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G0621 Wood/Metal Bandsaw
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Tooth Pitch
Usually measured as TPI (teeth per inch), tooth
pitch determines the size/number of the teeth.
More teeth per inch (fine pitch) will cut slower,
but smoother; while fewer teeth per inch (coarse
pitch) will cut rougher, but faster. As a general
rule, choose blades that will have at least three
teeth in the material at all times. Use fine pitched
blades on harder woods and coarse pitched
blades on softer woods.
Blade Care
A bandsaw blade is a delicate piece of steel that
is subjected to tremendous strain. You can obtain
longer use from a bandsaw blade if you give it fair
treatment and always use the appropriate feed
rate for your operation.
Be sure to select blades with the proper width,
style, and pitch for each application. The wrong
choice of blades will often produce unnecessary
heat which will shorten the life of your blade.
A clean blade will perform much better than a dirty
blade. Dirty or gummed up blades pass through
the cutting material with much more resistance
than clean blades. This extra resistance also
causes unnecessary heat. Grizzly sells resin/pitch
dissolving cleaners that are excellent for cleaning
dirty blades.
Blade Breakage
Many conditions may cause a bandsaw blade to
break. Blade breakage is unavoidable, in some
cases, since it is the natural result of the peculiar
stresses that bandsaw blades must endure. Blade
breakage is also due to avoidable circumstances.
Avoidable breakage is most often the result of
poor care or judgement on the part of the operator
when mounting or adjusting the blade or support
guides.
The most common causes of blade breakage
are:
• Faulty alignment/adjustment of the guides.
• Forcing or twisting a wide blade around a
short radius.
• Feeding the workpiece too fast.
• Dull teeth or damaged tooth sufficient set.
• Overtensioned blade.
• Top blade guide assembly set too high above
the workpiece.
• Using a blade with a lumpy or improperly fin
-
ished braze or weld.
• Continuously running the bandsaw when not
in use.
• Leaving blade tensioned when not in use.
• Using the wrong TPI for the workpiece thick
-
ness. (The general rule of thumb is 3 teeth in
the workpiece at all times.)