What bandsaw blade do I need for titanium?

For regular or production work, an unset multi-chip carbide blade: the tungsten carbide tips keep their hardness at the tooth-tip temperatures titanium generates. For large solid billets, step across to a coarse carbide pattern such as the Morse Jawbreaker, which is rated for titanium alongside Inconel and other superalloys.

Can I cut titanium with a bi-metal blade?

For an occasional cut, a premium bi-metal blade rated for titanium will get through the job, though its edge wears far faster than carbide in the heat titanium generates at the tooth tip. If titanium becomes regular work, a carbide-tipped blade is the better tool and usually the cheaper one per cut.

Why does my bandsaw blade keep going blunt on titanium?

Titanium's low thermal conductivity traps cutting heat at the tooth tip, so an edge that lasts well in steel overheats and dulls. Light feed makes it worse, because rubbing teeth generate heat without cutting. Use a harder edge (carbide for anything regular), feed firmly and keep coolant flooding the cut.

Material guide

Bandsaw blades for titanium

Titanium concentrates cutting heat at the tooth tip, so the edge has to survive it. Unset multi-chip carbide blades are the production answer, with coarse carbide covering the largest billets, all welded to your machine's length in the UK.

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The problem with cutting titanium

Most metals carry cutting heat away in the chip and the body of the workpiece. Titanium does not: its low thermal conductivity traps heat at the tooth tip, the one place an edge can least afford it. Run an ordinary blade and the tip overheats before the rest of the band feels warm. The edge softens, dulls and starts to rub. Rubbing generates more heat and the failure feeds itself.

The right edge for production titanium is tungsten carbide, which stays hard far beyond the temperatures that finish high speed steel. Unset multi-chip designs go further by splitting the cut across differently profiled tips, so each tooth takes a narrower bite and sheds its share of the heat. On the largest solid billets, coarse carbide tips keep the section moving where finer pitches load up and stall.

Not every titanium job is the same. Abrasive grades and titanium cut alongside graphite or matrix alloys can load an unset edge, which is where a set carbide tooth pattern earns its keep: the set gives clearance in the cut so swarf clears instead of packing the gullets.

Recommended blades for titanium

Constructions and ranges from the manufacturers' published data, with the honest reason each blade makes the list. Every one is welded to your machine's length.

Recommended blades for titanium, drawn from the manufacturers' published ranges. Prices are from prices per welded loop, ex VAT, at the narrowest width and shortest length.
Blade	Construction	Width range	Why this blade	From price
Unset Carbide TMC Bandsaw BladeBahco 3860	Tungsten carbide tips on an alloy backing, some further coatedCarbide-Tipped Blades guide	34mm to 67mm	Bahco's most advanced multi-chip carbide blade: unset tungsten carbide teeth split the cut across differently profiled tips and it is rated for titanium and high-temperature alloys.	From £61.00 ex VATsample pricing
Carbide Triple Set TSX Bandsaw BladeBahco 3868	Tungsten carbide tips on an alloy backing, some further coatedCarbide-Tipped Blades guide	27mm to 54mm	Rated for titanium and graphite alloys: the triple set tooth pattern gives clearance in abrasive cuts that would load an unset design.	From £55.00 ex VATsample pricing
Jawbreaker Carbide-Tipped Bandsaw BladeMorse Jawbreaker	Tungsten carbide tips on an alloy backing, some further coatedCarbide-Tipped Blades guide	54mm to 80mm	The billet option: Morse rates the Jawbreaker's coarse carbide tips for large solid billets of titanium, Inconel and other superalloys that stop every other edge.	From £81.80 ex VATsample pricing

Getting the cut right

General rules that hold across machines. Exact widths, pitches and options are on each product page.

Match the edge to the workload
For production titanium, choose unset multi-chip carbide: the differently profiled tips share the cut and the carbide stays hard where HSS gives up. Move to a triple set carbide pattern when abrasive grades load an unset edge, and to coarse carbide when the workpiece is a large solid billet. A standard bi-metal edge dulls too fast in regular titanium work to pay its way.
Keep every tooth cutting
A tooth that rubs instead of cutting makes heat without making swarf. In titanium that heat has nowhere to go but the tip. Feed firmly and consistently so every tooth takes a real chip. Resist the urge to ease off when the cut feels hard: light feed polishes the surface and cooks the edge.
Control heat at the source
Cutting slower generates less heat at the tip. Flood coolant carries away what remains. Keep coolant flowing generously and aimed into the cut, not just over the band. If chips come off discoloured or the cut starts to squeal, treat it as a heat warning and back the speed down before the edge pays for it.
Set the machine up rigid
Carbide holds its hardness but hates shock. Bring the blade guides as close to the workpiece as the cut allows, tension the band to your machine maker's specification and clamp the work so it cannot vibrate. A rigid setup lets each tip enter the cut cleanly instead of hammering, which is what chips carbide.

Suggested image

Action shot: recommended blade cutting titanium, cut face visible

materials/titanium/cutting

Industry guide

Tool, Die and High-Temperature Alloys

Cutting titanium for a living? The industry guide maps the whole workload, not just this material.

Read the guide

Other material guides

Frequently asked questions

Tell the wizard your machine and length and it will match titanium to a blade that fits.

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