Recommended Bandsaw Blades?

[Chasboy1]

Hi folks, my wood cutting bandsaw blade which was original to the machine (Shopsmith BS bought used) snapped when I tried to fold it.
I'm looking for advice as to what type/vendor/tooth count/width blade I should get. I'm going to be making my first electric guitar body from scratch and I'm using a piece of 1.5" Cherry. The cut will not be intricate, but I'm sure relief cuts will be necessary.
I appreciate the help!!

 

[wolf creek knives]

I've always used Timber Wolf with great results. I think I've probably had 5 or 6 break in my 45+ years woodworking. Most I just wear out.

 

[KenB259]

I have good luck with Timber Wolf blades.

 

[carlmorrell]

I have never had the luxury of a nice bandsaw. I have a Ryobi 9". Use the crap out of it. I recently cut a lot of 1/4" plywood Christmas trees for my girlfriends arts and crafts classes. I keep convincing myself I should have a 1/4" 6tpi blade on there. I just tuned up the bandsaw with new tires, cool blocks and blade. For blades, I just buy whatever Lowes has. This time I put on a Bosch. Usually I just wear down the teeth, or flatten the kerf most likely due to bad tool tuning and usage practices. Anyhow, the point I really wanted to make is I used a 1/8" 15 tpi blade. It really helped withthe curved cuts. Since the tune-up I have cut a few pieces of resin, M3, Diamondcast, and ebonite. Straight cuts and was not at all disappointed I kept the 1/8" blade on. YMMV.

I keep telling my friends the bandsaw is the most difficult power tool to keep properly tuned. Mine has 12 things that can be adjusted. Once things are off, the cuts suffer, the blade suffers, and I wish I had a nicer bandsaw.

 

[jttheclockman]

I am a Lennox guy. I would step up the width of the blade over a 1/8" blade , I would go with 3/16" and also a 1/4" blade depending how sharp the turns are. Look at a bandsaw blade chart and it will tell you what radius the blade will cut at.
https://ravenview.com/bandsaw-blade-radius-chart/

 

[Fred Bruche]

I've ordered from this place in the past. I use 4-6 tpi 1/2 inch blades for general cutting work for me.

 

[Woodchipper]

I tuned my bandsaw. It plays in B flat minor.

 

[d_bondi]

Hello Charles. In my opinion, it completely depends on what you are doing with the bandsaw.
Resawing is totally different than cutting blanks and that is different than scroll work.

I have a Grizzly 14" (like many it is a knock-off of a 1960's Delta/Rockwell design). I have two blades:

• Timberwolf 1/4" 6PC, click the link for the details. This is, for me a great general purpose blade, it cuts through everything I have fed into it like butter. I even did a little resawing of some maple burl that was almost 3" thick and handled it very well (pic below). I was too lazy to swap blades to the one below, but it did a great job and the blanks were beautiful.
• Woodslicer 1/2" Resaw, click the link for the details. This blade is an absolute cutting beast. It is guaranteed not to fail at the weld. Mine did, and Highland Woodworking shipped me a replacement immediately with no hassle. If you are making straight cuts or very gradual curves, it rocks.

As Carl noted above, a Bandsaw's performance is all about having it setup properly, especially placement of the blade gullets on the tires, and tensioning to get it to cut without drift. For this, I recommend Alex Snodgrass' method. Check out this The Wood Whisperer video with Alex.

 

[leehljp]

I tuned my bandsaw. It plays in B flat minor.

OT for the OP: What do you get when you drop a baby grand piano down a mine shaft? A Flat Miner!

 

[rherrell]

I use 1/4"-6 tpi blades from Highland Woodworking. $20 for a good quality blade.

 

[RichAldrich]

Timber wOLF!

 

[montmill]

I get mine here: https://ellissaw.com/bandsaw-blades/band-saw-blade-stock-list/ They're close to me and I avoid shipping. They manufacture some nice American made equipment.