Bandsaw blade length calculator
Give the wheel size and the distance between the wheel centres to get the blade length to order. Then give the thickness of the stock and the tightest curve you will cut: you get the teeth per inch three blade makers recommend and the widest blade that turns the curve.
Blade length
Blade for the job
Blade length
93 1/2 in
93.48 in = 2,374 mm
Why: π × 14 in + 2 × 24.75 in = 43.98 + 49.5 = 93.48 in of blade.
Teeth per inch for 2 in hardwood
- Timber Wolf rates: 6 TPI
- Grizzly, at least 3 teeth in the cut: at least 1.5 TPI
- Laguna, 6–8 teeth engaged: 3–4 TPI
The two teeth-in-the-cut rules differ about 2×; Timber Wolf's chart sits between them.
Widest blade for a 2 in radius
3/8 in (turns 1 1/4 in, median of 3 makers)
Median of 3 sources
Why these numbers?
The situation
Wheels 14 in across, their centres 24.75 in apart with the upper wheel at the middle of its travel.
From your input: the wheel size and centre distance
What that means
The blade wraps half of each wheel, which together make one full circumference (π × diameter), and runs straight between them twice (2 × the centre distance).
Arithmetic: exact by definition
So
π × 14 = 43.982 in; 2 × 24.75 = 49.5 in; together 93.482 in = 2,374.5 mm.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
The number
To check a blade you already have: mark the blade and the floor, roll the blade one full turn, mark the floor again and measure between the marks.
One source: Laguna Tools, a bandsaw and blade maker, in its blade manual , sources [1]
Sources
- Laguna Tools, Bandsaw Blade Manual: pitch (p. 7), blade tensioning and blade wander (pp. 12–13), radius chart (p. 15), measuring a blade (p. 16), read 2026-11-07
- Suffolk Machinery (Timber Wolf), Bandsaw Blade Usage Chart for Timber Wolf Blades: width × TPI, stock thickness and radius cut (as distributed by Woodline USA), read 2026-11-07
- Grizzly Industrial, G0555LX 14" bandsaw manual: tensioning blade, flutter and deflection methods (pp. 25–26), blade selection (pp. 33–34), read 2026-11-07
- Grizzly Industrial, Bandsaw blade selection spec sheet (G0568): minimum circle diameter by blade width × TPI, read 2026-11-07
How a bandsaw blade length is worked out
Blade length is the circumference of one wheel (π × diameter: half of each of the two wheels) plus twice the distance between the wheel centres, measured with the upper wheel at the middle of its tension travel. To check a blade you have, Laguna marks it and the floor, rolls it one turn and measures between the marks.
For a 14 inch saw with its wheels 24 3/4 inches apart, π × 14 is 43.98 inches and twice 24 3/4 is 49 1/2, so the blade is 93.48 inches, the 93 1/2 inch blade most 14 inch saws take. Wheels on the same saw are the same size; if your saw's manual gives a blade length, it is the one to order, and the tension screw takes up the difference.
Teeth per inch follow the stock: thicker wood needs fewer, larger teeth so each gullet can carry its sawdust out of the cut. Grizzly asks for at least three teeth in the wood at all times and Laguna for six to eight, about twice as many, so both answers are shown, with Timber Wolf's chart of which pitch suits which thickness between them.
The widest blade for a curve comes from the radius charts of Laguna, Timber Wolf and Grizzly; the median of the three is used. The full charts, each maker's way of setting tension and resawing notes are in the bandsaw blade guide.