HF Metal Cutting Band Saw Help Needed

[medit8]

I just had my good blade fall apart after a year and about 40 blades profiled. I then put on my spare and the teeth all came off with the first blade I profiled. So now I have to get another and from checking my past saved posts, I believe that the Lenox Diemaster was recommended as best.
The HF uses 1/2" x 64.5' x 0.025. My questions:
1. Is the vari-tooth type the best blade or is the "standard" or "wavy"?
2. I almost always use 3/16" thick 1095, so would the 14 to 18 tooth blade be correct, based on the theory that you should have 3 to 4 teeth on the steel at all times?
3. Should the teeth point down when I put it on? That seemed to be the only option when I put on the blade that all the teeth stripped off of.
All help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Bob

[blacksmith101]

The teeth need to be pulling against the rest where the steel is to be cut. You can turn the blade inside out if the teeth are going the wrong direction. Sometimes they come that way. Depends on who coils them. Merle

[B.Finnigan]

Be sure to wear eye protection when you flip those blades right side out. I have been whacked a couple times real bad when it pops around.

I also knock a little of the set off the teeth on a new blade with an a/o stone. They can be a little too grabby at times and then snap the blade. The Simonds bi-metal have a conservative set but the Lennox bi-metals are bit more aggresive.

[SVanderkolff]

Not sure about tpi but the last time I had the teath stripped out of a blade it turned out I did not have a bi metal blade in but rather a regular blade. Make sure your blade is bi metal.
Steve

[medit8]

Thanks for all the input. The Lenox Diemaster blades I'm probably going to order are bi-metal, and the ones I had in before were also. I think the description of them as being aggressive is just what I'm after as I like to get the cuts done ASAP to make it as easy as possible on my arthritic hand/fingers. Merle, I'm sorry, but I'm still not quite sure when you said that "the teeth need to be pulling against the rest where the steel is to be cut" you mean that they should be going downward or not. I just checked the old broken blade and the new one that stripped and the one that lasted a year seems to have had the same size teeth and spacing, and the one that just stripped has uneven sized teeth, so I guess that that means that one is the "standard" and the other the "variable". Both seem to have about 14 to 18 teeth (16 average) per inch, so I guess that is the right size since the old blade did cut the 3/16" 1095 very well. A problem may be that the Lenox seems to only be available in the Variable tooth set up. BTW, when I first got the HF band saw it took several weeks of adjusting it before I got the blade to stay on, and then it worked very well. The main thing to keep it from coming off the wheels was to have it real tight, so when I put the new one on I tightened it a lot. But now as I was checking sites looking for the best deal on a new blade, I saw a FAQ that said that when teeth strip off, it can be caused by making the blade too tight. So I guess that that makes it possible that it wasn't the blades fault but mine from over tightening it. So I'm hoping that when I do get the new blade I can get the tension right fairly easily. Anyway, I'm sorry for this long post, but please know that I'm very grateful that this forum exists where I can get the help I need.
Thanks!
Bob

[DC KNIVES]

Bob, the teeth point down, the variable 14-18 tooth is fine, and tight is the way to go.I have had mine almost 20 years and its still knocking them out.Some tweaking may be necessary with any machine tools and I also put a table on mine,3/4" aluminum and it works much better.Dave

[medit8]

Dave, Thanks for the info. I'm going ahead and ordering the 14-18 Vari blade. I'll be happy to get even 2 years out of it.
Thanks again,
Bob

[goneflyin]

Originally Posted by blacksmith101

The teeth need to be pulling against the rest where the steel is to be cut. You can turn the blade inside out if the teeth are going the wrong direction. Sometimes they come that way. Depends on who coils them. Merle

I have a HF bandsaw and buy blades from the HF store, everyone that I've bought I had to flip inside out to use because they came with the blades in the wrong direction.

Chris