Design a bandsaw blade
Choose a band from published sections and pitches, weld it to the length the machine takes and see it checked against the cut and priced.
Updated 11 November 2026
On this page
- Why
- A welded band is a maker's coil cut to the loop one machine takes, so the section, the pitch and the length all have to suit the cut.
- How
- Choose the family, the section and the teeth or edge, then give the loop length or the wheel data.
It opens in the workbench at /app/design/bandsaw-blades.
Families
| Family | What it is |
|---|---|
| Bi-metal | A metal cutting blade with a high speed steel tooth edge. |
| Carbon | A carbon steel blade for wood and non-ferrous work, with the sawmill and resaw bands. Its type decides the sections and tooth forms offered. |
| Carbide tipped | A carbide tipped blade for large and hardened sections, with a ground or set tooth. |
| Grit | A tungsten carbide or diamond grit edge for brittle materials. It has no pitch. |
| Band knife | A band knife with a straight, scalloped, wavy or toothed edge. |
What you set
| Group | What it holds | Values you set |
|---|---|---|
| Band | The family, its type and the width by thickness. | Blade family; Tooth edge; Width x thickness; Type; Grit; Use |
| Teeth and edge | Pitch, tooth form and set, or the grit or knife edge. | Pitch, teeth per inch; Tooth form; Set; Tooth; Edge; Grade; 3 more |
| Length | The welded loop, entered or worked out from the wheels. | Length from; Loop length; Wheel diameter; Second wheel diameter; Wheel centre distance |
| The cut | What is being cut, so the band can be checked against it. Anything left unstated is not checked. | Material being cut; Width of material in the cut; Material hardness; Band width the machine takes; Smallest radius to cut |
| Finish | Coating; Steel; Body finish | |
| Order | Folded for dispatch; Quantity |
- A band is a selection, not a free design. Every section and pitch offered is a row of a maker's published range sheet.
- The length is the machine's. With The length you type the loop length along the back edge. With Wheel data it is worked out from the wheel diameters and the centre distance.
- The design module opens on an example length so that something is drawn. Never quote on it.
What is checked
The checks read the Dakin-Flathers range sheets and teeth per inch chart, the WIKUS guidebook, the L.S. Starrett catalogue and HSE Woodworking Information Sheet No 31. A check runs only when you state the value it reads.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Too few or too many teeth in the cut | Blocks |
| Teeth in the cut outside the range published for the material | Warns |
| A width in the cut outside the contact length the pitch is published for | Warns |
| A bi-metal loop shorter than the shortest its width is welded | Blocks |
| Wheel data that is missing or cannot make the loop | Blocks |
| A band that is not the width the machine takes | Blocks |
| A band wider than the widest that turns the stated radius | Warns |
| Material harder than the tooth edge is published for | Warns |
| A grit band on aluminium or another soft metal | Blocks |
| Wavy set on a section thicker than it is published for | Warns |
| A scalloped or wavy knife edge that is not double bevel, single edge | Blocks |
| A knife edge outside the widths it is made in | Warns |
| A wheel small for the band thickness, against your own limit only | Warns |
A block stops the price and every export. A warning changes nothing.
How it is priced
| Price line | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Coil | The band taken off the coil: loops times the loop length, at your coil row's cost a metre or the example rate for the section. |
| Weld | Each loop is cut to length, welded, annealed and dressed. |
| Weld check | One check a loop, at the rate you set. |
| Coating | By the metre of band, the tooth edge and the back edge each at its own rate. |
The coil is drawn from your own stock when a row is exactly that band. Where none is, the example rate for the section prices it and the cutting list says so. The weld check charges nothing until you set its rate.
The rates this design module ships with are examples, not your prices. Set your own at /app/design/bandsaw-blades/settings before you quote from it.
What it produces
- Customer drawing
- Band edge and loop DXF
- Cutting list with the blade line
- Spec sheet
- STL and GLB
Exports offers a customer drawing, a specification and quote PDF, a cutting list CSV, a DXF, an STL and a GLB.
Missing today: this design module has no STEP file.
What it does not make yet
The workbench and the specification sheet state its scope in these words: "This design module sets out a welded band from the sections and pitches makers publish, checks it against the cut where the request states one, and prices the coil and the weld. The length, the width, the thickness, the tooth spacing, the sign of the rake and the order of the set are true. The tooth outline, the amount of set, the depth of the tooth edge, the size of a carbide tip, a knife's bevel and the repeat of a scalloped, wavy or toothed knife edge are drawn to a convention, because no maker publishes them, and carry no dimension. A band with more than 2,500 teeth is drawn with its teeth for 300 teeth either side of the weld and without teeth round the rest of the loop; a very long scalloped, wavy or toothed knife is drawn the same way, with its edge form either side of the weld. Which pitch is made at which width is on the maker's range sheet and must be confirmed. It states no band speed, feed, tension or blade life, and its rates are example values, not a price list."
- A section or a pitch the published lists do not hold.
- Matrix high speed steel, group set, a notch sawmill tooth and a triple bevel.
- Friction, pallet dismantling and food carbon bands as named types.
- A CNC contour knife, a peeler knife or a splitter knife: their thickness is not published.
- Unwelded coil and a back edge form.
- A length worked out for a three wheel machine: use its maker's stated length.
For starting band speeds, run the bandsaw blade wizard.