How to choose a band saw blade for cutting metal?
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How to choose a band saw blade for wood? #2
In this article, we will look at how to determine the correct length, width and tooth pitch of a band saw blade for wood.
What is the correct length of a band saw blade?
Determining the length
The length of the band saw blade always depends on the type of machine and is usually given in the user manual or on the band saw's nameplate. If you cannot find the length in this way, you can:
- measure a broken band saw blade.
- measure a welded band saw blade – place it with the weld on the floor, make a mark next to the weld, roll the band saw blade along the floor around its circumference until the weld appears again, make a second mark and measure the distance between the marks.
- take a piece of string, run it around the outside of the wheels and use its length to determine the approximate length of the band saw blade (we do not really recommend this; it is the last and not very accurate option for determining blade length).
Most common band saws and blade lengths
Parkside (LIDL): 1400 mm - Band saw blade 1400 mm
Scheppach HBS 261: 1790 mm - Band saw blade 1790 mm
Cesky Brod P 320/II: 2040 mm - Band saw blade 2040 mm
Scheppach Basa 3: 2360 mm - Band saw blade 2360 mm
cutting radius - selecting band
What is the correct band saw blade width?
Your wood band saw will probably allow the use of several different blade widths; the range of widths is given in the user manual. In general, if the diameter of the band wheels on your band saw is 350 mm or less, you should not use blades wider than 13 mm.
The wider the band saw blade you choose (within the limits of your band saw), the longer its service life will be.
So choose the widest possible blade with regard to the radius you need to cut. The following table will help you roughly determine what radius can be cut in a single clean pass (without having to go back in the cut) with a given blade width.
selecting pitch of woodworking band saw blade
What tooth size (TPI pitch) should you choose?
We choose tooth size according to the height of the material being cut (the dimension of the material the band saw blade passes through in a single cut), and according to the required cut quality.
Coarse tooth TPI 2, TPI 3 and TPI 4 is used for large diameters and for rough, fast cuts. It is suitable for ripping soft and green (fresh) timber.
Medium tooth TPI 4, TPI 6 and TPI 8 is used for general cutting and is the most commonly used tooth size. It is used for both rip and cross cuts and offers the best ratio between cutting speed and cut quality.
Fine tooth TPI 10 and TPI 14 is used for fine contour cutting and where a very clean cut is required. It is most often used for cutting plywood and board materials up to a height of 10 mm.
 What does TPI mean?
TPI is the English abbreviation for “teeth per inch”. It means teeth per inch, i.e. the number of teeth per one inch, which is 25,4 millimetres. The smaller the number, the larger the teeth. The higher the TPI number, the more teeth the blade has and the finer and smaller each tooth is. The following table converts TPI to the distance in millimetres between tooth tips.
| TPI designation | Distance between tips [mm] |
|---|---|
| 2 TPI | 13 millimetres |
| 3 TPI | 8,5 millimetres |
| 4 TPI | 6 millimetres |
| 6 TPI | 4 millimetres |
| 8 TPI | 3 millimetres |
| 10 TPI | 2,5 millimetres |
| 14 TPI | 1,8 millimetres |
skip hook regular
What tooth form should you choose? What do Regular, Skip and Hook mean?
Regular denotes the standard tooth form with a 0° rake angle and is used on the finer pitches 14, 10, 8 and 6 TPI. The advantage of this geometry is a smooth and clean cut.
Skip denotes a geometry where every other tooth is “missing” or skipped. The rake angle of a Skip tooth is 0° for a smooth and less aggressive entry into the cut. It is suitable for productive cutting and rough breaking down of material.
Hook denotes a hook-shaped tooth form with an aggressive 10° rake angle. It is suitable for cutting hard or difficult-to-cut wood of larger diameters.
Dudr Saw band saw blades for wood
Your questions
Good day, Thank you for your inquiry. For cutting dry oak planks approximately 40 mm thick with many small radii on the Hammer N 4400 bandsaw, we recommend the saw blade Flexback 3980 uevo10 uevo0.65 mm – 6 TPI hook. With this blade width, you can cut curves with a radius of approximately 40 mm (e.g., a circle with a diameter of 80 mm). Alternatively, you can also try a narrower blade such as Flexback 3980 uevo6 uevo0.65 mm – 6 TPI hook. This allows for very tight radii down to approximately 15 mm (circles with a diameter of about 30 mm). We recommend trying both variants to see which blade works best for you. If you have further questions, we are happy to assist you.
Sincerely, Your Dudrsaw Team
Dear customer, we would recommend a wide band saw blade for straight cuts, e.g. Flexback 2450x16x0.65 TPI 3-Skip (cutting height 25-120 mm) and for cutting shapes Flexback 2450x6x0.65 TPI 4-Skip band saw blade (cutting height 20-80 mm).
Good luck, regards from the Dudr Saw team
Hello, for such pieces you need something with a large tooth pitch and ideally with HOOK geometry. But for this saw, you can only use blades up to 13mm max, and in this case I can offer:
https://www.dudrsaw.eu/band-saw-blade-configurator-for-wood/produkt-15/1826/13-x-0-65/4-hook or https://www.dudrsaw.eu/band-saw-blade-configurator-for-wood/produkt-15/1826/13-x-0-65/3-skip
Standa KolarĂk | kolarik@simonds.pl
Good day,
I recommend the FlexBack 13x0.65 TPI 4 saw blade, you can find the price at the link below.
Saw blade for wood 2240/13x0.65/4-Hook
Sincerely,
Vojtěch Wolf
Product Manager
Dear Sir, unfortunately we do not sharpen saw blades as it is too expensive and complicated. Saw blades that are used frequently are stretched (warped), some have broken teeth and a small kerf (cut thickness). We only sharpen saw blades for logs. Regards, Dudr Saw team.< /p>
Hello, it depends on how big the pieces are, whether they are straight or not. But the most important thing is the size of your saw (length, band width, etc.).
In general, look for hook-tooth bandsaws in our offer (good for oak and similar hardwoods), always with the appropriate number of teeth according to the material being cut. Alternatively, after CarbidWood bands, if you are looking for a high-quality cut and don't mind the higher price.
I recommend this article, it could help a lot https://www.dudrsaw.eu/technical-articles-and-advice/how-to-choose-a-band-saw-blade-for-wood-2
I assume you have a carpentry saw, not an angle saw.
Translated by google.translate.com
Good morning, thank you for your message. It is difficult to say with absolute certainty from a distance, however, based on what you describe, I would recommend trying a stiffer blade, particularly with a thickness of 0.65 mm.
Specifically, you could test this variant: Flexback 1572 uevo 6 uevo 0.65 mm – TPI 6 – Regular tooth
Compared to the original 0.5 mm blade, the 0.65 mm thickness offers greater cutting stability and reduces the blade's tendency to deviate, especially after a certain period of use. The Regular tooth is a universal profile, suitable for both softwoods and hardwoods. The 6 TPI (teeth per inch) pitch is suitable for an indicative cutting height of approximately 15–50 mm.
For further reading, we also recommend this technical article, which addresses the most common causes of problems with wood cutting bandsaw blades: Why do wood cutting bandsaw blades break? We know the answer
Best regards, The DudrSaw Team
Thank you for your positive feedback. Kind regards, the Dudr team.
Dear customer, we can offer the RipperS PREMIUM band saw blade, which is suitable for cutting logs. Below I am sending a purchase link for cutting coniferous and hardwood.
RipperS PREMIUM
Hello, we can recommend a blade with a thickness of 0.5 mm and the coarsest TPI division of 4. We are sending a link to purchase: Flexback 13x0.5 TPI 4. Best regards, the Dudr team
Hello, generally the most recommended is the CarbideWood band https://www.simonds.pl/tasmy-tnace/carbide-wood specifically for hard and exotic wood.
I am just not 100% sure of its usefulness for using this material "from a few mm". There I would rather look for a flexback band, where smaller teeth suitable for thin materials are also available.
S.Kolarik | kolarik@simonds.cz
Good day, thank you for your inquiry. The saw has 3 wheels with a diameter of 250 mm, I recommend using a saw blade with a thickness of 0.5 mm. There are more bends than on a standard two-wheel band saw. Using a thicker saw blade may cause the saw blade to break. Is the belt length 2450 mm? I would recommend this belt with a 4 TPI or finer 6 TPI pitch: Flexback 2450x6x0.5
Check the length and change it in the configurator if necessary. A width of 8 mm would be sufficient for cutting a 30 mm radius, but this blade is only available in a thickness of 0.65 mm. If the blades do not break (due to the bends), I would recommend trying this blade with a TPI 6 or TPI 4 pitch as well: Flexback 2450 x 8 x 0.65.
Thank you, good luck
Pavel Dudr
Good day,
thank you for your inquiry.
I suspect the problem might be with the guides. If you have original guides with wooden blocks on your saw, we recommend new guides from the manufacturer Gunsmithjm - the saw cuts incomparably better with these guides.
You can purchase them here:
https://gunsmithjm.blogspot.com/2019/01/vedeni-pasova-pila-p-320-ii-toto-je.html
Orders via email to gunsmithjm@centrum.cz
I believe this will help.
Also, a large tooth (3 TPI) and the widest possible blade, ideally 13 mm wide for straight cuts, might help.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kamil Ĺ imeÄŤek - technical advisor
Good day, this material is not bimetal but carbon steel. Of course, it can be ordered and we have enough in stock, unfortunately, we cannot sharpen the 2hook pitch
https://www.simonds.cz/cs/o-simonds/rippers-premium?utm_source=disc&utm_medium=reference&utm_campaign=s-lead
S.KolářĂk
Good day, you should try to balance the bandsaw wheels at least manually, so that the blade does not jump. The thickness of the saw blade should be the wheel diameter divided by 500. In your case, this is 280/500 = 0.56 mm. However, since you want to rip material, you should use a thicker blade of 0.65 mm, which is also available with larger tooth pitches, which are specifically designed for straight ripping of wood. The widest saw blade for you will therefore be 16x0.65mm, and I would recommend the largest possible pitch, i.e. 3 TPI (teeth per 1 inch) for ripping with a cutting height of 25-120 mm. This should enable you to rip everything you specify. You will see what cutting height your saw can handle with the blade and how the cut will look. If you choose a smaller pitch, the cut will be smoother, but the blade will not handle larger dimensions. If you have unbalanced wheels, the wood surface will likely still be uneven due to vibrations. As for saw blade recommendations, I recommend trying several types and then buying what suits you. For cutting shapes, I would recommend starting with the saw blade 1826x6x0.65 TPI 8-Regular. What to watch out for is hard to say, the only thing that comes to mind is that when ripping, especially logs, you must have the log firmly supported or clamped, otherwise the material will pinch the blade in an instant (the blade will "kick") and you will destroy both the blade and the material. You'll see, you'll figure it out, just write if anything comes up ;-). Good luck, best regards Pavel Dudr
Good day, it depends on how large the figures will be, on the one hand, how high the material is (for a 5mm cut-out you need a different pitch than for 50mm), on the other hand, how detailed the cutting trajectory will be (for small curves you need a narrow blade, but there the choice of pitch is limited).
In general, but with the given blade length and the assumption of what you can cut on it, I think it could be something like 1490x6x0.65 8tpi - that is for material 10-30mm in height and you can cut even quite small curves with it. This could be a starting point for your choice, based on which you will fine-tune the most suitable one for your reality with the help of the article above.
S. KolaĹ™Ăk
Good morning,
we are able to arrange sharpening of log band saw blades from a band width of 32mm. We do not sharpen woodworking saw blades, as the cost of transport and sharpening could exceed the price of the band itself.
For more information, you can contact us at the email address info@simonds.cz
Team Dudr Saw.
Good day, we sell the blades ourselves in Slovakia. You can choose from www.simonds.sk
Good day,
I recommend measuring the correct blade length by using a string on the old blade over the exposed wheels.
The original dimension is 2040mm https://www.dudrsaw.eu/band-saw-blade-configurator-for-wood/2040/13-x-0-65
After modifications, however, length changes often occur and orders for this saw range between 2000mm and 2040mm.
The blade width and pitch need to be chosen according to the material being cut, the maximum width is, but the recommended one is 13mm see link.
https://www.simonds.cz/sk/technicke-clanky-a-rady/ako-vybrat-pilovy-pas-na-drevo-2
If you have any information, please call +420 774 435 667
Regards
Volf