Whose Bi-Metal Bandsaw Blade??

[OldMan]

Hi guys,
I have a 64 1/2" harbor freight band saw and my good bi-metal blade has shed a bunch of teeth. I believe the blade is a Lennox and has served me well for about a 18 months of light use, but I thought I'd ask for advice on the selection of a replacement blade. I use the saw mostly for profiling 3/32-3/16" blade stock with 1/8" being the most common.

What width and tpi should I use?? Are the variable pitch blades good?? Which manufacturer and distributors are good??

Thanks, for the help,
Dave Suitor

[David Broadwell]

Dave,

Part of me wants to tell you to get rid of your current saw and get a bigger one! I had one of the 64 1/2" horizontal/vertical machines for over 20 years, and I hated using it!

I would stick with Lennox blades. I used them on my old saw and on my newer one. The book says you need 3 teeth in the material. That means around 24 give or take. I do like variable tooth blades a lot, so maybe something in a 18-24 variable tooth. I believe your saw only takes 1/2" wide blades. That is what I use in my large saw. Stick with a blade around .025-.030" thick. I bought my last one from J&L Industrial Supply. If J&L doesn't have them in your size, try Texas Knifemakers Supply. TKS used to charge around $30 for the smaller one. I get the longer blades from J&L for less that that.

Remember to break in your new blade before you start cutting out blades. Mount and tighten it, then just let it run for 10 minutes. Tighten and repeat.

David

[Ray Rogers]

Lennox, Lennox, and only Lennox for my money. If you used that blade for 18 months it seems to me you'd be about ready to agree with that. I buy mine from MSC.

VP is OK but not required (for me anyway). I like about 14 - 18 tpi, half inch wide, for those thicknesses and I've cut up to 1/2" without an insane amount of trouble with a fresh blade ...

[DC KNIVES]

Another vote for the Lennox. I have had my HF saw for about 20 years now and its still cranking them out. It's funny though that I have access to several full size vertical saws at my day job and still prefer my little HF. I think alot of it is that I did some tweaking and mods to it a long time ago and it works well for me.Dave

[B.Finnigan]

I have been using Symonds for a couple years now with good results. Thier blades are as good as thier files. But I also realize they are probably not available at most stores. I work five minutes from a specialty tool store that only carries US made products. The 64.5" bi-metal blades are $32 a piece but they last a long time. When I put a new blade on I knock off a little of the kerf with a AO stone because they are too aggresive.