Wendell. I use Olson most of the time, I ended up running through 20 - 30 blades a year, early on in my woodworking, but I was using the cheap stuff like Vermont, Craftsman (oh yeah) and others. But, when I went to Olson, they offer such a wide variation of blades, I started seeing a huge savings by using a lot fewer blades. I also use blades from Highland Woodworking, especially for cutting blanks from the rough the 3/8" wide WoodTurner's Bandsaw Blade, with its 3 TPI, alternate set w/raker tooth pattern & stout band thickness of .032", is just the blade for the task.
The significant tooth set of this blade provides ample room to keep the blade zipping along through dripping wet, kerf-closing, growth-tensioned logs. The deep, rounded, hook-toothed gullets allow chips to be easily removed from the kerf enabling quick, aggressive cuts.
The hardened teeth (RC64-65) stand up to dulling bark & log grime (we recommend removing as much grit as possible from your stock before cutting with any blade). The 3/8" wide band allows a cutting radius as small as 1-1/2". This is their description of the blade I use...price wise you can't go wrong either. I use a Jet 14" with a 6" riser block installed, this gives me ability to cut up 12" logs and I cut a lot of stuff. Another thing to consider is a (bi-metal) blade, the reasoning is, if you wanted to cut some plastic or aluminum, you don't change the blade when you go back to cutting wood. I do this when I am working on calls, especially duck and goose calls, when I have metal parts involved, it doesn't take but a couple minutes to change out a blade. Hope you have a great success with your new toy, pappy
