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robo hippy

For bowl blanks, there are specialty resaw blades. Most will use a 1/2 inch blade with 3 teeth per inch. They come in different thicknesses as well. I prefer the more heavy duty blades, which I think is 0.035 thickness, but am not sure. I prefer the Lennox bimetal Diemaster blades. They cost a bit more, but way out perform any other blade I have heard of. The bimetal means a hard metal for the teeth, bonded to a softer metal for the blade, so it cuts longer. If you have a near by saw shop, they may have this in stock, or know of some one who does. The bimetal, when you run into metal, will be dulled, but not ruined. I get mine resharpened regularly, and the price is good. Many on this forum use Ellis Bandsaw blades, but I have no experience with them. I have had a couple of friends switch from the Timberwolf blades to the Lennox after trying them. If you talk to a seller, tell them what you are cutting and they can help set you up.

robo hippy

Um, I don't really know. I do know the Diemaster is made for resawing. There is some hook in the teeth, and a good set (sideways bending outward) to them. The teeth for wood are a lot different than the ones used for metal. Again, if you have a bandsaw blade maker in the area, they know more than I do. A friend sent me to the guy who makes them locally, and I found out much later how good the blades really were.

robo hippy

John:

One of the reasons I started getting bandsaw blades from Timberwolf/Suffolk was the education they offered on bandsaw blade design - blade width, tooth style and spacing.  They have different designs for cutting plywood and other sheet goods, kiln dried wood, green wood, and I think one or two other categories.

If you have experience with hand saws, you can crosscut with a rip saw and rip with a crosscut saw, but after a couple times you wouldn't want to.  Harder sawing and poorer results.  Table saw blades also have different designs for the best results when ripping and crosscutting, and for specialty materials like melamine board.  A general purpose table saw blade will cut most everything okay, but not as well as rip, crosscut, and melamine blades.

The same is true with bandsaw blades.  Green wood creates lots of sawdust that doesn't clear easily, so larger gullets are needed.  Sheet goods dull teeth more quickly, hence a design specifically for them, and so on.

I expect Ellis and the other equally well known bandsaw blade suppliers also have different designs for different materials.