Source for a 1/16" bandsaw blade?

**j. condino** · May-17-2017, 4:31pm

I'm rebuilding the harp headstock on a 1924 Gibson harp guitar. It has those delicate little scroll cuts, less than a dime radius but almost 3" thick mahogany stock. The original was glued up from six different layers, all in opposite directions and they tend to self sestruct, so the new one is from one solid piece. Nobody here in town has a scroll saw with that much depth, so I'm thinking I can pull it off using the bandsaw and a tiny little 1/8 or 1/16" blade. I'll get a few knowing they break very easy. Any suggestions for a source that can get me one in a couple of days?

thx,

j.

www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com

on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Condino-Str...6588557518578/

**Bill McCall** · May-17-2017, 4:52pm

Never seen one smaller than 0.25". Doesn't mean they don't exist though.

I also think you could come pretty close with a .25" blade, well setup, and sharp, using light pressure.

**Marty Jacobson** · May-17-2017, 5:15pm

How about a waterjet? :-)

**Frank Ford** · May-17-2017, 5:19pm

You'd never make that cut around the pearl dot with a 1/4" blade, so for sure you'll want to hold out for the 1/16 - a Google search should turn up some. It's been so long since I bought mine, I've forgotten the source. . .

**sunburst** · May-17-2017, 5:36pm

I have 1/8" blades for my 30" saw. I had them custom made because nobody I could find sold 208" (or whatever the length is) 1/8" blades. It may take a while to find the records of where i got those blades because there was a three blade minimum order to get them, and those three have lasted many years. In other words, I don't know what year I got them so the records may be hard to find. Meanwhile, I assume you have already done due on-line search diligence, but I'm sure that's how I found them.

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Be sure not to knock the blade off of the wheels!

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**Max Girouard** · May-17-2017, 7:21pm

We use Timber Wolf 1/8" band saw blades all the time, and they can make them in pretty much any length you need. Usually only takes a couple days to get them as well.

http://timberwolfblades.com/proddetail.php?prod=1814HP

**Dave Sheets** · May-17-2017, 7:23pm

The last couple of bandsaw blades I purchased were from a company Timber Wolf. NFI on my part, a Google search on Timber Wolf bandsaw will bring them up. The last blades I got from them were really nice quality, it looks like they have a 1/8 inch blade available. Good luck!

**HawRiver** · May-18-2017, 7:11am

Depending on the length blade you need, Grizzly Industrial generally has 1/8" blades available and can ship them quickly. In fact, I happen to be installing one of their 1/8" 18-tooth raker blades on my saw this morning.

**HawRiver** · May-18-2017, 7:12am

Also, if you can draw the piece, this looks like a really good application for CNC cutting.

**pops1** · May-18-2017, 8:23am

Woodworkers Supply has several 1/8", but I am not seeing a 1/16". They do make custom length's.

**Bluetickhound** · May-18-2017, 8:31pm

http://www.woodcraftbands.com/index.htm

These folks say they do custom lengths in 1/16" but I didn't see anything under 3/16" on their stock list. Might be with giving them a shout to see if they can fix you up though...

Bonus!!! I see they are located conveniently in NC...

**j. condino** · May-18-2017, 9:34pm

There is an ancient old place just a few block down the road from me, United Saw and Tool. Ken Woody runs it and has been in the same location for something like 47 years. He makes the blades for my big 3000lb Yates saw. I drove by on the way to the taco shop for lunch. Ironically, he had recently bought out another sawshop's inventory down near Athens, GA. and wound up with three 300 foot rolls of 1/8" x 14 tpi bandsaw blade stock. 20 minutes later I had a sweet custom length welded blade for my old 16" Walker Turner.

One great piece of advice I can pass on is put the blade on, manually adjust all of the tracking, leave the cover open and give the wheel a good spin, then turn on the motor. If you have any decent size motor on the bandsaw, the torque at startup is the most likely candidate to break the small blade. With the wheel spinning, it is much less and a nice real world application of Netwon's first law of inertia, "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion..."

Thx for the help and suggestions.

j.

**tree** · May-19-2017, 5:53am

Man, I love me some local and some old - as convenient as it is to buy online, having a good United Saw and Tool is a gift that is rare and precious anymore!