Replies

1. 
   mikeinohio | Oct 01, 2021 07:55pm | #1

   I have a Grizzly G0513 that's 10 years old and has served me well. I use it for ripping rough stock and for resawing. I keep an inexpensive (less than $20) 1/2" 3 TPI blade on it. It has never given me what I'd consider a smooth cut - nowhere near as clean as a table saw. Definitely not a glue-ready edge.

   I always do additional machining after the bandsaw cuts.

   If others have different experiences, I look forward to reading about them.

   Mike

2. 
   bobr2 | Oct 01, 2021 08:23pm | #2

   I've never gotten a "smooth" cut on a bandsaw that is as smooth as a tablesaw. I typically have a Timberwolf 1/2" 3 TPI blade installed. I have a Jet 14" bandsaw. I generally cut things slight oversize to allow for smoothing the cut edge. I use it mostly for resawing or making "stop" cuts where I don't want to cut all the way through.

3. 
   elmaduro | Oct 01, 2021 10:28pm | #3

   I’ve always gone from the Bandsaw to either the Jointer, Tablesaw, or Jackplane to get that smooth glue-line edge.

4. 
   bilyo | Oct 01, 2021 11:19pm | #4

   I've seen relatively smooth cuts made with very large machines using very wide blades. With the machines most of us use, about the only way to get smoother cuts is to use finer toothed blades. However, there is a limit to how fine you can go and still have it cut a given thickness. I think that expecting a smooth cut from a band saw is expecting too much.

5. 
   rob_ss | Oct 02, 2021 03:10am | #5

   There's a fair bit of luck involved.
   About the only thing you can do beyond setup is make sure that the feed rate is consistent and slow.
   Some timbers cut more smoothly than others too - to an extent it will depend on the grain direction as well.
   Even with everything perfect, it is very rare to get a cut as good as with a dovetail saw or table saw.
   It would be interesting to consider whether better blade guides would help here - most guides don't really prevent the blade from flexing - I wonder if doubling the guide rollers, using wider bearings or carefully setting tension to avoid resonance make any difference?

6. 
   john_c2 | Oct 02, 2021 04:49am | #6

   The first thing I'd do is try a different blade. But smooth is subjective. Can you show us a picture of a cut edge?

7. 
   Rob_Sp | Oct 02, 2021 06:08am | #7

   This blade from Highland would be worth a try:

   https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodslicer-resaw-bandsaw-blades.aspx

   https://www.finewoodworking.com/2004/04/01/12-in-bandsaw-blade-wood-slicer-review

8. 
   gulfstar | Oct 02, 2021 08:16am | #8

   I get smooth cuts using a one inch wide resaw king carbide tipped blade . I also pay attention in setting the guide perfectly parallel to the blade by stoping the cut partway in a piece of scrap wood and ensuring that the rear of the blade sits in the middle of the kerf.

9. 
   user-7630268 | Oct 02, 2021 09:09am | #9

   IMO smoothness of cut is the result of blade dimension, type of cut, lumber, and technique. Saw "setup" generally deals with square, parallel, and perpendicular. May I suggest you checkout Alex Snodgrass on YouTube. Michael Fortune presents some interesting opinions regarding bandsaws here on FWW.

10. 
    EdWeber | Oct 02, 2021 01:25pm | #10

    Before I even attempt an answer, what are you cutting? What wood and how thick. Also what does "smooth" mean to you?

11. 
    gulfstar | Oct 02, 2021 01:52pm | #11

    I have resawn everything from Cedar to Ipe up to 14 inches thick in 1/4 inch slices and they all come up equal.

12. 
    jharveyb | Oct 15, 2021 10:35pm | #12

    It is significant that the only person who gets a clean cut is using a carbide tipped blade. Other blades have the teeth set alternately (or in threes, with one unset) which means each set tooth cuts a triangular notch in the wood. The carbide teeth are wider than the band, and provide the kerf clearance. Even at that, unless your blade guides are almost perfectly snug, the blade can move sideways a slight bit or twist in the guides.
    For those who read this and use regular steel blades, I saw a youtube video on why to sharpen your new bandsaw blades. The guy set up a weight and pulley to feed wood thru his band saw, and installed a new name brand blade. He fed a board thru it and it took about 27 seconds to cut. Then he sharpened the new blade, and it took about 9 seconds. I had never been happy with the blades I bought for my 36" bandsaw (and with an 18'7" length, they were not cheap.) When I looked at the blades, the teeth had been formed (probably by grinding) and then the teeth were set, and nothing more was done. When I sharpened them (from a very long ago FWW article) they worked far better than new. When I learned to sharpen rip hand saws, I learned to shape the teeth, set the teeth, and then sharpen the teeth so that the tips of the teeth were level (perpendicular to the body of the saw), not angled alternately as the band saw blades were after being set.

13. 
    dougseagrim | Oct 16, 2021 12:14pm | #13

    The key word in all this discussion is CARBIDE. I have not used a regular steel bandsaw blade for many years. I use a 3/8 blade for most cuts and they are good. An added advantage is because the teeth are wider than the band you can cut a tighter radius curve with a wider blade which is more stable than narrower blades because more of the blade is in the guides.

14. 
    hoovermd | Oct 16, 2021 11:37pm | #14

    IMHO, it all begins and ends with blades.
    Other have intimated this also. Here is a hard maple sawn edge from my 16" saw using a 1" 1 1/2 TPI carbide blade.
    It may be hard to tell how smooth this is but it is pretty close to my tablesaw. This was fed at about 1" per second or so.

    I did notice a significant improvement when I added a little more tension on the blade,. I have an SCM saw and don't know what units of force the scale means but going from 20 20 25 improved the quality of the cut a noticeable amount.