Bandsaw blade gullets are the space or curvature between each individual tooth on a saw blade.
With each pass of the blade, the material being cut will curl into the gullet, creating a spiral of material called the chip.
Too many teeth in the cut will make the gullet full. The teeth become filled with this excess material, and the chip will eventually break away.
Use a variable pitch blade since the alternating pitch created increases and then decreases the chip load inside the cut.
One reason to pay attention to gullet size is that with coarser pitch blades, the gullet becomes larger and deeper. With smaller blades (1/4”, ½” and ¾” band saw blades) there isn’t enough width in the band to accommodate chips.
If the gullets are clogged, they will not carry the chips. This results in an increased load on the blade and the machine. It can contribute to work hardening of the material, blade bounce, stripping of teeth, and chips being welded to the blade.
The smaller blade lacks beam strength to begin with because of its lack of dimension. Also, the larger gullets are part of what enables the blade to carry chips through the cut.
When selecting how many teeth per inch to use, note the thickness and type of material to be cut. As a rule, the thicker and/or harder the material, the coarser the tooth pitch to be used.
