Which bandsaw blade is best for cutting different metals? Unless you’re cutting the same material frequently and know precisely which blade to use then it’s a frequently encountered question.

Who better to answer it than a specialist company which manufactures bandsaw blades by the thousand. It even has a ‘Bandsaw Academy’ providing professional training.

Mark Haywood is managing director of South Yorkshire-based SNA Europe (UK) whose Bahco hand tool and bandsaw blade brand is rated globally by trade professionals.

He says: “Bahco’s metalcutting saw range includes bi-metal milled/ground and carbide tipped bandsaw blades, power and hand hacksaw, jigsaw, circular saw reciprocating blades and holesaws.

“High speed steel tooth tips, combined with flexible alloy steel backing material, result in cost-effective bandsaw blades for most metal sawing applications. Patented tooth types can be targeted for specific materials and for high levels of production and we also manufacture customised blades for specific markets, such as aerospace, construction, motorsport and the petrochemical industry.”

Bi-metal Bahco bandsaw blades cover most cutting requirements, including multi-purpose blades and contour cutting, cutting tubes and profiles, foundry cutting and production cutting. Similarly, Sandflex bandsaw blades cut different types of steel, including structural, machining, quenched, tempered, high speed and nitriding as well as brass, copper, nickel, cast iron, titanium and many other materials. Carbide bandsaw blades, incorporating high performance backing steel and optimised carbide grades, yield premium band sawing performance.

“We believe that Bahco carbide blades cut faster and last longer than any other bandsaw blade in a wide variety of sawing applications,” Mr Haywood declares. “They are purpose designed for the high efficiency cutting of difficult and abrasive materials, as well as the high performance cutting of large and difficult to cut workpieces.”

Bahco’s high performance ‘set’ and ‘unset’ carbide toothed blades are said to meet the demands of the most complex cutting applications in commercial and military aerospace, power generation and other high technology industries. Easy Cut bandsaw blades are versatile across a range of materials including tool steel, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper, brass or sheetmetal.

The company’s patented anti-tooth stripping design creates a blade which is both long lasting and resilient, allowing the operator to spend more time cutting and less time changing saw blades.

“Continuous improvement is fundamental to our production processes,” Mr Haywood adds. “Investment in R&D has enabled Bahco to design, test and produce innovative, high performance products for general purpose and demanding production cutting applications. The company holds patents for a number of products and features, including its Easy Cut design which simplifies complex blade selection.”

More than 40 years ago Bahco pioneered a new technique combining the best characteristics of tough spring steel and wear resistant high speed steel. The two materials are laser welded together in a high-vacuum environment. The teeth are then milled from the high speed steel, with the spring steel providing high levels of flexibility.

“Ordering Bahco bandsaw blades couldn’t be easier,” Mr Haywood concludes. “Simply specify the blade width and length required. The innovative, patented tooth design cuts any shape or size in virtually any material whilst eliminating the need to specify pitch or tooth form.

“Then, just select small, medium or large, depending on the cutting range you need. Within any size range, ‘small’ provides good surface finish; ‘medium’ offers good band life, whilst ‘large’ increases speed of cut.”