3/4 or 1/2" blade for Grizzley G0555X bandsaw

[Tim Null]

My new Go555X arrives on Friday. I have been using a 1/2" woodslicer on a 14" Rigid. Works great, no complaints. But I am doing more resawing and need more power and capacity.

The new saw will have a 105" blade after installing the riser block. Question: 1/2 or 3/4?

[Kev Godwin]

Tim,
I have the younger brother to the BS you mentioned and I do a modest amount of resawing on my G0555. I've found the most important factor in resawing to be the # of teeth per inch as opposed to the blade width. I get very slightly better results on my BS with a 3/4" blade at 3 or 4 TPI compared to a 1/2" blade. However, with my BS being less in HP than the one you have coming, using a 1/2" blade for me offers less drag when resawing.

The greatest benefit in any resaw situation is to round the back of the blade with a grinding stone for smooth slabs of wood.;)
Kev

[Jason Hanko]

I have the G0555, and from my (extensive) reading around here on SMC, I think the general consensus is that a 3/4'' blade may be a bit much for a 14'' BS like ours to tension despite what the advertising/specs say.
That said, there are many others here who say they have no problem tensioning a 3/4'' blade on their 14'' saw and they are probably correct.
Myself - I played it safe and ordered a 1/2" Timberwolf. Glad I did because my tensioning spring is almost completely compressed when I mount up that 1/2'' blade. Havent had any problems re-sawing yet. One of these days I may just replace the stock spring and see if that makes a difference.

[david kramer]

My new Go555X arrives on Friday. I have been using a 1/2" woodslicer on a 14" Rigid. Works great, no complaints. But I am doing more resawing and need more power and capacity.

The new saw will have a 105" blade after installing the riser block. Question: 1/2 or 3/4?

Tim,

I have the same saw, and I'm very happy with it. I recently wrote a summary of my experiences of a 3/4" timberwolf vs 1/2" woodslicer here http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1143961#post1143961

Incidentally, after installing the riser, watch out for the part where you install the new, longer post. There's a point at which they warn you about losing "small parts". You're almost certainly going to run into this. The parts are a ball bearing and a spring and they're likely to go bouncing every which way. Try to avoid losing them :). I think that the way to avoid this is to back off the set screw, but this is easier to show than explain here. If the set screw is not obvious, just do the job over a box or something and you'll be fine.

David

[Cody Colston]

I think a 3/4" blade is too much to tension properly on a 14" saw and especially after adding a riser block. That increases the saw's capacity but does not increase the HP or the frame's strength.

I have the GO513 (17") Grizzly and have not noticed much difference in re-saw quality using a 3/4" vs 1/2" 3-tpi blade.

[Brett Clark]

+1...The ball and spring went flying when I took out the original post. Then I looked at the instructions :rolleyes: (You're supposed to slide in the new post while sliding out the old post.) The spring and ball are easy to put back in once you find them in two or three days.


Tim,

Incidentally, after installing the riser, watch out for the part where you install the new, longer post. There's a point at which they warn you about losing "small parts". You're almost certainly going to run into this. The parts are a ball bearing and a spring and they're likely to go bouncing every which way. Try to avoid losing them :). I think that the way to avoid this is to back off the set screw, but this is easier to show than explain here. If the set screw is not obvious, just do the job over a box or something and you'll be fine.

David