Successful bandsawing requires a sharp blade, and standard blades go dull surprisingly quickly. Resaw cuts are especially hard on these blades, as are cuts in tropical woods, many of which contain silica, an abrasive material. Carbide-tipped blades, on the other hand, stay sharp many times longer than their bimetal or carbon-steel cousins.

Starrett’s new Woodpecker CT features triple-ground carbide teeth with a backing blade made from a high-strength alloy. The blades are designed for high-volume cutting, and they can be resharpened when the teeth finally do lose their edge.

I ordered a 1/2-in.-wide, 0.032-in.-thick blade with three teeth per inch (TPI)—a great size for general work on my 14-in. bandsaw—and I put it through a battery of tough tests. It did a beautiful job resawing wide veneers, making straight, clean cuts. And it worked just as well on rip cuts and on curves with a radius as tight as 5 in., in a variety of wood species.

The initial investment for a high-quality carbide-tipped blade like this is relatively high—but the amazing durability of carbide means that the blade will pay you back many times over. Woodpecker CT blades are available in a range of widths, lengths, and thicknesses, at both 1.3 and 3 TPI, and custom lengths can be ordered for any bandsaw.

—Roland Johnson is a contributing editor to FWW.

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