Bandsaw blade selection has gotten complicated with all the bi-metal options and specialty tooth patterns flying around. As someone who has owned a fourteen-inch bandsaw for over six years and burned through maybe twenty different blades before finally figuring out what works, I learned everything there is to know about picking the right blade for the job. Today, I will share it all with you.
Width Is the First Decision
Wide blades — half inch and up — are for straight cuts. They resist wandering because the wider body creates a more rigid beam that tracks in a line. Resawing veneer or ripping thick stock into thinner boards? Wide blade, no question. My go-to resaw blade is a half-inch three-TPI that cuts straight enough to get bookmatched veneer with minimal waste.
Narrow blades — quarter inch and under — are for curves. The narrower the blade, the tighter the radius you can turn. An eighth-inch blade handles about a one-inch radius turn. Physics does not negotiate on this. If your blade is too wide for the curve you are trying to cut, it will bind, twist, or break. I learned this the expensive way by snapping three blades in one afternoon trying to force a wide blade around tight curves.
That’s what makes understanding blade width endearing to us bandsaw users — pick the right width and the saw practically steers itself through the cut.
Tooth Patterns and What They Mean
Probably should have led with this section, honestly. The tooth pattern affects cut quality more than most beginners realize.
Skip tooth blades have every other tooth removed, creating large gullets that clear sawdust fast. This is the choice for thick stock where chip clearance matters. If sawdust cannot escape the cut fast enough, it packs into the kerf and causes the blade to heat up, wander, and burn. Skip tooth prevents all of that.
Hook tooth is the aggressive option. The teeth have a positive rake angle that bites into the material and pulls itself through the cut. Cuts fast but rougher. I use hook tooth when I am rough-cutting blanks that will get cleaned up on the jointer and planer anyway.
Regular tooth gives you the finest cut quality. Smaller gullets, zero rake angle, more teeth in contact with the wood at any given time. Slower but smoother. For work where the bandsaw surface is the final surface — like decorative curved cuts on visible parts — regular tooth is the right call.
Variable pitch blades alternate between different tooth spacings, which reduces the harmonic vibration and that annoying high-pitched whine that standard blades produce. Worth the extra couple of dollars for the noise reduction alone, especially if you spend a lot of time at the bandsaw.
TPI — Teeth Per Inch
The TPI number tells you the cut quality versus speed tradeoff. More teeth per inch means a smoother cut but a slower feed rate. Fewer teeth per inch means faster cutting but a rougher surface.
For general woodworking, three to four TPI handles thick stock well. Six to eight TPI works on thinner material. The rule of thumb is to always have at least three teeth in the material at any point during the cut. Cutting one-inch stock? You need at least three TPI. Cutting quarter-inch material? You need at least twelve TPI. Fewer teeth than that and the blade grabs and rattles instead of cutting smoothly.
Tension and Tracking Setup
A loose blade wanders through the cut like a drunk driver. But an over-tensioned blade will snap, which is loud, startling, and can send a broken blade whipping around inside the housing. Manufacturer tension specs are a starting point, not gospel. I adjust until the blade tracks straight on the wheels and cuts without deflecting in the workpiece.
If the blade flutters or buzzes in the cut, tighten it incrementally. If it is tracking fine, cutting straight, and sounds normal, leave it alone. Overtensioning shortens blade life and stresses your wheel bearings. I check tension every time I mount a new blade and occasionally mid-session if something feels off.
What I Keep Stocked in My Shop
Half-inch three TPI for resawing and straight rips. This is the blade that lives on my saw most of the time. Quarter-inch six TPI for general curved work — the sweet spot between curve capability and cut quality. And an eighth-inch blade for really tight curves on scroll-type work. Those three blades cover ninety percent of what I do on the bandsaw, and swapping takes about two minutes.
