Floor-standing bandsaws range from 12-inch (300 mm) saws for a home workshop to large resaw machines for timber yards and joineries. Their blades range just as widely, from about 1.7 m to over 5 m long. The size class on the box tells you little about the blade: what counts is the length documented for your exact model and configuration.
Common lengths.
- 2240 mm. The most common length among the floor-standing saws in our catalogue, documented for several Charnwood, Clarke and Draper saws in the UK and Güde, Holzstar and Makita saws in Germany.
- 93-1/2 in (2374.9 mm). The classic length for North American 14-inch cast-iron saws, such as the JET JWBS-14CS. With a riser block the same saws take 105 in; see riser blocks.
- Longer blades. Larger saws take lengths such as 2560 mm, 115 in, 133 in or 3810 mm, and the biggest resaw machines 170 in and more.
Two saws sold in the same size class can take very different blades. Laguna’s 14|12, for example, is a 14-inch saw with a tall frame and takes a 115 in blade, while a standard 14-inch cast-iron saw takes 93-1/2 in. Check your model, not the class.
Width ranges.
Floor-standing saws take a wider range of widths than benchtop saws. The documented ranges in our catalogue usually start at 1/8 in (3 mm) or 6 mm and end at 3/4 in (19 mm) on smaller saws, 1 in (25 mm) on mid-size saws, and 1-1/4 in or more on large ones. The maximum width depends on how much tension the saw can apply: a blade wider than the saw is made for can’t be tensioned properly and won’t cut straight.
Many owners keep two or three blades: a narrow one for curves, a general-purpose one, and the widest the saw takes for resawing. Blade width and curves and resawing explain the choice.
Thickness.
Bigger wheels allow thicker blades, which stay straighter in deep cuts. Where your manual gives a thickness, or a maximum, stay within it; a blade that is too thick for the wheels cracks early from fatigue.
Lengths documented for floor-standing bandsaws.
These are the most common blade lengths in our catalogue for floor-standing bandsaws, with the number of saws documented for each. Open a size to see every machine that takes it.
| Size | Machines of this kind | For example |
|---|---|---|
| 2240 mm88-3/16 in | 17 machines | Charnwood B300, Clarke CBS300, Draper BS305 |
| 93-1/2 in2374.9 mm | 9 machines | JET J-8201K, JET J-8203K, JET JWBS-14CS |
| 2560 mm100.79 in | 6 machines | Charnwood B350, Clarke CBS350, Draper BS340/1100D |
| 115 in2921 mm | 6 machines | Charnwood C14BX, Craftex CT016N, Laguna Tools 14|12 |
| 105 in2667 mm | 6 machines | Craftex CT015N, JET J-8201K, JET J-8203K |
| 133 in3378.2 mm | 5 machines | Craftex CX101, Craftex CX108N, JET JWBS-15 |
| 3810 mm150 in | 5 machines | JET JWBS-18SFX, JET JWBS-18SFX-3, Laguna Tools LT16 |
| 170 in4318 mm | 5 machines | Felder FB 510, Powermatic PM2013B, Powermatic PM2013B-3 |
| 183 in4648.2 mm | 5 machines | Laguna Tools LT24x17, Powermatic PM2415B, Powermatic PM2415B-3 |
| 1712 mm67.4 in | 4 machines | Clarke CBS250, Clarke CBS250B, Clarke CBS250C |
Counts are the machines of this kind documented for each exact size today. A size page also lists other kinds of machine that take the same size.
Find your bandsaw’s blade length ↗︎