Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | Jan 30, 2005 06:24pm | #1

   Thanks..  I never heard of that... I will look into..

2. 
   forestgirl | Jan 30, 2005 09:32pm | #2

   I haven't read "the other thread" but just to bring up the contrarian view, there are plenty o' folk who don't use or believe in needing a 1" blade for resawing, not even a 3/4" blade. 

   As to radius, given the price of carbide-tipped blades, I'd be nervous about cutting shapes with one at risk of bending the blade.  According to my radius chart, a 3/4" blade will cut a 5-7/16" radius in 1" stock.  What are you trying to do with yours?

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
   Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   Jellyrug | Jan 31, 2005 08:15am | #4

   Forest,

   I use a 1" Lenox carbide blade for re-sawing and sometimes if I have just one piece to re-saw and I'm too lazy to do a blade change, I will re-saw with a 1/2 carbon steel blade.

   The 1" leaves more blade marks, giving a rougher surface, but it cuts at four times the speed and is much more accurate, which becomes important when you re-saw above 8" and you are trying to cut real thin veneer.

2. 
   user-5880422 | Jan 31, 2005 07:10pm | #5

   there are plenty o' folk who don't use or believe in needing a 1" blade for resawing, not even a 3/4" blade. 

   possibly because most people use a 3/4" blade on bandsaw that can't adequately tension it and does not have enough power to drive it. Having used narrow blades and wide blades on a variety of bandsaws, I can say that the results you get with a 1+ inch blade on a well powered bandsaw will far exceed anything you could hope for on a 14" bandsaw lugging a sub 3/4" blade. 

3. 
   billsams | Jan 31, 2005 02:39am | #3

   Will,
   I have a 1/2" carbide which I use for resawing, cutting curves, ripping, joinery tenon cuts, many uses. The 1/2 works great for resawing up to about 8". I do believe that having a 3/4" blade for resawing 8" and taller with the increased beam strength will give you a better cut. I think 1" is overkill, but that is only my opinion.

   When necessary I switch over to 1/4 bi-metal for cutting tighter radius'
   Bill

4. 
   Jimma | Jan 31, 2005 10:03pm | #6

   Just yesterday I tried cutting a circle using a one-inch carbide tip blade (a Laguna) with the work piece fastened to my circle-cutting jig and it didn't work. It wouldn't track, just bowed away from the work, whereas it worked fine for straight-line cuts. Maybe the carbide isn't shaped right or have enough set to cut circles. This was a 13-inch diameter bowl blank.

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 01, 2005 06:05am | #9

   I know for sure that you guys are way smarter than I am, and way, way more experienced with bandsaws, but why are you trying to cut such small radii with these big blades?  A 13" bowl blank has a radius of 6.5", significantly tighter than the 7-1/8" indicated below for a 1" blade.

   Maybe my dumbness and ignorance keeps me out of trouble, since it forces me to refer to instructions, LOL.  At the bottom is a small copy of the chart in my blade catalog.  If you click on this link, you'll find a bigger, more legible copy.

   View Image

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

   Edited 1/31/2005 11:28 pm ET by forestgirl

1. 
   highfigh | Feb 01, 2005 06:49am | #10

   Thanks for the chart. I think that the blade thickness is being ignored here. Stress cracks in the gullets indicates trying to bend a hardened steel band around a radius that's too small. The blade will coil up in a small circle when it's not in tension but once it's on the saw, that minimum radius changes.
   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 01, 2005 07:42am | #11

   Hi again.  My earlier post was related to the radius of the circle being attempted.  Your response prompted me to pull out my Timber Wolf catalog and look at the "Did you know" info.  He discusses fatigue in band saw blades (both "regular" band saws and the band "mill" blades).  Here's a partial quote.  Complete section including optimum S.F.P.M. recommendations and other info can be seen on this page.  The specs don't specifically match what you guys are discussing, but I'd think the info might be useful nonetheless.

   "Fatigue Ratio of a Band Saw Blade: The stress being applied to the blade body; due to wheel diameter, blade length, thickness, speed (surface feet per minute-S.F.P.M.) and tension.

   "Blade Body life diminishes rapidly when put into any one or more of the stressful situations listed above. You will find some stress built into the band saw by the manufacturer, either by mistake or by design. 

   "Band Saw Mills running 1 1/4" and larger blades by .042 thick on wheel diameters smaller than 19" will also experience decreased blade body life (flex life) due to the smaller wheels. The blade as it travels around the wheel is compressed on the inside of the body, which is closest to the wheel and stretched on the outside of the body. Blades are designed to absorb repeated compression and expansion of the body as long as the compression and expansion does not exceed the steel’s capabilities. Small band saw wheels exceed the steel’s capabilities. Two wheel machines, with smaller than 14" wheels, using 1/8" to 3/4" blades will encounter 20% to 50% less blade life. With machines 14" and larger, you will see blade life increase proportionally. You will encounter decreased blade life with any three-wheel band saw even if the wheels are larger than 14"."

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   Jimma | Feb 01, 2005 04:33pm | #13

   Good point, but I did not experience blade failure -- just "cut failure". It may be the flip side of the radius issue, however, in that rotating the bowl blank (which was already roughly cut into a circle by chain saw) against the one-inch blade did approximately exceed the limit shown in the chart. In other words, I won't try this again!

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 01, 2005 07:22pm | #14

   "Cut failure" is no fun either, LOL. 

   With a blade as wide as 1", I'd think you'd want to stay well on the safe side of that chart.  Not something I have to worry about <g> since my saw would quake in its boots at the sight of a 1" blade.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   Jimma | Feb 01, 2005 08:29pm | #15

   One night I came into the shop unannounced and heard that bandsaw groan,"Oh,no. Not that again!)

2. 
   forestgirl | Feb 01, 2005 10:42pm | #16

   Too funny!  My router's been saying that lately, and "Can't you get it right, Lady?!"forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

3. 
   tms | Feb 01, 2005 11:19pm | #17

   Hey Jamie,Let that thing know who's boss, or it'll try and snatch the work from your hands.Tom

4. 
   forestgirl | Feb 02, 2005 05:10am | #18

   As long as it doesn't try to snatch my hands from the work, LOL!  BTW, I returned to Seattle today, picked up a scraping set (scraper, burnisher, mill file) at Rockler; bushings set for template routering, cool blocks, nice grinding wheel and misc. at Woodcraft.  Took a look at the Rikon bandsaw while I was there.

   OK, this hi-jacker's bowing out.  See ya!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

5. 
   jcousins | Jan 31, 2005 11:20pm | #7

   i had gotten a 1" lennox carbide with the mm16 - which snapped after a few months - there were lots of fractures radiating out of the gullets. then i bought a 1/2 lennox carbide from iturra designs - he warned me that lennox had resolved the steel snapping on the smaller diameter bs's (less than 20") - but they were not replacing xisting stock - so it was a crap shoot if what i would buy would be the old stuff or the new - i did go ahead and get one - and indeed it broke twice - each time returned to lennox - they repaired it and then replaced it - this one must be the right one - cause it has not broken.
   i understand that all stock has been upgraded now - but give louis iturra a call -= he's in florida - he knows bs's - but no web site - company name is iturra design.

   jerry

6. 
   Jimma | Feb 01, 2005 12:18am | #8

   Yes, I've read that the 14-inch saw has too tight a radius for a wide blade, but didn't know that applied to the carbide-tipped ones in particlular. Mine is a 16-inch Laguna. I got several carbide-tipped blades when I bought the saw about six years ago because I had in mind doing a lot of resawing (the Laguna will saw up to 12 inches). In practice these blades have not been satisfactory for cutting thin (1/16 or less) veneer because they leave a rough -- and sometimes bowed -- cut. Lately I've been cutting thin pieces with a 3/4 inch Timberwoof blade, but only dry wood. The carbide blades (I have both 3/4 and one inch) are great for cutting wet wood, but the one-inch is a pain in the butt to put on and take off the saw because all the guides have to be totally reset and that takes about half an hour. I used to have a 14-inch saw and could do good work with regular blades, but the resaw capacity was too limiting for me. The problem with bowed cuts is related to the amount of tension you can get and this is tough to get on even a 16-inch saw. I haven't tried other brands of carbide, but for now I'm unconvinced they are really needed for typical shop use. Good lick!

7. 
   Jimma | Feb 01, 2005 04:22pm | #12

   I don't know who made them. They were from Lagina and the carbide was called "stellite".