Bandsaw Issue

[Robert Mullins]

Last year I bought a really nice 17" Grizzly Bandsaw. I bought a resaw blade for about $17. I used it off and on last year, however I noticed it did not cut very fast despite the aggressive tooth. I chalked it up to the fact that it was a cheap blade.

I just recently bought a Timber Wolf resaw blade. It cut amazingly for about 15 minutes, then I noticed that it started really bogging down, and burning the wood a lot. In fact wood smoke comes out of my bandsaw at this point, especially when cutting very thick pieces.

I bought the band saw specifically so I could cut big chunks of green wood, resawing. I think my problem is that since the wood I am cutting is green that debri is filling the hook teeth but I am not sure. Can anyone help me out with this?

After doing a little troubleshooting, I thought maybe I had just forced the wood too much and since I was resawing logs freehand I had most likely bound up the blade too much which caused abnormal build-up of resin which had burned onto my blade.

After spending the last two hours scraping the junk off the blade, I ran a test cut of green hickory about 5 inches thick, and while it did cut a little better, the buildup started occuring again, and there were scorch marks on the wood.

So I decided to try a 5 inch piece of dry cedar. The cedar started smoking quite a bit after cutting about an inch. The blade is a brand new 131 1/2 inch Timber Wolf 1" resaw blade with 3 tpi. I'm starting to get a little frustrated with this, so any help anyone could provide would be GREATLY appreciated.

(I posted this on the woodwhisperer forum as well, but it seems that not many have much bandsaw experience, or I am not doing a very good job at explaining my problem.)

[Robert Mullins]

I just did a little reading and the blade I bought was:

131-1/2" X 1" X .035" X 3 TPI Pos Claw Bandsaw Blade

Ithink maybe I should be using the 'AS' series instead? Here is the description I found at;

http://pswood.com/home.php?cat=47

Does anyone have any experience cutting large hunks/slabs of green hardwood such as hickory and oak on a bandsaw?

If anyone wants to follow the original post here is the link:
http://www.woodwhispererforum.com/showthread.php?t=1308
I hate to post that here, but I am a bit on the desperate side. :(

[David Christopher]

Robert, I have had blades that would cut on and on and once and a while get one out of the box that wouldnt cut but one board. I normally use timberwolf because of price and quality but I got the resaw king and it is awsome. expensive but awsome

http://www.lagunatools.com/images/nlt316.jpg

[Brian Kent]

When I got my Timberwolf blades they specifically asked me on the phone if was going to cut any wet or green wood. They have a completely different blade for that.

[Gregory Stahl]

I have had similiar experiences with Timberwolf blades. I'm now using a Resaw King and Lenox blades.

-Greg Stahl

[Phil Thien]

I have had blades that seemed to go dull very quickly. My one and only Timberwolf seemed to do this.

I sharpen my blades with a Dremel and diamond bit. I just loop under the gullet and don't bother with the face. They get sharper than factory. They don't stay sharp any longer than originally, as the longevity seems to be an issue with tooth hardness. But it doesn't take long and gives great results.

The Blade Runners from Iturra (same stock as WoodSlicer from Highland but less expensive) seem to stay sharp much longer than that Timberwolf blade did.

[Robert Mullins]

I seem to be getting that alot, that is the idea that TW is not that great of a blade, or at least that it just does not stay sharp for very long. In addition, I found that the blade I am using is really not useful for resawing big chunks of green wood, but rather resawing flat planks. Interestingly enough, when I resaw pieces that are at the 2"-2.5" in thickness it does just fine. As stated before, the saw blade is a 'pos' and according to my searching I should be using TW's AS series for green wood.

Now that I have read all of your responses, (and they have been IMMENSLY helpful) I am thinking about not using TW at all. So far I have had these recommendations;

Laguna resaw king
Lennok
Bladerunner
Woodslicer

I will start shopping around for a good fit. I know I am going to get numerous answers as everyone has their own style and preferences, but if anyone has the time, and can shorten my search a little as far as cutting up big chunks of green hard wood I would welcome the suggestions.

Thanks again for all the help. You guys are the best!

[Chris Padilla]

Robert,

That would be Lenox (not Lennok).

Lenox makes great bandsaw blades. So far, I'm having great results with my Trimaster and Diemaster2, both made by Lenox.

The Trimaster is a 1" blade, 1/16" kerf, 2/3 variable tpi, carbide tipped
The Diemaster2 is a 1/2" blade, 0.035" kerf, 6 tpi, bimetal

I've used both for resawing thin veneers from dry wood.

I also have a Lenox Woodmaster CT that I'm not terribly impressed by for resawing veneers. It is a 1" blade, 0.051" kerf, 1.3 tpi, carbide tipped.

I think it might be better on green wood due to the large gullet and tooth space. It simply left too rough a surface for my liking.

[Lee Schierer]

I just did a little reading and the blade I bought was:

131-1/2" X 1" X .035" X 3 TPI Pos Claw Bandsaw Blade

Ithink maybe I should be using the 'AS' series instead? Here is the description I found at;

http://pswood.com/home.php?cat=47

Does anyone have any experience cutting large hunks/slabs of green hardwood such as hickory and oak on a bandsaw?

If anyone wants to follow the original post here is the link:
http://www.woodwhispererforum.com/showthread.php?t=1308
I hate to post that here, but I am a bit on the desperate side. :(

Did you call Timberwolf?? The folks at Suffolk Machine are very friendly and helpful in my experience. I would call and ask them what they think.

One other thing to try is make sure your belt is tight between your motor and saw. After a year of using my 14" delta I was having trouble resawing. I finally checked the belt tension and it was quite loose. After properly adjusting the belt, it walks through cuts that used to burn and stall with the same exact blade.

[John Thompson]

I found that the blade I am using is really not useful for resawing big chunks of green wood, but rather resawing flat planks.

So far I have had these recommendations;

Laguna resaw king
Lennok
Bladerunner
Woodslicer

I will start shopping around for a good fit. I know I am going to get numerous answers as everyone has their own style and preferences, but if anyone has the time, and can shorten my search a little as far as cutting up big chunks of green hard wood I would welcome the suggestions.

Thanks again for all the help. You guys are the best![/quote]

The Woodslicer is not made to cut green.. wet wood. Highland wll tell you that if you call them. They have a special wet wood blade which is 3/8" they had made just for wet wood and turners re-sawing blanks. It is around $15 I think.

The Bladerunner is the Ittura equivalent of the Woodslicer which I used for many years before swithching to Lennox bi-metal blades which stay sharper about 6-7 times longer for about $10-$15 a blade. I have not used the Re-Saw king but it is carbide which requires a lot of tension.. cost a lot but stays sharper about 15 times longer. I cannot saw how that blade does with green, wet wood?

Sarge..