I quickly found the limits of the stock blade on my G0513X2BF bandsaw, and realized I needed something a bit better. I live in the greater Detroit area, and found Detroit Bandsaw has some really good prices on what looked like a quality blades. After a couple of phone calls, I confirmed that I could pick the blades up in person and save shipping, so I decided to order 2 to try out.

I chose to go with their bimetal blades, even though the conventional knowledge is that carbon steel is good enough for wood. My thoughts: HSS will last longer than carbon steel, so I bought their bimetal blades because they were nearly identical price to the carbon steel. Pricing was about $35 each, which is a great price for an American made bimetal blade. Most others I found were in the $50+ Range for the size I need.

I ordered blades exactly to the 131 1/2″ length recommended by Grizzly (10′, 11.5″) and waited a couple of days for the call to go pick them up. I chose a 1″ blade 2/3 tooth meant for ripping/resawing and a 1/4″ 6TPI hook blade for cutting curves. It looks like these are both Simonds brand blades. I was expecting an American made Morse M42 blade, but I think these will be similar quality. I believe these blades are also American made, in Massachusetts. I found this information on their website.

The 1″ blade is a Simonds Epic GP, and the 1/4″ is a Simonds Dieband. Take a look at the one incher on my saw. This thing is a beast!

I’ve been using these blades for about a month now and I’m liking both of them, although the 6TPI Hook blade may be a little aggressive for thin plywood. The 1″ 2/3 blade is a HUGE improvement over the stock Grizzly blade for resawing. I have resawn up to 6″ maple and 9″ cedar so far and each time the blade handles the cut well. I’m going to try out some larger cuts in hardwood, eventually making my way up to 12″ resaws in Maple if I can. Hopefully I’ll get good life and cut quality out of these bimetal blades and not have to upgrade to the carbide tipped blades that are $$$$.