Technical Principles

Technical Principles

Sawing is a science - A number of influencing factors and the interplay of these factors decide about the results of sawing applications. 

The main focus here is on your individual standards with respect to the relevant challenge, e.g.:

  • Blade-life
  • Cutting performance
  • Efficiency
  • Surface quality / cutting geometry

In addition to individual goals, the following underlying conditions in particular impact on product selection:

  • Band saw machine
  • The material that is to be processed
  • Dimension and form of the workpiece
  • Single, layer or bundle cutting

The WIKUS product portfolio is consistently oriented on customer needs and offers a wide range of:

  • Teeth forms
  • Tooth pitches
  • Tooth sets
  • Band lengths and band widths
  • Special versions PE and PW for individual applications of our level 2 and 3 products

Tooth shapes

Standard tooth (S)

Rake angle: 0°, for:

  • Short-chipping materials
  • Steels with a high carbon content
  • Tool steel and cast iron
  • Materials with small cross-sections
  • Thin-walled profiles

Hook tooth (K)

Rake angle: positive, for:

  • Universal use
  • Non-ferrous metals and steels
  • Solid materials and profiles

Profile tooth (P)

Rake angle: positive, for:

  • Hollow and angle profiles
  • Steel beams
  • Bundle and layer cuts
  • Applications that are susceptible to vibrations

Skip tooth (L)

Rake angle: 0°, for:

  • flexible materials (aluminum and wood)
  • only available from the tool steel assortment

Trapezoid tooth (T)

Rake angle: positive, for: 

  • High cutting performance
  • Optimal surface finishes

Trapezoid tooth (TSN)

Rake angle: negative, especially for 

  • Surface-hardened shafts
  • Hardened steels up to 65 HRC, hard manganese steels, hard-chrome plated workpieces
  • diameters of up to 200 mm

Tooth pitch

  • Tooth pitch refers to the number of teeth per inch (tpi). 1 inch = 25.4 mm.
  • The relevant variable for selecting the tooth pitch is the contact length of the band saw in the workpiece.
  • The material being sawed and the type of band saw blade used also play a role in the selection.
  • A differentiation is made between contact tooth pitches with a uniform tooth distance and variable tooth pitches with a different tooth distance within a tooth interval
  • Variable tooth pitches, for instance 2-3 tpi, can be characterized by two measures: 2 tpi stands for the maximum tooth distance and 3 tpi stands for the minimum tooth distance in the toothing interval
contact tooth pitches
Constant tooth pitches with a uniform tooth distance
variable tooth pitches
Variable tooth pitches with a different tooth distance within a tooth interval

Types of Tooth Set

The free-cutting action of the band saw blade is achieved by means of the tooth set, where the teeth protrude alternately left and right beyond the blade body.

Standard setting

  • Universal for cutting thicknesses from 5 mm for steel, cast iron and hard non-ferrous metals.
  • Constant tooth pitch: Setting sequence left / right / straight
  • Variable tooth pitch: at least one unset tooth per interval; the remaining teeth in the interval are set repeatedly left / right or in reverse order.

Group setting

  • For band saw blades in the tooth pitch range of 4-18 tpi, improved surface quality is  obtained using the group set.

Wavy setting

  • For metal sheets, thin-walled tubes and profiles with a material dimension of up to 5 mm.

Any more questions?

The experts of our Technical Competence Center are happy to help you answer further technical questions connected to band selection and use.

Current website / language

Other websites

WIKUS FRANCE S.A.S.
WIKUS SIERRAS CINTAS S. de R. L. De C.V
WIKUS Nordic AB
WIKUS AUSTRIA GmbH
WIKUS Saw Technology, Corp
WIKUS Canada Ltd.
WIKUS Saw Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd
WIKUS India Pvt. Ltd.