New Bandsaw- what blades should I have on hand?

[Farmer Jim]

I finally got the new shop far enough along to get the machines set-up.  I have a 17" bandsaw, but I don't know what blades I should have on hand to be able to tackle most jobs.  It has a resaw fence and will be used to resaw hard and softwoods as well as ripping hard maple gunstock blanks and whatever else I find that I can use it for.

[sandsawmill14]

sharp ones!!! ;D :D :D :D

but seriously i dont know but i will be watching as i was wondering the same thing

[Andy White]

Farmer Jim,
For most uses of blades in my shop, I have found that a selection of blades works . I have a blade of the smallest width available, helps with any tight radius cutting work. Also bands to 1", with low, and high tooth count will do most "utility" cutting. Recently, I have been using a 1/4" three tpi band for a lot of my resawing. and radius cutting. Most will recommend a wide band for resawing, but the 1/4" works extremely well for me, with fewer blade swaps.   YMMV     8) 8)   Andy

[Lud]

I agree with Andy.  Narrow blades, such as the 1/4",  are usually on my bandsaw and do a wide range of work.  I've used the even narrower 1/8" as I cut a lot of turning blanks and narrowness lets you cut smaller diameters....but they are more subject to breakage.  3, up to 6 , TPI (Tooth per Inch) is aggressive and doesn't clog too much.  More TPI and gummy wood will clog a blade for sure.

Keep your eyes on your fingers and develop good technique such as staying on the same side of a pencil line.  Watch your tension and glance up to where the blade is contacting the upper bearings for info on how the blade is behaving.  Finally , the thicker or harder the wood , the slower you want to go. ;)

[Farmer Jim]

Thanks for the help.  Have a 1/2" blade that came with the machine.  I've used it to pare excess off a double-bit axe handle I'm making and did some ripping with it.  I'll be ording a few as you all have suggested.

[gfadvm]

I have the 17" Extreme Series Grizzly and use blades from 1/8" to 1" depending on what I need to cut. Timberwolf (Suffolk Machinery) is a great source of information re: which blade for what job/wood type. Call their 800 # and tell the tech guy what you need a blade to do and they recommend the best blade for your application. They have always given me sound advice and solved several problems I was having.

[Farmer Jim]

I have the 17" Extreme Series Grizzly and use blades from 1/8" to 1" depending on what I need to cut. Timberwolf (Suffolk Machinery) is a great source of information re: which blade for what job/wood type. Call their 800 # and tell the tech guy what you need a blade to do and they recommend the best blade for your application. They have always given me sound advice and solved several problems I was having.

That is the machine I have.  I get my blades for my sawmill from Suffolk- I'll check them out for the bandsaw blades too.  Thanks.

[hackberry jake]

Mine pretty much doesn't change from a 1/2" three TPI. It works great for the type of work I do mostly.