Woodstock STEELEX ST1000 - Manual (Page 31)

ST1000 14" Bandsaw -29-
Blade Information
Selecting the right blade requires a combination of
the various blade characteristics mentioned below,
the type of material you plan to cut, and the type of
cut you are going to perform.
Blade Length
Measured by the circumference, blade lengths are
usually unique to the brand of your bandsaw and
the distance between wheels. The Model ST1000 is
designed for blades that are 92
1 ⁄
2
"-93 1 ⁄
2
" long.
Blade Width
Measured from the back of the blade to the tip of
the blade tooth (the widest point), blade width is
often the first consideration given to blade selection.
Blade width dictates the largest and smallest curve
that can be cut, as well as how accurately it can cut
a straight line.
The Model ST1000 can use blades from 1 ⁄
8
" to 3 ⁄
4
" in
width. Always pick the size of blade that best suits
your application.
• Curve Cutting—Use the chart in Figure 38 to
determine the correct blade for curve cutting.
Determine the smallest radius curve that will be
cut on your workpiece and use the correspond-
ing blade width.
Figure 38. Blade width radii.
Figure 39. Raker, Skip & Hook tooth styles.
• Straight Cutting—Use the largest width blade
that you own. The Model ST1000 will accept
blades up to
3 ⁄
4
" wide. Narrow blades can cut
tight curves (a small radius) but are not very
good at cutting straight lines because they natu-
rally wander (blade lead). However, larger blades
are much better at cutting straight lines, but
function poorly at cutting small curves because
of their size.
Tooth Style
When selecting blades, another option to consider
is the shape, gullet size, teeth set and teeth angle—
otherwise known as “Tooth Style.”
Figure 39 shows the three main categories of tooth
style:
• Raker—This style is considered to be the stan-
dard because the tooth size and shape are
the same as the tooth gullet. The teeth on
Raker blades usually are very numerous, have no
angle, and produce cuts by scraping the mate-
rial; these characteristics result in very smooth
cuts, but do not cut fast and generate more heat
while cutting.
• Skip—This style is similar to a raker blade that
is missing every other tooth. Because of the
design, skip toothed blades have a much larger
gullet than raker blades, and therefore, cut faster
and generate more heat. However, these blades
also leave a rougher cut than raker blades.
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