Choosing Bandsaw blade help please.

Richard:

I would vote for fewer teeth -- 3 tpi or 4 max. A skip tooth type blade would also work.

We really don't care about quality of cut and the fewer teeth there are, the less likely they are to clog with the wet stuff we saw. Further, we saw bark which is hard on blades. With a coarse blade it is possible to use a chainsaw grinding wheel on your dremel tool and use it to regrind the b/s blades. I don't even worry about the alternate sets of the teeth -- just grind by hand-holding the dremel, start at the bottom of a tooth, run it up the gullet and go to the next tooth. Use a magic marker so you'll know where you started.

Bill

Richard wrote:

No expert, and non-metric, but I use 4 TPI alternate set for wet wood. You could use skip tooth for dry wood, but it would heat and bind more in wet wood than the one with set in the teeth.

The 3/8's blade is a good choice. If they are available in NZ Timberwolf is a good choice. Another choice is having one made locally. Those tend to be heavier and, if mine was any indication, have a rougher weld joint than an over the counter blade.

BTW, where do you live, North or South Island?

Deb

Thankyou to those who replied.

Sorry for the delay. North Island, New Plymouth or Taranaki as known more locally.

Richard wrote in news:NgXCe.1524$ snipped-for-privacy@news.xtra.co.nz:

For wet wood, look for a blade with 'extra set' which cuts a wider kerf and is much less prone to binding.

John