106 inch bandsaw blades

Joined
Sep 29, 2015
Messages
714
Hey guys,

So I recently scored a nice big intergram WA-14 band saw on craigslist. It was hard to do research on the machine before going to pick it up as it is a bit older... not much info on google. Luckily there were a couple of spare blades with it so I took a string out and measured their length at a whopping 106 inches. Another quick google is not resulting in much in terms of 18tpi blades in 106 inches... anyone know of a good source for these?

Thank you!
 
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Just a quick question as to why you are looking for 18tpi blades. Are you planning on trying to cut metal with this? You will likely need to modify the saw to do so as it is a wood cutting saw and will have too much speed to cut metal.
 
Just a quick question as to why you are looking for 18tpi blades. Are you planning on trying to cut metal with this? You will likely need to modify the saw to do so as it is a wood cutting saw and will have too much speed to cut metal.

You've guessed correctly... Sorry, I'm very new to a lot of these machines and am working off the best chunks of information I can grab. Another friend told me I needed a band saw with at least 750 rpm and this one was around 1800 so I got it... is that TOO fast? :eek:
 
To me just the fact that is says "14" wood cutting bandsaws" on the side tells me it's going to run too fast for metal. Metal bandsaws like your porta bands and horizontal have gear reduction to get more torque and less speed. At the speed that thing runs you'll likely burn the blade up very quickly trying to cut metal if it cuts much at all.

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You will have a nice unit for cutting scales material though. I'm not really sure it would be cost effective to modify that to get the speed you'll need for metal cutting.
 
RPM is the motor, that has noting much to do with the blade speed. For metal cutting of blade steel, you want the blade cutting at 70-100 FPM. You will have to gear the wood saw down a lot to get that slow. Most wood saws run 1000-3000 FPM. If the motor drives a regular V-belt, just change the motor for a 3Phase one and put on a VFD. Use the smallest pulley you can get for the motor shaft.

I get my custom Lenox blades from Cyber Woodworking Depot (ToolCenter,com). For wood, I use the carbide tipped 3TPI Tri-Master blades . My metal cutting blades are 14/18 vari-tooth Die-Master II.
Another popular seller is BandSawBladesDirect.
 
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Thanks so much for the responses, guys. BandSawBladeDirect seems to have really good prices compared to what I was seeing elsewhere! I am chomping at the bit to get my rough profiling started.... Since I got this one for pretty cheap and restored it myself (pictures below after rust removal) I think I'm just going to keep it as a secondary wood/micarta saw and chalk it up as a learning mistake. I will go back to my original plan of buying the HF 4x6 horizontal/vertical.

Again, couldn't do this without you, BLADEFORUMS!!! :D:D:D

https://www.harborfreight.com/horizontal-vertical-metal-cutting-bandsaw-93762.html

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TIP:
When getting saw blades for knife work, use the widest blade that will fit your saw - 3/4" or 1" for wood saws and 3/8 " or 1/2" for metal saws. Blade thickness isn't an issue in our cutting, so go with mid-thickness - .025" for metal and .035" for wood.
 
I've always liked Starrett prodie blades myself, but Lenox diemaster are equivalent and both are about equal.
You could set it up for metal, but you'd need gearbox, or at minimum a multi stage belt reduction. Look at the delta 14" wood/metal bandsaws for an example.
As for band length, that is a typical clone of the 14" delta, it has a longer band due to the riser block. If you remove the riser block it will take the standard and easy to find 7'9" bands.

As a side note it's easy enough to make up your own bands without a blade welder. Scarf the ends of bulk stock and hard silver solder the joint before grinding it back flush. There are videos which would describe the process better than I could.
 
TIP:
When getting saw blades for knife work, use the widest blade that will fit your saw - 3/4" or 1" for wood saws and 3/8 " or 1/2" for metal saws. Blade thickness isn't an issue in our cutting, so go with mid-thickness - .025" for metal and .035" for wood.
Invaluable info as always Stacy... I must say thank you here for all of the time and effort you put into this site. I find as I google random knife making queries over the past years there is usually a blade forums thread at the top on the very question I am wondering with an answer from you containing everything I am wanting to know and more. So THANK YOU sir!!!
 
I recommend taking out the riser block as mentioned above. Then can use very common standard 93" blades. Unless doing a lot of resawing of lumber wider than 6" it just makes the bandsaw less stiff and thus less precise.
I've had good luck with timberwolf blades for wood, especially for thick stock rip cuts.
A tip: Setup the saw for a given thickness blade and stay with that thickness in whatever variety tooth counts you think you need. Changing the setup for bade thickness is by far the hardest part of changing a bandsaw blade. I like 1/2" blades.
 
RPM is the motor, that has noting much to do with the blade speed. For metal cutting of blade steel, you want the blade cutting at 70-100 FPM. You will have to gear the wood saw down a lot to get that slow. Most wood saws run 1000-3000 FPM. If the motor drives a regular V-belt, just change the motor for a 3Phase one and put on a VFD. Use the smallest pulley you can get for the motor shaft.

I get my custom Lenox blades from Cyber Woodworking Depot (ToolCenter,com). For wood, I use the carbide tipped 3TPI Tri-Master blades . My metal cutting blades are 14/18 vari-tooth Die-Master II.
Another popular seller is BandSawBladesDirect.
All of you should try Simonds bandsaw blades. I am a distributor and I can get you a quote on your size. I have been trying bandsaw blades for over 50 years and nothing can beat Simonds. You can email me for a quote at rwknives@comcast.net and I will get it back to you asap. I will need to know your length, width, thickness and tpi. I use the bi-metal blade.
 
Invaluable info as always Stacy... I must say thank you here for all of the time and effort you put into this site. I find as I google random knife making queries over the past years there is usually a blade forums thread at the top on the very question I am wondering with an answer from you containing everything I am wanting to know and more. So THANK YOU sir!!!
All of you should try Simonds bandsaw blades. I am a distributor and I can get you a quote on your size. I have been trying bandsaw blades for over 50 years and nothing can beat Simonds. You can email me for a quote at rwknives@comcast.net and I will get it back to you asap. I will need to know your length, width, thickness and tpi. I use the bi-metal blade.
 
Simmonds bands are still good?
I've avoided them ever since I recieved a Simmonds file stamped "India"

If the band's are still made here and Starrett/Lenox equivalent I'd be willing to try it.
 
Simmonds bands are still good?
I've avoided them ever since I recieved a Simmonds file stamped "India"

If the band's are still made here and Starrett/Lenox equivalent I'd be willing to try it.
This is Simonds with a "D." You are probably referring to Simmons. Simonds has never had anything from India. I would be happy to help you find something comparable. Just email me at rwknives@comcast.net and I will see what I can do for you.
 
It was the same Simonds. Square files ordered from KBC. I was quite surprised and quite disappointed to see that...
I'll send you an email later, I've got a pretty good deal on Starrett bands though
 
It was the same Simonds. Square files ordered from KBC. I was quite surprised and quite disappointed to see that...
I'll send you an email later, I've got a pretty good deal on Starrett bands though
I called my sales rep earlier to reply to you. He said the only place other than the U.S. that they manufacture their blades is Germany. You can not order from Simonds personally unless you are a distributor. The reason I became a distributor was because the place I was ordering my bandsaw blades from kept sending me knock offs. Maybe that is what happened to you as well.
 
It wasn't bandsaw blades, it was files sold under their name.
But at least you've confirmed the blades are still quality.
Theses a specific band I can't seem to get from my Starrett dealer, I'll contact you later and see if it's something you can get
 
I use a lot of bandsaw blades cutting burls and blocks. woodcraftbands.com is the only place I buy blades. You need to call to order, but price and quality is top notch.
 
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