Above: Starrett Tennax-Pro bi-metal band saw blades provide low noise and vibration, as well as improved cutting performance.
November, 2025- Communication is key when a fabricator wants to overcome the various challenges sawing presents, especially when cutting difficult-to-machine workpieces such as nickel-based superalloys, titanium, stainless steel and composites. The discussions include those with blade technicians and machine builders, says Patrick O’Brien, central regional sales manager for The L.S. Starrett Co.
O’Brien recalls, for instance, visiting a customer that did not inform him about a problem the shop was having and seeing 15 broken bimetal band saw blades next to the machine. “They just kept putting blades on the machine, probably because they needed something out the door and didn’t have maintenance over to ask, what’s the actual problem here?”
Alongside another Starrett technician, O’Brien says they disassembled the saw guides in about five minutes and found that there wasn’t a carbide backer guide installed. As a result, force was being exerted on the back of the blade and microchipping kept occurring in the blade gullet. “You treat your machine well and it’ll treat you well.”
Sawing is typically a noisy operation, but a fab shop can reduce the volume through proper blade selection, he says, and the blade’s pitch plays a significant role. Instead of selecting a blade with a straight pitch, which might have three teeth along each and every inch, it might be better to use a variable-pitch blade, which might have four and a half teeth for one inch followed by five teeth in the next inch. “That absolutely helps reduce the decibel level, so you don’t have a constant amount of teeth running through a cut.”
One Starrett line O’Brien recommends is the Tennax-Pro band saw blades which, in addition to having a variable pitch, feature a variable rake angle to damp vibration, plus a heavy set with a varying degree of that set to reduce harmonics. Compared to the company’s older bimetal model, called Versatix MP, Tennax-Pro cuts the decibel level by about 25 percent.
Developed with a tooth geometry for cutting pipes, tubes, structural profiles, small solids and bundles, Starrett reports that Tennax-Pro blades provide higher productivity and greater resistance to wear and tooth breakage, as well as low noise and vibration.
Other elements to reduce noise include ensuring that adequate coolant is running through the cut, the blade is tensioned correctly, the wheel alignment is good, and the guides are in line.
Advanz MC7 carbide band saw blades provide high productivity and longer life for difficult-to-cut materials, according to Starrett.
MATERIAL MATTERS
Having a universal, jack-of-all-trades blade is desirable, but fabricators need to use the proper type of blade to effectively saw specific workpiece materials, O’Brien explains. For example, using a carbon steel blade to cut a superalloy such as Inconel will work—but not for long. “The blade may last one cut.”
For sawing such challenging materials, O’Brien directs customers to the Advanz MC7 and MC5 carbide-tipped blades, which are made with micrograin carbide to enhance wear and crack resistance. The blades have a positive rake angle to enable a more aggressive cut when sawing harder metals such as heat-treated steel than a blade with a neutral or negative rake.
These blades feature a progressively ground trapezoidal tooth design that uses a four-tooth grind to create seven distinct chips (MC7) and a three-tooth grind to produce five distinct chips (MC5). “That reduces and distributes the force of the cutting throughout the cut,” he explains.
With at least two to three saws at most fab shops, individual machines can be dedicated to a specific type of workpiece material instead of changing a blade and incurring machine downtime, according to O’Brien.
“Maybe you can get away with a bimetal blade if you’re going to throw a piece of Monel at it on occasion, but if you’re cutting these harder steels all day, you want a carbide-tipped blade.”
Of course, carbide-tipped blades cost considerably more than bimetal ones. Therefore, if maximizing throughput is not the main objective, he notes that some shops are willing to burn through more bimetal blades and replacing them when needed rather than opt for carbide.
Fabricators might also decide to accept somewhat lower output in exchange for extending blade life, which is often a necessity when the target is to reduce the cost per cut on a less-than-ideal machine while delaying a capital expenditure, O’Brien says. One technique is to increase the cutting speed and reduce the feed rate to indirectly reduce the chip load and extend blade life. “You try and trick it with some speeds and feeds,” he advises.
A more effective approach is to confirm the saw is mechanically sound by making sure the guides are in line, the blade is square to the vises and the wheels and bearings are not rocking all over, says O’Brien.
Starrett reports that Intenss is an aff ordable workhorse bi-metal blade for general sawing in fabricating and machine shop applications, toolrooms and maintenance shops where one blade cutting a wide range of common materials with diff erent shapes is an eff ective sawing solution.
Starrett Intenss bi-metal band saw blades cut a wide range of materials and shapes.
ONBOARDING OPERATORS
A tricky situation fabricators continue to face is attracting, hiring and retaining skilled saw operators. The alternative is to onboard operators with little to no band sawing experience and be willing to teach them. In such cases, “you’ve got to be willing to break some blades.”
For their part, O’Brien says inexperienced operators must be willing to learn and follow procedures, practice safety around the machine and pay attention to detail—such as recognizing a correction is needed when problems arise such as smoke coming from the cut. “Hey, something’s happening here. Maybe I need more coolant. Maybe I need to back off on the feed.”
Training is effective for bringing new operators up to speed, he notes, helping them to learn the mechanics of speeds and feeds, the various elements of a blade and how to troubleshoot problems. Nonetheless, transferring tribal knowledge from an experienced operator to a newbie through mentoring can be the proper way to upskill someone. “There’s no substitute for standing next to that seasoned person and learning from them for a couple of months.”
Having the correct saw blade for an application and having an operator who knows how to run it is ideal, but O’Brien says well-established fabricators frequently reach out to Starrett to solve problems. When that occurs, a technician asks pertinent questions to uncover the core issue. “That’s also why we show up and stay. We don’t just show up during a saw test and say, ‘Here’s the blade. Good luck.’ We can audit their procedures until we are satisfied they are on the right path.”
According to O’Brien, when effective communication doesn’t occur between a customer and saw blade manufacturer, the result is a mess. “You can’t keep putting bandages on a saw. The bandages build up and then you start bleeding out.”
The L.S. Starrett Co., 888/674-7443, starrett.com.
