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Metal Band Saws
Industrial metal band saws for cutting bar, tube, pipe, profiles and structural material in fabrication and production environments.
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Technical buying data
Band saw blade speed, feed and TPI
Band saw blade life is decided almost entirely by speed and feed, and the single most expensive mistake is running stainless at mild-steel speed — the published figures below separate the two by more than half.
Scroll table →
| Material | Section size | Blade speed | Feed rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild steel1008–1013 | Up to 1 in (25.4 mm) | 250 SFPM (76 m/min) | 8–10 (203–254 mm/min) | Speed peaks in the 3–6 in band and then drops back over 6 in — feed and speed both come down on heavy section, which is counter-intuitive if you assume bigger means faster. |
| 1–3 in (25–76 mm) | 275 SFPM (84 m/min) | 9–12 (229–305 mm/min) | ||
| 3–6 in (76–152 mm) | 280 SFPM (85 m/min) | 12–15 (305–381 mm/min) | ||
| Over 6 in (152 mm) | 250 SFPM (76 m/min) | 9–12 (229–305 mm/min) | ||
| Stainless304 | Up to 1 in (25.4 mm) | 120 SFPM (37 m/min) | 2–4 (51–102 mm/min) | Under half the speed of mild steel and roughly a quarter of the feed. 304 work-hardens: too slow a feed at too high a speed glazes the surface and the next tooth rubs instead of cutting. Speed down, feed steady. |
| 1–3 in (25–76 mm) | 100 SFPM (30 m/min) | 2–4 (51–102 mm/min) | ||
| 3–6 in (76–152 mm) | 100 SFPM (30 m/min) | 2–4 (51–102 mm/min) | ||
| Over 6 in (152 mm) | 100 SFPM (30 m/min) | 1–3 (25–76 mm/min) | ||
| Tool steelHSS T-1 / T-2 | Up to 1 in (25.4 mm) | 130 SFPM (40 m/min) | 1–2 (25–51 mm/min) | The slowest feed in the chart. SawBlade.com publishes figures for the up-to-1 in and over-6 in bands only; intermediate sections are not published and are deliberately not interpolated here. |
| Over 6 in (152 mm) | 90 SFPM (27 m/min) | 2–3 (51–76 mm/min) |
Source: SawBlade.com, Band Saw Blade Speed and Feed Chart. Figures are the publisher's, not UmproTech's. Metric conversions are UmproTech's, at 1 SFPM = 0.3048 m/min and 1 in/min = 25.4 mm/min.
Tooth pitch is selected by material form — sheet, thin-wall tube or solid bar — not by section size, so it is a separate decision from speed and feed.
Scroll table →
| Material | Form / thickness | TPI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | Under 1/4 in (6.35 mm) | 14–24 TPI | Aluminum loads the gullet fast; a coarser pitch on heavy section is about chip clearance, not tooth strength. |
| Over 1/4 in (6.35 mm) | 6–10 TPI | ||
| Mild steel | Thin-wall tubing | 14–18 TPI | The thin-wall figure exists to satisfy the three-teeth-in-the-work rule against the wall thickness, not against the tube diameter. This is the most commonly stripped blade on a shop saw. |
| Solid bar | 6–10 TPI | ||
| Stainless | Sheet | 18–24 TPI | Finest pitches in the chart. Combine with the reduced stainless speeds in Table 10 above — the two decisions have to be made together. |
| Solid | 8–12 TPI |
The rule that overrides the chart. Ellis states it plainly: always keep a minimum of three teeth in the work. On thin-wall tube, "the work" is the wall thickness at the point of contact, not the outside diameter. A 6–10 TPI blade on 0.065 in wall has well under one tooth engaged and will strip teeth on the first cut — which is exactly why the thin-wall row calls for 14–18 TPI. Check the three-tooth rule against the thinnest section the blade will actually pass through before ordering.
Each saw listing must state its exact operating mode, capacity and compatible blade specification from the model datasheet; no collection-wide range or stocked-blade promise is approved
Sources: Zoro, Band Saw Blade TPI Chart and Selection Guide · Ellis, Band Saw Blade Tooth Selection (three-teeth-in-the-work rule). Figures are the publishers', not UmproTech's.
Common questions
What TPI band saw blade for stainless?
Pick the TPI from the wall thickness first, not from the alloy: Ellis Manufacturing's published rule is a minimum of three teeth engaged in the work at all times, so thin-wall stainless tube needs a fine pitch and solid stainless bar needs a coarse or variable pitch. What stainless actually changes is speed, not tooth count — Starrett publishes a blade speed of 98–121 SFM for 201, 202 and 301–305 austenitics and only 68–78 SFM for 309, 310, 316, 317 and A286. Use a bi-metal or carbide blade, keep constant feed pressure, and never let the blade rub, because austenitic stainless work-hardens the instant the tooth stops cutting. If the shop cuts mixed sizes on one saw, a variable-pitch blade is the safest single choice.
Horizontal or vertical band saw?
Horizontal for cutting stock to length, vertical for contour cutting and shaping. Almost every fabrication shop buying its first saw wants a horizontal — bar, tube, angle and structural stock get cut to length far more often than they get profiled, and a horizontal saw can run semi-automatic or fully automatic with a feed system so nobody has to stand at it. A vertical saw earns its footprint in a die shop, or in a shop that cuts curves, notches and plate profiles by hand. If you are buying one saw for general fabrication, buy the horizontal and size it on your largest solid round and your largest structural section, not on the average.