Bandsaw blades are one of the most commonly used tools of the wood cutting industry. Their base materials are mostly unalloyed or poorly Cr-alloyed tool steels. After the review of the handsaw blade's cyclic load characteristics, we present the typical failures, which can be, originate in it's cracking. With the use of these information an overall systematization has been set up by the bandsaw blade cracking types and its root causes. The main place of the failure is the weld and the heat-affected zone's area where the welding can failure or the lack of toughness can produce cracking. An other zone, where cracking may appear is the bandsaw blade's tooth gullet because it raises the stress intensity factor. Special material testing methods have been made to investigate the tooth gullet's notch sensitivity from the test results that a comparison of several bandsaw blade base material, are reviewed. With the use of the results a notch sensitivity rating system has been worked out, which can be used to rate different handsaw blade base material's notch sensitivity.