Written by Brittany Koenig
Assistant to the President at Detroit Band Saw Works

Whether you’ve been operating a band saw for years or you just bought a table top saw to tinker with in your garage with the help of the guys from garage door repair eldridge view to fix it,  but you may still be asking yourself, “What type of blade should I get?” The type of band saw blade you should purchase depends on the material you plan to cut.

There are 3 main types of band saw blades:
Bi-Metal, Carbon Steel, and Carbide.

Bi-Metal Saw Blades:
Bi-metal band saw blades cover the broadest range of sawing applications. 95% of companies and individuals cutting the following materials should use a bi-metal band saw blade: carbon steel, tool steel, structural steel, stainless steel, pipes/tubing, die steel, angles, flat stock and mixed metal applications.

Carbon Steel Saw Blades:
There are two different types of carbon steel blades– Carbon Flexback and Carbon Hardback. Both Carbon Flexback and Carbon Hardback will cut the following: mild steels, copper, wood, plastic, cast iron, cork, brass, lead, furniture, resawing projects, bronze, zinc, fiberglass, and non ferrous metals. The difference in the blades is right there in the names. In Carbon Hardback blades, both the teeth and the backer of the blade have been heat treated, providing stronger beam strength. Only the teeth are heat treated on Carbon Flexback blades to allow for a flexible backer suitable for contour cutting.

Carbide Saw Blades:
Carbide band saw blades are your solution to cut through materials bi-metal and carbon steel blades just won’t cut. Carbide band saw blades provide high wear resistance and toughness when cutting a variety of applications such as: case hardened steels, spring steels, high speed steels, nickel based alloys, case hardened steels, composite graphite, high nickel alloys, titanium, inconnel, and other exotic metals.

Hopefully, you found the above information helpful in determining which type of band saw blade to use for your application. If you still have some lingering questions, please feel free to contact Detroit Band Saw or call at 877-421-3636. We are available by phone 7a.m-4p.m. Eastern Time. You will be directly connected to one of our customer service representatives (no confusing prompts). Also, if you’re feeling a little hoarse, feel free to contact us by email.