Portaband Saw Blade recommendations

woodlandfarms · Dec 14, 2012

Just picked up a new / used Dewalt 120. Nice but the blade is a bit used. Outside of dewalts blades, do you guys recommend any other?

Carl

sandman2234 · Dec 14, 2012

Don't know anything about your Dewalt 120, but portabands in themselves typically have a extremely limited blade tooth availability. Things might have changed in the last few years since I bought any portaband blades, so consider that also.
When I worked at a shop, we had a HUGE bandsaw(250"), and if they broke a new blade, I would take the broken piece over to a local saw shop and get him to weld up some portaband sized pieces out of it. He always told me that it "wouldn't work" because the blade was too short and put too much tension on a weld, but it always did. I got some really interesting blades, such as a radical 4t/" that cuts aluminum like butter. Bi-metal seems to work best and the name brands like Lenox and Starret seem to be better than the harbor freight ones. One word of advise, keep as many spares stashed as $ will allow, as it never fails to be your last blade that you break right in the middle of an important job.
David from jax

OhioJoe · Dec 15, 2012

I prefer the Morse variable pitch blades. Seem to last forever.

crazyal · Dec 15, 2012

I have a Milwaukee portaband and I like the 14/18 tpi blades. I usually get the Milwaukee brand unboxed. Milwaukee sells the blades in 100 packs and often times you can find companies that sell them for much less than the single blades in the nice cardboard boxes. Ebay is always a good place to look.

hodge · Dec 15, 2012

crazyal said:
I have a Milwaukee portaband and I like the 14/18 tpi blades. I usually get the Milwaukee brand unboxed. Milwaukee sells the blades in 100 packs and often times you can find companies that sell them for much less than the single blades in the nice cardboard boxes. Ebay is always a good place to look.

I use the Milwaukee blades also, and they do fine and last. I buy mine at Home Depot. They come two to a pack, and are half the price($13 for two at HD, $12 for one at NT) of Northern Tool, the other place that I have found them. I don't know why the difference, because they are the same blade.

crazyal · Dec 15, 2012

I've seen single packs of blades, 2 packs, 3 packs, and 100 packs. I've also seen companies who break the 100 packs apart and sell them unboxed. The single packs are the most expensive by far. The 2 packs and 3 packs aren't bad price wise.