Bandsaw Revisited

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:58 pm

I've decided to try again to make friends with my band saw. One thing I have learned thru my fumblings is that band saw blades have to be "out of the box" sharp to perform satisfactorily on hardwoods, especially woods like mesquite, jatoba', cocobolo, et al . Also, they will go dull pretty quickly on these woods and begin to drift all over the place. My conclusion has been to buy cheap blades and throw them out without hesitation, as opposed to buying "better", more expensive, blades that don't last 3x longer given the 3x price tag. For example, I bought a Highland Hardware Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade for $30 plus shipping, and it didn't last any longer than the Olson Flexback I bought on sale at Woodcraft for $10.

Which brings me to my inquiry:

I noticed today that there are 2 (at least) manufacturers making carbide tipped band saw blades that will fit Shopsmith. Lenox makes a Lenox Tri-Master Carbide-Tipped 1/2 inch Bandsaw Blade which runs about $100, and Magnate ( http://www.magnate.net/index.cfm?event= ... theID=1438 ) make one that runs about $93 (1/2" 3 tooth rake cut.)

Has anyone used one of these? Does it outlast a plain old flexback by 9-10X? Can it be resharpened? At what cost?

I'm anxious to hear your thoughts, because I'm excited to buy one of these.

Thanks

Jerome

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 5:37 am

gr8mesquite wrote:I've decided to try again to make friends with my band saw. One thing I have learned thru my fumblings is that band saw blades have to be "out of the box" sharp to perform satisfactorily on hardwoods, especially woods like mesquite, jatoba', cocobolo, et al . Also, they will go dull pretty quickly on these woods and begin to drift all over the place. My conclusion has been to buy cheap blades and throw them out without hesitation, as opposed to buying "better", more expensive, blades that don't last 3x longer given the 3x price tag. For example, I bought a Highland Hardware Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade for $30 plus shipping, and it didn't last any longer than the Olson Flexback I bought on sale at Woodcraft for $10.

Which brings me to my inquiry:

I noticed today that there are 2 (at least) manufacturers making carbide tipped band saw blades that will fit Shopsmith. Lenox makes a Lenox Tri-Master Carbide-Tipped 1/2 inch Bandsaw Blade which runs about $100, and Magnate ( http://www.magnate.net/index.cfm?event=showProductGroup&theID=1438 ) make one that runs about $93 (1/2" 3 tooth rake cut.)

Has anyone used one of these? Does it outlast a plain old flexback by 9-10X? Can it be resharpened? At what cost?

I'm anxious to hear your thoughts, because I'm excited to buy one of these.

Thanks

Jerome

I suspect that since you are anxious, you ought to go get one each of those and perform a comparative analysis. Waiting for one of us might be a long wait.

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:39 pm

Well, I've answered on of my questions. I contacted customer service at Magnate about resharpening, and Rick Waddell over there responded this morning that they will resharpen, with a price of $20.58 each (plus shipping of course.) That's good news indeed.

Jerome

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 3:56 pm

gr8mesquite wrote:I've decided to try again to make friends with my band saw. One thing I have learned thru my fumblings is that band saw blades have to be "out of the box" sharp to perform satisfactorily on hardwoods, especially woods like mesquite, jatoba', cocobolo, et al . A...

Jerome

Seems to me if you are using "standard" blades on extraordinary materials you are not using the right tool.
The cost of the blade is probably proportional to the cost of the material, too. So I would consider the purchase of the Super Blade to be justified for the Super materials. The bottom line is the finished product, no? Despite the expense incurred in producing it?

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:47 pm

[ATTACH]23034[/ATTACH]
Well, the wisdom seemed to be to bite the bullet and buy one. It came today and I'm psyched to use it, but first a little tune up and realignment so as not to be disappointed from the get go.

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 8:05 pm

[ATTACH]23038[/ATTACH]

I did my maintenance and mounted the blade today. Yikes...it's like cutting butter with a hot knife. I had a block of oak, and I moved the fence as close as possible to the blade. I thought I was cutting a piece of pine. I don't know if you can see it, but the 2 veneers are really thin and bendable. The surface is pretty smooth, but would need finish sanding if I were using it. I'm impressed so far.

Jerome

algale · Post by **algale** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 11:46 pm

gr8mesquite wrote:[ATTACH]23038[/ATTACH]

I did my maintenance and mounted the blade today. Yikes...it's like cutting butter with a hot knife. I had a block of oak, and I moved the fence as close as possible to the blade. I thought I was cutting a piece of pine. I don't know if you can see it, but the 2 veneers are really thin and bendable. The surface is pretty smooth, but would need finish sanding if I were using it. I'm impressed so far.

Jerome

Very nice! Will be interesting to see if it stays sharper longer. Let us know.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:25 pm

So! Howcum no drift?:D

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:38 am

JPG40504 wrote:So! How cum no drift?:D

Don't know if you're kidding, but it was uncanny. I just set up the fence and cut--no drift alignment. I could stand to square the blade and fence a little better, but no drift.

Jerome

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:10 am

gr8mesquite wrote:Don't know if you're kidding, but it was uncanny. I just set up the fence and cut--no drift alignment. I could stand to square the blade and fence a little better, but no drift.

Jerome

Actually I was commenting on the apparent lack of it.

I am biased in that I consider much 'drift' to be caused by alignment.(not all, just much of it)

Annnnd the lack of a need to push aggressively when feeding.