Spent $800 on a new band saw blade, and I'm not sure it was worth it.

I got a fancy new 1.25 inch wide, 3 tpi blade for breaking down whole hogs, hoping it would be faster and cleaner. It does cut straighter, but it feels slower on the bone and I'm going through more blades than my old setup. Do you think a wider blade is actually better for primal cuts, or is it just more hype?

3 comments

3 Comments

zara4473mo ago

Sounds like you bought a tool for the job you wish you had, not the one you actually do. That wide blade is built for resawing thick lumber, not powering through bone and gristle. Stick with a narrower, more flexible blade for butchering, even if the ads made the big one look cool.

simon_sanchez583mo ago

My buddy did that, zara447. Ruined a good deer.

joel_young21d ago

Man that's a bummer but totally believable. I tried using a 12 inch camp knife on a pig once and it just got stuck in the hip joint. Took forever to work it loose and the meat was all torn up where I was yanking on it. Ended up just using my old boning knife for the rest anyway. Learned my lesson about trying to use the wrong blade for the job.