Carbide resaw blade for Shop Fox W1729

[Jonathan Spool]

I have a Shop Fox W1729 Bandsaw. At 2 HP I find it somewhat underpowered when resawing hardwoods 6" to 12" thick. I looked into switching to a Grizzly 3HP motor as the Grizzly 19" bandsaw is 3hp compared to the Shop Fox 2Hp, but tech support from "both" companies wouldn't confirm their compatability.
Another solution that was recommended to me was to use a 1 1/4" carbide blade.
I would appreciate others experience with carbide resaw blades, and better yet, if anyone has used the 1 1/4" blade on their W1729.
I am curious to know whether the better blade will make the 2HP I have sufficient for tall stock., or should I persue fitting a bigger motor?
Thanks

[Chris Padilla]

Find a better blade first...before messing with motors.

Is the SF W1729 a 17" bandsaw? If so, I wouldn't use a blade that wide on it. 1", IMO, should be your max. I have a 20" bandsaw and would not use anything wider than 1".

I have two recommendations for you:

Lenox Trimaster with the 2-3 var pitch tpi. This is a 1" carbide blade, 1/16" kerf, but is pricey per foot...but most love it and leave it on their saw permanently.

Lenox Diemaster2: 1/2" bimetal, 6 tpi, hook style, 0.035" kerf. This is about 20% the cost of the Trimaster.

I've used both satisfactorily resawing veneers (walnut).

Other good resaw blades: Laguna's Resaw Master, Highland's Woodslicer, Ittura's Bladerunner.

Lottsa folks like Timberwolf blades (Suffolk Machinery) but I didn't think they were any big deal for me.

[Doug Shepard]

...
Lenox Diemaster2: 1/2" bimetal, 6 tpi, hook style, 0.035" kerf. This is about 20% the cost of the Trimaster.
...


Do they make that one in a lower TPI? 6 seems like it would be too many teeth for resawing, at least on the 6-12" stuff.

[Chris Padilla]

Do they make that one in a lower TPI? 6 seems like it would be too many teeth for resawing, at least on the 6-12" stuff.

I think so, Doug. It is my personal opinion that this is very close to the same blade that David Marks uses to slice veneers on Woodworks. I know for sure that he likes to use 6 tpi for cleaner cuts.

I was slicing up 12" wide walnut with this blade...worked great for me.

[Jonathan Spool]

Thanks Chris,
The W1729 is a 19" saw. I was going to go with a 1 1/4" blade as the saw is supposedly rated for blades up to that width, and I've always assumed that the wider blade would minimize drift. I've only used up to 3/4" timberwolf blades up until now, and the 3/4" blade custs straighter than a 1/2" blade. I looked up the Trimaster blades, and you are correct! A 143" blade is quite spendy, however, so is the wood I am cutting, so if I can get straighter, truer, smoother, cuts, I'll probably make that up in no time if it performs as well as I would hope.
I see you are working primarilly with walnut. Have you experience with thick maple or oak? What HP saw are you using?

[Chris Padilla]

Wider blades do not necessarily reduce drift. In fact, I think drift can be dialed right out of your bandsaw with proper setup.

Set up of the bandsaw and technique will get you the most mileage out of getting better cuts on a bandsaw. A better blade can help.

I believe the motor on my MM20 is 4.8 hp. I have only resawn wide (10-12") walnut so far in my short resawing career. I will be doing maple soon in those kind of widths but I have cut 3-4-5" maple, oak, poplar, and many others....