Tag Archives: TPI
Re-saw Basics and Bandsaw Blades
Re-sawing is basic to wood cutting and is a useful skill in the workshop. It is useful in certain applications as well. Bandsaws are useful since they are designed to handle any standard sized board and will cut whole logs. Material hardness and texture need consideration since they are major contributors to issues like blade bounce and tooth stripping. To help assure an easy cut, there are special re-saw blades available that are extra wide to prevent bending while cutting. Their sharp teeth in a skip tooth arrangement will clear sawdust fast enough to allow for more cut time. Tooth form describes tooth shape, and for re-saw purposes, a hook …
Tube Cutting
Cutting tube is more difficult than sawing solid bars. The bandsaw blade is performing two types of cut, sawing solid as it enters the material then entering the hollow tube. The blade is now cutting two thin solids with a space in between — an interrupted cut. To achieve the best result in cutting tube, blade variables and bandsaw settings have to be carefully selected. Tooth pitch (TPI) is an important variable as well. The number of teeth engaged with the material determines both blade performance and durability. A few teeth in contact with the material can lead to stripped teeth, bending, or premature …
Maintaining Bandsaw Blade Teeth
This is an economical and likely well-known bit of helpful advice for maintaining bandsaw blade teeth. Save the plastic cap strips that arrive with your brand new bandsaw blade. Bandsaw blade teeth are designed to cut specific materials. The teeth are critical in providing high production rates and an overall positive output. This reason and for safety purposes is why the teeth are often protected by capping prior to shipping. Contact with bandsaw blade teeth that aren’t capped is one of the most common causes of injury and why caution is necessary when handling any bandsaw blade. Bandsaw blade manufacturers and distributors …
Proper Blade Pitch
Bandsaw blades are designed with specific tooth pitch in order to be able to properly cut certain sized materials. These teeth are essential to achieving accurate cuts and positive output. A complete set of teeth on an operational saw blade prevents chips from sticking to the blade and the materials being cut, offering the smooth, flawless finish everyone desires in their work. Bandsaw blades are made with specific tooth designs and the purposes of that engineering helps in the following ways: Offering the ability to remove chips from the material being cut Efficiently carrying the chips out of the cut A bandsaw’s teeth are …
The Three-Tooth Rule
The Three-Tooth Rule, or How the Number of Teeth Work in a Cut. In order to obtain the best TPI (teeth per inch) for the smoothest cut, follow the three-tooth rule. A minimum of three and a maximum of 24 teeth engaged in a cut. If there are too few teeth in a cut, the blade’s teeth can straddle the work piece and cause the teeth to strip. Too many teeth in a cut may cause the gullets to overload due to there not being enough gullet capacity to hold all of the chips. Along with having teeth strip from the saw blade, blade bounce is …
Work Hardening and The 701 Series
Work Hardening and The 701 Series of high performance bandsaw blade that ends at 4-6 TPI. Why does this blade end at 4-6 TPI? The difference between the 3-4 and the 4-6 TPI from 5-8, 6-10, and 10-14 variable tooth pitch is the rake angle on the teeth. For the 3-4 and 4-6 variable tooth pitch, both blades have ten° of positive rake teeth, which means that the tooth angles move forward — in the direction of the cutting action. The 5-8, 6-10, and the 10-14 TPI all have a zero° rake angle on the teeth, which means that the harder the blade …
Bandsaw Blade Set Types
Saw bands vary depending on blade type and also differ based on ability to resist heat and shock when entering and exiting the cut. These are important considerations when cutting structural, pipe, and tubing. An economical choice are the standard carbon steel blades with flexible backs and hardened cutting edges. They are used primarily for crosscutting wood and sawing brass, plastic, and mild steel. More expensive carbide-tipped blades are the essential tool for cutting harder metals, composite materials, and abrasive hardwoods such as teak. Bi-metal blades require more blade tension than most consumer-level machines can provide. A bandsaw blade’s resistance to flexing …
All About TPI (teeth per inch)
Here at Sawblade.com, questions arise with regard to perceived saw blade problems. After a few inquiries, it can be determined if the machine operator made any miscalculations with speed and feed, the materials being cut, TPI, and any other variable that ends up impacting the cutting process. In most cases, the customer already knows exactly what is needed. The operator knows the blade size, length and width, the thickness of the blade being ordered, and they know the materials to be cut so there is often no need to ask about carbon, bi-metal, or carbide blades or the proper tooth pitch required for that particular job. There …
