Saw blade having increased tooth stiffness and resistance to fatigue failure

A saw blade, comprising:

• a cutting edge including a plurality of first means for cutting spaced relative to each other, each first means including:
• a tip;
• a rake face formed on one side of the tip;
• a primary clearance surface formed on an opposite side of the tip relative to the rake face;
• at least one secondary clearance surface formed on an opposite side of the primary clearance surface relative to the tip;
• and
• a gullet located on an opposite side of the rake face relative to the tip and defining a depth (D) between a base surface of the gullet and the tip;
• wherein each first means defines:
• a first gullet radius (R1) located between the gullet and the at least one secondary clearance surface;
• a second gullet radius (R2) extending between a base surface of the gullet and the rake face;
• and
• a pitch (P) between the respective first means and a preceding first means in a cutting direction of the saw blade;
• and
• wherein R2>D>R1, and D/P is within the range of about 25% to about 35%.

A wood cutting band saw blade, comprising:

• a cutting edge defined by a plurality of teeth spaced relative to each other, each tooth including:
• a tip;
• a rake face formed on one side of the tip, wherein the rake face defines an acute rake face angle within the range of about 5° to about 20°, extends to a depth D3 below the tip, and D3 is within the range of about 0.01 inch to about 0.06 inch;
• a primary clearance surface formed on an opposite side of the tip relative to the rake face;
• a secondary clearance surface formed on an opposite side of the primary clearance surface relative to the tip;
• a tertiary clearance surface formed on an opposite side of the secondary clearance surface relative to the primary clearance surface, wherein the primary clearance surface defines a primary acute relief angle within the range of about 22° to about 35°, the secondary clearance surface defines a secondary acute relief angle within the range of about 5° to about 20°, the tertiary clearance surface is defined by a radius within the range of about 0.06 inch to about 0.1 inch, and said radius terminates at a depth D2 below the tip within the range of about 0.06 inch to about 0.1 inch;
• and
• a gullet located on an opposite side of the rake face relative to the tip and defining a depth (D) between a base surface of the gullet and the tip;
• wherein each tooth defines:
• a first gullet radius (R1) located between the gullet and the tertiary clearance surface;
• a second gullet radius (R2) extending between a base surface of the gullet and the rake face;
• and
• a pitch (P) between the respective tooth and a preceding tooth in a cutting direction of the saw blade;
• and
• wherein R2>D>R1, R2/R1≧about 1.4, and D/P is within the range of about 25% to about 35%.