Bandsaw Blade Selector

Use the bandsaw blade selector below to select the correct of tooth tip type and pitch when choosing a bandsaw blade for a particular material and saw.

Factors include:

Material section (round, solid, flat, square, bundle)
Material specification (grade, alloy etc)
Treatment, hardness etc
Maximum width of blade contact with material
Saw machine design – rigidity, blade width

Select the band saw blade according to the material form and quality to be sawn taking account of the task. When sawing wide, rolled H profiles, the saw band can jam in the material to be sawn. In order to prevent this effect, a WS (wide set) is available for “PROTECTOR”. For solid material with larger diameters, we provide an Anti-Pinching variant (AP) of the “SUPER HL” to prevent jamming in the cut.

Choose your material type
Type		Rolled steel	Profile steel	Bundled small material	Normal steel, Non-ferrous metals (*1)			Cold working steel, case-hardened steel			Hot forming tool steel, stainless steel			High heat-resistant special alloys
Type		St-37, St-52, StE 380		1.2510, 1.0301, 1.7012, 1.7218, 1.6955				1.2341, 1.2735, 1.2303, 1.2379			1.2344, 1.4301, 1.4564			Inconel, titanium, aluminum, Hastelloy
Choose the section to be cut
					<100	100-400	>400	<100	100-400	>400	<100	100-400	>400	<100	100-400	>400
Choose a blade type
The basic requirement for cutting is that the tooth tip must be harder than the material to be cut. As a general rule of thumb, the tooth tips should be at least twice as hard as the material to be cut.
C A R B I D E	AXCELA G Coated carbide up to 2500HV (2)*	Carbide saw blades for maximum performance with outstanding tool life.
	AXCELA G Coated carbide up to 2500HV (2)*				X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	x
	AXCELA H Carbide 1600HV (2)*	Carbide saw blades for challenging materials and special applications.
	AXCELA H Carbide 1600HV (2)*						X		x	X			x	X	X	X
	AXCELA A Carbide 1600HV (2)*	Carbide saw blades for aluminium applications with high blade speed.
	AXCELA A Carbide 1600HV (2)*													X	X	X
	AXCELA S Carbide 1600HV (2)*	Carbide saw blades for universal application on modern and strong bandsaw machines.
	AXCELA S Carbide 1600HV (2)*				X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	x
	AXCELA B Carbide 1600HV (2)*	Carbide saw blades for universal use on conventional machines. Replacement for standard carbide blades.
	AXCELA B Carbide 1600HV (2)*				X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	x
B I M E T A L	AURORA M42 + TiN coated 950/2300HV (3)*	TiN coated high-performance saw blade for difficult to cut materials with extremely long tool life.
	AURORA M42 + TiN coated 950/2300HV (3)*						x	X	X	X	x	X	X	X	X	X
	MAGNUM HL M71 AMADA M71 HSS 1000HV(3)*	HILO tooth geometry and precision offsetting result in friction reduction. High-performance tooth tip material and sectional cutting channel using patented tooth geometry. Can be used for difficult to cut materials including high heat-resistant special alloys.
	MAGNUM HL M71 AMADA M71 HSS 1000HV(3)*										x	X	X	X	X	x
	MAGNUM HLG M71 AMADA M71 HSS 1000HV(4)*	HILO tooth geometry and precision offsetting result in friction reduction. Outstanding cutting performance for tool steel.
	MAGNUM HLG M71 AMADA M71 HSS 1000HV(4)*						x	X	X	X	x	X	X	X	X	x
	SIGMA M42 HSS 950HV	Sectional cutting channel using patented tooth geometry for the reduction of cutting resistance. Can be used for difficult to cut materials. Particularly recommended for stainless steels.
	SIGMA M42 HSS 950HV										x	X	X	X	X	x
	SUPER HL M42 HSS 950HV (3)*	HILO tooth geometry and precision offsetting result in friction reduction. The sectional cutting channel reduces the cutting resistance. For materials in the medium and large diameter range. An Anti-Pinching variant is available for materials with internal clamping.
	SUPER HL M42 HSS 950HV (3)*					x	x	X	X	X	x	X	X	X	x
	SUPER HLG M42 HSS 950HV	HILO tooth geometry and precision offsetting result in friction reduction. Wide application area from normal steel to difficult to cut materials.
	SUPER HLG M42 HSS 950HV			x	x	x	X	X	X	X	X	x	x
	CHIPBREAKER M42 HSS 950HV	Special tooth profile in combination with HILO tooth geometry reduces the heat development at the tooth tip and promotes the formation of smaller chips. As a result, particularly suitable for materials with unfavorable chip form.
	CHIPBREAKER M42 HSS 950HV			x	x	X	X	X	X	X	X	x	x
	SUPER8 M42 HSS 950HV	NEW developed M42 bandsaw blade for universal purpose. Special design for noise reduced cutting, better lifetime and high surface quality.
	SUPER8 M42 HSS 950HV		x	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	x	x
	SGLB M42 HSS 950HV	Universal blade with wide range of applications.
	SGLB M42 HSS 950HV		x	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	x	x
	RATIO HI-LO Matrix HSS M42 Basis 900HV	Proven, patented AMADA HILO tooth shape reduces the friction and enables high cutting performance for materials with a strength up to 950 N/mm 2.
	RATIO HI-LO Matrix HSS M42 Basis 900HV			x	X	X	x
	HI-LO M42 HSS >950HV	Special tooth profile in combination with HILO tooth geometry and a particular production method enables the economic cutting of tubes made of high strength materials such as duplex steel.
	HI-LO M42 HSS >950HV										x	X	X	X	X	x
	PROTECTOR M42 HSS 950HV (5)*	Saw blade specially for profile steel and tubes with reinforced tooth back for reduction of tooth breakouts.
	PROTECTOR M42 HSS 950HV (5)*	X	X	X	x	x
	PROTEC Matrix HSS M42 Basis 900HV (5)*	Saw blade specially for profile steel and tubes with reinforced tooth back for reduction of tooth breakouts. Particularly suitable for steels with a strength up to 950 N/mm 2.
	PROTEC Matrix HSS M42 Basis 900HV (5)*	X	X	X	x	x
	DUOS M42 HSS 950HV (4)*	Due to the special offsetting and the different tooth heights, the sawing of a wide range of dimensions without blade replacement is possible. Particularly suitable for light weight workshop machines.
	DUOS M42 HSS 950HV (4)*	X	x		X

*1 Non-ferrous metals are mainly aluminium, aluminium alloys, copper and copper alloys. In some cases, these materials can be just as hard as difficult to cut steels or even harder.
*2 JP. PAT. P.
*3 US. PAT.
*4 JP. PAT.
*5 JP. PAT. (2/3P, 3/4P, 4/6P)
*6 The hardness of the tooth tips refers to the average values published by AMADA. These can be different depending on type and dimensions of the product.

Choose the maximum width to be cut
Determine the section to be sawn (L). This is the maximum solid section that the saw blade has to cut through at any point.
Using the maximum cutting width (L) determined from above, compare to the chart below to determine the ideal tooth pitch.

For optimum sawing, we recommend selecting a toothing pitch which always has 10 to 20 teeth in the material.
For sawing deformed workpieces or workpieces with varying cutting width, it is recommended during the cutting that at least two teeth penetrate the material simultaneously.
The above table is based on a quality “SGLB” as guideline. Specific applications of other blades vary occasionally due to their characteristic properties. For example, a 3/4 teeth PROTECTOR can also cut material from the above 4/6 teeth/inch range.

Choose the ideal band speed and feed rate
Cutting rate means the machined area per minute and is expressed using the unit sqcm/min. To achieve the target cutting performance, calculate the cutting time according to the following equation and set the feed rate.For simplified calculation of the surface area, use the following formula: Surface area of square material = width (cm) x height (cm) Surface area of round material = Ø (cm) x Ø (cm) x 0.785 For bundle cutting, multiply the number of the bundled bars by the value of the surface area of one bar.

	Material size (mm) Area (sqcm)	79 100	200 314	300 707	400 1256	500 1963	700 3847	1000 7850
Normal steel	Blade speed (m/min)	48 – 75	48 – 75	48 – 75	43 – 65	39 – 58	34 – 51	30 – 44
Normal steel	Cutting rate (sqcm/min)	36 – 54	72 – 108	72 – 108	60 – 91	49 – 73	37 – 56	26 – 38
Cold working steel	Blade speed (m/min)	28 – 42	28 – 42	28 – 42	25 – 38	23 – 34	20 – 30	18 – 26
Cold working steel	Cutting rate (sqcm/min)	11 – 23	23 – 46	23 – 46	20 – 40	17 – 35	15 – 25	12 – 20
Case-hardened steel	Blade speed (m/min)	44 – 66	44 – 66	44 – 66	39 – 59	35 – 52	30 – 45	26 – 38
Case-hardened steel	Cutting rate (sqcm/min)	28 – 42	56 – 84	56 – 84	47 – 71	39 – 58	30 – 45	22 – 32
Hot forming tool steel	Blade speed (m/min)	24 – 36	24 – 36	22 – 32	19 – 29	17 – 26	17 – 26	17 – 26
Hot forming tool steel	Cutting rate (sqcm/min)	8 – 15	16 – 30	14 – 27	14 – 27	13 – 24	13 – 24	13 – 24
Stainless steel	Blade speed (m/min)	40 – 60	40 – 60	40 – 60	35 – 53	31 – 46	26 – 39	22 – 32
Stainless steel	Cutting rate (sqcm/min)	20 – 30	40 – 60	40 – 60	34 – 52	29 – 43	23 – 35	18 – 26
High heat-resistant special alloys	Blade speed (m/min)	10 – 20	10 – 25	10 – 25	10 – 25	10 – 25	10 – 20	10 – 15
High heat-resistant special alloys	Cutting rate (sqcm/min)	2 – 10	3 – 15	3 – 15	3 – 15	3 – 15	3 – 15	3 – 15

Important preparations before cutting
When you sharpen a pencil, don’t you always rub the tip lightly to round off the sharp brittle point to prevent it breaking off unexpectedly? A ragged broken lead spoils the line it draws and you soon have to sharpen it again. In order to achieve optimal blade life, saw blades must always be run in to gently wear the ultra sharp edges in a controlled manner. We recommend running in each saw blade until it has achieved approximately 3000 sqcm with the blade speed reduced to 70% and the feed rate reduced to 50%, after which the speed and feed can be increased to the optimum. There’s a reason EVERY sawing machine manufacturer fits a wire brush unit to their machines! Similarly, there’s a reason why EVERY blade manufacturer insists on the importance of having the brush unit in good working order, with a good quality brush and properly adjusted. Ensure that the swarf brush(es) of your machine is (are) always in good condition and engaged with the blade teeth. Replace worn brushes, otherwise the quality of the cut face and the blade life is reduced. Ensure sufficient concentration of the cooling lubricant; this should usually be approx. 10%. For stainless steels, a slightly increased concentration of approx. 12% has proven more effective. Only cast iron and plastic should be sawn dry. Old coolant is often partially broken down and ineffective as a lubricant, so change the coolant in your machines regularly.