Band saw blade thickness - pros and cons?

I'm using a band saw with a 120" x 1" blade. My biggest question is what are the pros and cons of the thickness of the blade? From what I can gather, a thinner blade is more flexible so less susceptable to stress cracking and cuts faster. And a thicker blade will just last longer? I should also say I only use Lenox bi-metal saw blades and can get them custom made for my saw for about $30.

blade thickness

Econdron said:

I'm using a band saw with a 120" x 1" blade. My biggest question is what are the pros and cons of the thickness of the blade? From what I can gather, a thinner blade is more flexible so less susceptable to stress cracking and cuts faster. And a thicker blade will just last longer? I should also say I only use Lenox bi-metal saw blades and can get them custom made for my saw for about $30.

Click to expand...

.
its been my experience a thinner blade handles a smaller bandsaw wheel better without cracking as if too thick blade will crack more easy going over a small wheel or the limit to bend a smaller diameter
.
thicker blade will stay straighter in general while cutting, might cost more $, puts more pressure on stock cutting the wider kurf, sometimes blade will last longer

I have never seen a 1" blade in anything but 0.035" thickness. Same goes for 3/4 and 1 1/4" wide blades, all 0.035" thick.

Now, are you talking about width? Is this a vertical or horizontal saw? What are you cutting?
JR

There's actually 1" 0.42 thick blade but it's triple chip carbide blade not bi metal. He's right, 1" blade normally goes with 0.35" thick. Thickness of the blade required depends upon the diameter of the wheel and work to be done.

The thicker/wider blade has greater "beam strength" and, all things being equal, is less likely to deflect and wander in a cut. If the teeth are broader and lose sharpness, some of that advantage will soon be lost in the higher cutting force needed. In the carbide case, the wider blade may also be required to provide sufficient backing and rigidity for the carbide teeth.

The manual for your saw will tell you what blades (thickness, width) it's designed to use. When there's a choice, I tend to go with the thinner bimetal blade and just make sure it cuts square.

Where do you get a 120x1 bi metal blade for $30 please tell us .

I work for 10hrs/week at Fastenal so I buy everything I can from them at cost. They actually manufacture a lot of their private label end mills here in the states and cost on those isn't bad at all. I don't do a lot of milling so most of my end mills are HSS but a USA, 3/4" HSS end mill runs me about $12. Carbide is closer to $30.

But I guess you're right, there's no such thing as a blade 1" wide less than .035". I think Ramco might sell blades that are .032" but that difference is basically negligible. I recently purchased a larger band saw, up from my little one that used a .025" blade and I just noticed it cut slower.

Am I able to get away with a more course blade on the bigger saw? I typically cut steel tubing. Anything from 3/4" round tubing to 4" square tubing and I try to bundle cut when I can. I'm using a 10-14 tooth blade.

The old books for wood band saws says, the wheel diameter has to be 1000 times the blade thickness. Now days the blade steel is better from fatigue point of view so many saws has that factor at 500 (for wood machines). For a metal saw the blade speed is much lower but still the smaller diameter on the wheels the shorter life for the blade.
P-O

I'll sell those 10' x 1 bi-metal blades for $30.00 all day long