Band Saw Frustration And Seeking Blade Recommendati

[algale]

I don't think a 5/8" blade is too much for the SS band saw but that is a different conversation. SS does sell a 5/8" blade for re-sawing.

I think what happens is that blades get dull slowly over a long period of time and we get used to the change without noticing it. So we just keep using them. It is not like they are great one day and crap the next day.

When the SS traveling academy was here in Salt Lake a few months ago Mike Young addressed just that problem. He had had the same blade on his band saw for ever that he uses at the Lowes demos where he free hands the flowers and Cabriolet legs etc. I don't remember why he said he bought a new blade but he said it was like night and day. He actually had the old blade there and put it on and let us cut with it and a new blade to see the difference.

I think it is an interesting discussion. SS does indeed sell a 5/8ths blade and I think some may have used one successfully; I did initially.

But the introduction of a 5/8ths blade for the SS band saw clearly post-dates the design of the band saw. Old manuals for the band saw don't list a 5/8ths blade and then there is the tension gauge, which is calibrated only to go up to 1/2 inch and SS recommends using the 1/2 setting for the 5/8ths blade.

Another thing I noticed is the lack of adequate clearance between the back of a 5/8ths blade and the guide block assembly casting. Ideally you want to adjust the guide blocks or cool blocks right up to the bottoms of the gullets of the blade. But if you try to bring the guide blocks up to bottoms of the gullets of a 5/8ths blade, the casting that holds the blocks will hit the back of the blade before the blocks ever arrive at the bottoms of the gullets.

So I'd say a 5/8ths blade is definitely adaptable to the SS band saw but it may not be an ideal match. The question is, what advantages does a 5/8ths blade offer over a 1/2 blade when resawing up to the 6" capacity of the SS band saw?

[jsburger]

I don't think a 5/8" blade is too much for the SS band saw but that is a different conversation. SS does sell a 5/8" blade for re-sawing.

I think what happens is that blades get dull slowly over a long period of time and we get used to the change without noticing it. So we just keep using them. It is not like they are great one day and crap the next day.

When the SS traveling academy was here in Salt Lake a few months ago Mike Young addressed just that problem. He had had the same blade on his band saw for ever that he uses at the Lowes demos where he free hands the flowers and Cabriolet legs etc. I don't remember why he said he bought a new blade but he said it was like night and day. He actually had the old blade there and put it on and let us cut with it and a new blade to see the difference.

I think it is an interesting discussion. SS does indeed sell a 5/8ths blade and I think some may have used one successfully; I did initially.

But the introduction of a 5/8ths blade for the SS band saw clearly post-dates the design of the band saw. Old manuals for the band saw don't list a 5/8ths blade and then there is the tension gauge, which is calibrated only to go up to 1/2 inch and SS recommends using the 1/2 setting for the 5/8ths blade.

Another thing I noticed is the lack of adequate clearance between the back of a 5/8ths blade and the guide block assembly casting. Ideally you want to adjust the guide blocks or cool blocks right up to the bottoms of the gullets of the blade. But if you try to bring the guide blocks up to bottoms of the gullets of a 5/8ths blade, the casting that holds the blocks will hit the back of the blade before the blocks ever arrive at the bottoms of the gullets.

So I'd say a 5/8ths blade is definitely adaptable to the SS band saw but it may not be an ideal match. The question is, what advantages does a 5/8ths blade offer over a 1/2 blade when resawing up to the 6" capacity of the SS band saw?

First, the difference between a 5/8" blade and a 1/2" blade is negligible in my opinion. I have a wood slicer and a Timber Wolf 1/2" re-saw blade. The Timber Wolf is every bit as good as the highly hyped wood slicer at half the price.

Cool blocks for re-sawing? I don't think so. At 6" the blade will want to wander. If the wood wants the blade to twist what is going to stop it with cool blocks? The blade will twist and cut into the cool blocks since they are soft. With the steel guides all you get is friction and heat build up that can ruin the blade. Carter roller guides are the only way to go in my opinion.

As far as bringing the guide blocks up to the bottom of the gullets, I don't know. I have had Carter roller guide on my band saw since they first came out. I wouldn't think a 1/16"+- would make any real difference.

Does anyone out there know of a 12" or over band saw that does not have roller guides? OOps, maybe Harbor Freight.

[reible]

I've used other blades but I've had really good luck with the woodslicer and I've stopped testing other blades. Most of my use has been on my other bandsaw with carter guides so when I went to get blades for my shopsmith I went to the same blades I have liked before. I get the timberwolf blades for all but two appications, the wet wood blade and the resaw blade.

I have noticed the Infinity now has a line of bandsaw blades so it is possible I might get one of theirs at some point since I've been so happy with other blades from them.

My shopsmith has the upgraded bearings and I went with ceramic blade guides. I have seen no reason to think about any improvements at this point. The carter guides are nice and were a big improvement to my old bandsaw but I do not see any advantage over what the shopsmith is equipped with now.

I do plan to get a carter mag II fence that I will be able to use on both saws, maybe next month since I've splurged on a router already this month.

Ed

[MaxClass]

First post for me.

I recently purchased a 5/8" blade from SS. After installing the blade and doing a complete aligning the blade runs so true that I have been able to re-saw .125 planks from a 3/4" x 6" piece of Sapele which is a very hard wood with almost no perceptible variation in thickness over the full length. It is for the sides of a Guitar.

My Bandsaw has the steel table and I simply clamp a fence to it for re-sawing and the fence is set parallel to the blade and I get no twist at all.

Tension is set to just above the 1/2" blade setting.

My take on the problems in the thread is that the alignment of the entire Bandsaw needs to be reset from the get go. Once aligned it should be fine as in my case. Only other problem might be a bad blade join. Taking the blade off and laying in on a flat surface to see if it lays flat should show any problems with the blade itself.

Not sure this is of any help.

[dusty]

I have two bandsaws. One of them is relied upon for resawing. That bandsaw is equipped with a 5/8" Woodslicer. I am not saying that there are no others but for me the Woodslicer is the blade to use. No matter what blade is used, normal Shopsmith bandsaw alignments must be made as carefully and accurately as possible.

SIDE NOTE: If there is something wrong with your bandsaw, be it the blade of guides out of alignment, it will have some negative effect of performance. Resawing is not the only task that is adversly effected. Old (dull) blades is my most frequent cause for performance issues with the bandsaw. I am frugile and I do not like to throw away a saw blade.

[algale]

I have two bandsaws. One of them is relied upon for resawing. That bandsaw is equipped with a 5/8" Woodslicer. I am not saying that there are no others but for me the Woodslicer is the blade to use. No matter what blade is used, normal Shopsmith bandsaw alignments must be made as carefully and accurately as possible.

SIDE NOTE: If there is something wrong with your bandsaw, be it the blade of guides out of alignment, it will have some negative effect of performance. Resawing is not the only task that is adversly effected. Old (dull) blades is my most frequent cause for performance issues with the bandsaw. I am frugile and I do not like to throw away a saw blade.

Check that blade dimension when you are back in the shop. Wood Slicer only sells 1/2 blades in the 72" length.

[dusty]

I have two bandsaws. One of them is relied upon for resawing. That bandsaw is equipped with a 5/8" Woodslicer. I am not saying that there are no others but for me the Woodslicer is the blade to use. No matter what blade is used, normal Shopsmith bandsaw alignments must be made as carefully and accurately as possible.

SIDE NOTE: If there is something wrong with your bandsaw, be it the blade of guides out of alignment, it will have some negative effect of performance. Resawing is not the only task that is adversly effected. Old (dull) blades is my most frequent cause for performance issues with the bandsaw. I am frugile and I do not like to throw away a saw blade.

Check that blade dimension when you are back in the shop. Wood Slicer only sells 1/2 blades in the 72" length.

Yup, you got me there. I'll try to blame this on being locked out of the shop.

Went to pass postings (when I bought the blade) to convince myself.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewt ... er#p126589

[charlese]

Cool blocks for re-sawing? I don't think so. At 6" the blade will want to wander. If the wood wants the blade to twist what is going to stop it with cool blocks? The blade will twist and cut into the cool blocks since they are soft. With the steel guides all you get is friction and heat build up that can ruin the blade. Carter roller guides are the only way to go in my opinion.

Got a disagreement here, John. I have successfully used cool blocks for tight curves (using a 1/16" blade) and also straight re-saw jobs.

Although the cool blocks must be re-surfaced to a squared contact surface, they will stay square when running along the sides of any larger blade. Oh yeah!, if there is a raised weld on any wider blade, it must be smoothed to avoid any "clunking" as the weld passes the blocks.

The best thing about cool blocks is their ability to lubricate the saw blade.

Once again, if the cool blocks are squared properly, there is no issue for their use with wider blades.

[jsburger]

Cool blocks for re-sawing? I don't think so. At 6" the blade will want to wander. If the wood wants the blade to twist what is going to stop it with cool blocks? The blade will twist and cut into the cool blocks since they are soft. With the steel guides all you get is friction and heat build up that can ruin the blade. Carter roller guides are the only way to go in my opinion.

Got a disagreement here, John. I have successfully used cool blocks for tight curves (using a 1/16" blade) and also straight re-saw jobs.

Although the cool blocks must be re-surfaced to a squared contact surface, they will stay square when running along the sides of any larger blade. Oh yeah!, if there is a raised weld on any wider blade, it must be smoothed to avoid any "clunking" as the weld passes the blocks.

The best thing about cool blocks is their ability to lubricate the saw blade.

Once again, if the cool blocks are squared properly, there is no issue for their use with wider blades.

As I remember (could be wrong as I often am) one of the things touted about cool blocks is you can bury the teeth in the blocks which gives added support to the business side of the blade. The only problem is the teeth cut into the blocks so the support diminishes. As you said, the ends can be dressed but who wants to do that every few times the band saw is used?

I certainly think with a 1/16" blade totally buried in the cool blocks they will allow the blade to twist to follow tight curves since the teeth cut into the blocks. The twist is good with a 1/16" blade following tight curves. Carter makes a guide to replace the SS upper guides to allow tight curves with narrow blades. It allows the blade to twist to follow tight curves.

For re-sawing, yes if you don't bury the teeth in the blocks they will not ware much. Lube from the blocks is a plus if it really occurs. Maybe just less friction, don't know.

Roller guides don't require "lube" so that is a wash.

I don't really disagree with your observations. I guess I would categorize cool blocks as a cheap alternative to roller guides. Nothing really wrong with that if it work for you.

[charlese]

Agree, John! Whatever works - - keep doing it

That"s me - frugal