade, so read the tensioning instructions on the back of the package and follow them to a tee. I wont run anything else on my Rikon.


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## barry richardson (May 6, 2014)

If your mostly cutting blocks, 3/8 or 1/2 and 3 or 4 tpi is good. I've read it several places, and I would have to agree, that a 3/8 x 6tpi is the best general blade for a 14" band saw. It doe's every thing pretty good, curves, straight cuts, etc...


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## longbeard (May 7, 2014)

Well, i ordered a Timber Wolf, 3 TPI. My next one i'd like to get for smoother cuts.
I'll post pics when i get it set up.



Harry


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## brown down (May 15, 2014)

I used to use timberwolf but found that they don't last especially with burls. they are a low tension blade which i don't care. My bandsaw is one of my most used pieces of equipment. I went through countless blades trying to find one that would last. I finally bit the bullet and bought a 3 TPI carbide tipped blade. if it breaks and doesn't get damaged I can weld it back together and the best part, they can get resharpened. so far that is the most impressive blade I have run on that saw to date! its also $140 but if it outlast all the others and so far has, it was a good investment than! I figured I go to woodcraft and buy 3 olson or whatever they had on their shelves and they only last for a short period I would give this one a go and I love it

Reactions: Like 2


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## Kevin (May 15, 2014)

Jeff which CT blade did you buy and where did you get it? What size does your saw take?

@brown down


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## brown down (May 15, 2014)

Kevin its a MORSE 3 TPI ¾ x 111. I have a Rikon 14 deluxe. that is the largest blade I can run. kinda wish i bough a bigger saw!
I have cut a lot of wood with it and its still cutting like it just came out of the box. $140 was the cheapest I have found for carbide tipped. I popped into the local woodcraft store to buy some blades and it just so happened the owner was giving one of these a test drive and let me give it a go. I guess they just started dealing with them. one thing I have noticed with this blade there isn't any drift. I am sure they make finer ripping ones but he didn't have any in store but for me as far as resawing I prefer a more aggressive blade for the size I am going through. what do you run on your saw? brand and what size do you have?

Reactions: Like 1


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## JR Custom Calls (May 15, 2014)

I've had the Laguna Resaw King recommended to me... still not sure I want to even look in to getting a carbide blade. One little mistake can easily ruin a $50 blade... I don't think I'd ever want to run the saw with a $150 blade.


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## brown down (May 15, 2014)

I guess I am the opposite! my table saw veneer blade is around $180. my blades get used on a daily basis. like anything you can't get ramie around expensive toys, but at least the expensive ones are worth fixing!


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## Steve Smith (May 19, 2014)

I seem to recall the recommendation is to have at least three teeth enagaged in your piece, so the thinner the piece you have the more TPI you want. I generally don't use anything smaller than a 1/2" blade with 3 - 6 TPI. My 1" and 1-1/4" blades are 1.3 and 1.1 TPI respectively. I learned the hard way, after my african blackwood ate up my $178 Lenox woodmaster carbide blade to use cheaper blades on really tough wood, but the surface roughness that carbide blade leaves when it's sharp is very nice. I bought it originally when I needed a good blade to cut up some 9" thick Gabon ebony and used it on a lot of other timbers until the blackwood had it for lunch. Made it through three days of cutting and that was it.


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## Kevin (Jun 8, 2014)

Steve Smith said:


> Made it through three days of cutting and that was it.



3 "days" of cutting can be a lot of wood. A blade on my sawmill won't last 3 hours when I am cutting non-stop even if I am cutting clean not-so-hard logs.


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## SDB777 (Jun 8, 2014)

I have the same bandsaw! Thought I was the only one.....

I resharpen my cheap bands until the break, or better way of saying it...I run cheaper bands and get a LOT of life from them. Sharpening is done via Dremel.
The band?  <Magnate>  And on looking at them just now, I have noticed no more free shipping(so I guess I'll be looking for something else in the same price range?



Scott (I might be too cheap) B


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## eaglea1 (Jun 10, 2014)

Jeff, do you resharpen your blades yourself or send them somewhere? Just curious...


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## brown down (Jun 10, 2014)

I have resharpened the cheaper ones with a dremmil and diamond bits but this blade I will send back to them and let them do it. they will also just like table saw blades, retooth any that need it. so far this is the longest running blade I have had. I processed a fairly large order using it and cut countless boards with it for myself, it is still sharp as heck, prob needs a good cleaning but thats about it. it has a long way to go before its dull


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## barry richardson (Jun 10, 2014)

I bought a lennox trimaster a few years ago. Laguna was discontinuing them so they were half price, $70 for my saw. It cut great but after a few hours of cutting, broke at the weld, when the blade recoiled upon breaking, it broke a couple of teeth off, took it to a saw shop to have it re-welded (figured I could still get some use out of it, even with a couple of broken teeth), but the shop did a hack job rewelding it, didn't hold. They said you need a special rig for welding carbide baldes, which they didn't have. When I talked to lennox about it, they said their carbides are not really designed for small wheels (below 18") and the metal back tended to fatigue and break on smaller wraps, often well before the teeth are dull. I have heard they have since change the metal in their backing to help with this problem. I have used bi-metal blades quite a bit too (Lennox Di-Master) but they tend to have the same problem, they don't come in flex back, and the blades fatigue on small wheels. These days I mostly stick with carbon blades. I cut a lot of gnarly woods, roots, etc, and a rock will destroy a carbide blade just as quick as a carbon blade. My perfect set-up is to have have 3 bandsaws, all set up for different operations (unrealistic, I know) but there just isn't one blade that does it all. It does sound like the Morse might be designed for smaller bandsaws, might have to check it out someday.... Kinda of a different subject, I was just looking at the new Laguna 14". Looks like a well designed saw, very similar to the Ricon, except it has a foot brake, and ceramic guides (once you use a bandsaw with a brake, it sucks to use one without one) any word on these? don't remember the exact model# but it is on the Laguna site....


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## JR Custom Calls (Jun 10, 2014)

Must be talking about the 12-14. I narrowed my search down to that saw and the rikon 14 deluxe. Rikon was $300 less when I got mine because it was on sale, but I would have ended up getting it anyways even if the Laguna had been cheaper. I would link you to my thread, but I'm on my phone and can't find it. I have a review of my rikon on here as well that I need to update with more praise.


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