Blades for small metal-cutting bandsaws.

A small metal-cutting bandsaw clamps the work in a vice and lowers the blade through it under its own weight, often with a hydraulic or spring control for the feed. Many can also be swung upright and used as a vertical saw. They run slowly compared with a wood bandsaw, and their blades are built for metal.

What “4 × 6” means.

Small metal bandsaws are often named by their cutting capacity rather than their wheel size. A “4 × 6” saw is one that cuts round bar up to about 4 in across and rectangular stock up to about 4 × 6 in; a “5 × 6” or a “7 × 12” follows the same idea. The name is a capacity class, not a blade size, and saws in the same class don’t all take the same blade.

The 64-1/2 in blade and its neighbours.

The most common length among the small saws in our catalogue is 64-1/2 in (1638.3 mm). In metric documents it appears as 1638 mm or 1640 mm. Other small saws take quite different lengths, such as 1440 mm or 1735 mm, and larger saws go from 93 in up to 2750 mm and beyond. The table below lists them all, so look up your saw’s documented length rather than assuming the class size.

Width, thickness and the blade guides.

A blade for a 64-1/2 in saw is typically 1/2 in wide and 0.025 in thick, but check your manual. The guide bearings and the blade wheels are set for the width and thickness the saw was designed for. A wider blade won’t fit between the guides; a thicker one can crack early on small wheels.

Choosing the teeth.

The three-teeth rule applies in metal too: at least three teeth should be in the cut at any moment.

• Solid bar. The section is thick, so a coarser pitch clears chips and cuts faster. Blade makers’ charts go by the bar diameter.
• Tube, angle and channel. Count the wall thickness, not the outside size. Thin walls need a fine pitch, or the teeth straddle the wall and snag.
• Variable pitch. Blades such as 10/14 or 8/12 TPI mix tooth spacings, cut more quietly and cover a wider range of sizes; they are a common choice for a small saw that cuts a bit of everything.

Bi-metal blades, with hardened teeth on a flexible back, last far longer in steel than carbon-steel blades. Carbon-steel blades are cheaper and still used for soft metals and occasional work.

Speed, feed and coolant.

Most of these saws have a few blade speeds, set with belts or a gearbox, and the manual pairs them with materials: slower for steel and stainless, faster for aluminium and brass. Let the saw’s own weight or feed control do the cutting rather than pushing the arm down. If your saw has a coolant system, the manual says when to use it. Follow the manual for all three; a blade run too fast in hard steel dulls quickly.

Fitting the blade.

The blade’s teeth must point in the direction of travel, which most saws mark on the wheel cover or the frame. The general steps are in changing a bandsaw blade; your manual has the tension, guide and blade-speed settings.

Lengths documented for metal-cutting bandsaws.

These are the blade lengths in our catalogue for metal-cutting bandsaws, with the number of saws documented for each. Open a size to see every machine that takes it.

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.