Portable bandsaw setup: Which blades?

[Scott Hanson]

Nope. We have a really old Greenlee Portaband (steel frame, two speed) on a swag table that takes an off-sized blade, (57-3/4" IIRC) so we order them from somewhere online, I can't remember, I don't do the ordering/buying.
I bet you'll like them, though. I'll cut up to 1/2" thick stock on ours with no problem, just can't be in too much a hurry.

I had some Morse 8/11 but I don’t think they lasted as long as long as the Lenox 18 tpi blades on steel. For woods and composites they’re probably better though, but for the other stuff I have a 14” Delta bandsaw.

 

[Horsewright]

Yeah just finished off my first box of Morse blades and no perceivable difference from all the others. First blade cut out 37 knife blades and kept on goin being used for quite a bit of misc stuff afterwards before it was done. Happy with it. Second blade cut out thirteen blades and then it lost teeth in three separate areas all at once. While I didn't count how many teeth in each area they were pretty large areas. Third blade cut out quite a few blades, has done a batch of 23 knives where it was cutting handle materials, wood, sheephorn and elk. Trimming excess handle materials, cut out bolster materials and trimmed excess bolster material once mounted on the blade, cut pins for said knives and now is back to cutting steel. This is what I use to get from Lennox though and its about done.

 

[timos-]

i use the lenox blades as well, have not had a reason to switch.

 

[weo]

Are you using Lenox blades?

I looked at the blade yesterday and it did have a Lenox stamp on it, so I guess we are...

 

[Way-Barney]

I use a 1712 Martix 10-14 tpi, its Bi metal M42 and find it cuts well if you take your time, overall its very stiff, no wander even in 1/4" wears ok. I am not a prolific maker so cannot offer a long term/ hundreds of blades opinion but its ten times better than Starrett (using that as my bench mark)

Just checked the order and its manufactured by Morse.
From site: M42 Production Bi-Metal Blades with 8% COBALT - Durability for higher production speeds on difficult to machine solids and heavy walled structures.

 

[CWendling]

i always try to match tpi to material thickness with a rule of thumb of 3-4 teeth in the material. IE, cutting 3/8 or 1/2" material for bolster id use a 6tpi. For 1/4", 10/12tpi, 1/8" stock id use 18/24

 

[JV Knives]

I’ve got a pack of Morse blades to try but I’m about to give up on recommendations. Seems too erratic to me as others have mentioned. Dewalt , Milwaukee, and Lenox to me some to be really good…or crud…batch to batch. Maybe just my luck

 

[Scotchmon]

Yeah I saw that post. Cool design. I got what I think is a good deal off CL for a Milwaukee and Swag table with foot switch. So just need to buy a few blades to start cutting. I got blades with it but they are 10 and 14tpi, which I should probably save for softer material.

I just saw the Swag table and foot switch. How are these working for you so far?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

A foot switch is a really useful accessory for many shop tools. I use the on some grinders, both metal and wood bandsaws, the drill press, disc sanders, lathes, etc. It allows both hands to control the workpiece without needing to use one for OFF and ON.

 

[oceanrider]

I just saw the Swag table and foot switch. How are these working for you so far?

It works great. I did get a foot switch with it but havn't used it LOL. I store the setup under a work bench and pull it out when needed. I have a Velcro strap that also came with the deal and that gets wrapped around the trigger to keep it depressed and running. I hope down the road I can setup a permanent place for it, and then I will setup the foot switch.

 

[Scotchmon]

It works great. I did get a foot switch with it but havn't used it LOL. I store the setup under a work bench and pull it out when needed. I have a Velcro strap that also came with the deal and that gets wrapped around the trigger to keep it depressed and running. I hope down the road I can setup a permanent place for it, and then I will setup the foot switch.

Ha! Right now I use a piece of electrical wire twisted around the trigger and slide it on/off.
Now that I think more about it I don’t know if I’d like foot control all of the time. I do like the table, though.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

You can get foot control pedals inexpensively at places like Harbor Freight and Amazon.

They come in two main types:
1) Step ON - Lift foot OFF - This is the best for safety. The saw runs only while your foot is on the switch. This is also called a dead man switch. It is what I use most of the time for power tools.
2) Step-ON, Step-OFF = This works best for tools that run constantly when you need to move around a bit while working with the tool. Lathes, table saws, etc. It allows both hands to control the work without taking one away to shut the machine off.

TIPS:
A step-on/step-off type switch can turn your mister on and off by installing a solenoid in the air line. Plug/wire the solenoid to the foot switch.

Grinders that only have an ON and OFF switch (no START) can run on a simple foot switch. This helps avoid some of the grinding issues when placing the blade on and taking it off a running belt. Make sure the amperage rating fits the grinder. This works well on 1X30 and most 2X42 grinders without a VFD.

If you have some electronics experience, you can use a two-pedal foot switch (separate momentary contact ON pedal and OFF pedal) and parallel the foot switch with the start and stop switch on the grinder. These can be found surplus on eBay and new on Amazon. They are also called a "board switch" used for sound men on te mixer board and musicians for controlling accessory electronics and drum kits. They are also what you want to control a hydraulic press that is converted to solenoid control.

 

[Jeffinn]

Lenox blades are hit or miss for me. The last one I used snapped at the weld before I could finish one blade. My latest blades are Morse and they’ve been cutting blades without issues (36 steak knives and a few others). I use the HF Hercules portaband with the SWAG table and so far it’s been a solid performer. The Rigid portaband I had wore out in 6 months. It supposedly had a lifetime warranty but after one year the saw was obsolete and parts were no longer available.

 

[oceanrider]

Lenox blades are hit or miss for me. The last one I used snapped at the weld before I could finish one blade. My latest blades are Morse and they’ve been cutting blades without issues (36 steak knives and a few others). I use the HF Hercules portaband with the SWAG table and so far it’s been a solid performer. The Rigid portaband I had wore out in 6 months. It supposedly had a lifetime warranty but after one year the saw was obsolete and parts were no longer available.

Do you mind sharing, where did you get your Morse blades?

 

[Jeffinn]

Do you mind sharing, where did you get your Morse blades?

I believe it was at the Portaband website. I can look up my invoice a little bit later.
Jeff

 

[Taz]

The big river site is where I usually get my portaband blades. Morse, Dewalt, Imachinist all seem to work about the same for me?

 

[Scotchmon]

I picked up the Hercules (HF) band saw frame today as I received a HF gift card from Santa.
Mounting the saw was pretty easy and parts are supplied to adapt the various brands
I ended up using only the vertical half of the frame as most if not all use will be using the supplied work rest table.
About the only thing I don’t like is that the work rest needs to be removed in order to change blades. The on/off lever works well.

 

[Taz]

I am going to redo my Portaband table soon so the slot is cut from the front so I can remove the blades without having to unscrew the table itself. That makes it a PITA! Going to cut and weld angle iron as the legs instead of the wooden dowels from the previous version.

 

[Scotchmon]

I am going to redo my Portaband table soon so the slot is cut from the front so I can remove the blades without having to unscrew the table itself. That makes it a PITA! Going to cut and weld angle iron as the legs instead of the wooden dowels from the previous version.

Ya, I may try to make a new slot for the mounting screws in order to flip the table with the blade slot facing out. Hopefully I can get the screws below the surface if I were to grind a similar trough. May need to tack another piece under the table for the screw slot and make the slot in the table wide enough for the heads.

 

[Taz]

I just counter sunk the screw holes on my original table, but I was a hair off, so the screw was just above the table top.