Broke my Resaw King

[Dave Cav]

About 2 1/2 years ago I got a Lugana Resaw King on a SMC special deal for $75 for my Grizzly G0513X. No problems at all until today when I broke it resawing some 12" spalted maple. It's also got a kink in it, so welding is probably out. The list price for this blade is now $228. I haven't emailed Laguna to see if the old SMC deal is still in effect, but I kind of doubt it.

Can anyone suggest a 3/4 to 1" resaw blade that won't break the bank? Carbide would be nice, but I don't know if I want to pay for another carbide blade right now.

Thanks

[Sam Joyce]

Im running a 1" Woodmaster B on my 513 and like it a lot. Its 1.3 tpi and just eats wood. i think it comes in 2 as well which would still be a fast cut but likely a bit smoother in all respects.

[Dave Cav]

Thanks; where do you get yours?

[David Kumm]

Keep in mind that the RK runs a .024" band vs the .035" on the Lenox. Might be more than your saw can handle. Be sure to not compress the spring or you will continue to break carbide blades before they dull. Dave

[Jack Wilson]

I am running a Wood Slicer from Highland Woodworking, $45 I think. I am VERY happy with the performance. I have a Grizzly G0513, 17" saw.

[Julie Moriarty]

I bought my 131" Lenox Woodmaster CT (1.3TPI, 1") for $130 from BandsawBladesDirect.com. The same blade in carbon steel would have been $21.48.

[Sam Joyce]

Ive seen them available from the place Julie mentioned and Spectrum Supply, which is where I got mine. The cost is only slightly more then a Woodslicer but being bi metal will last a lot longer. I have used the Woodslicer too and while the geometry of the teeth make it a very smooth cutter Ive found longevity to be consistently lacking.

I make sure to always detension the saw when I done; being on the smaller side, keeping the blade tensioned would likely lead to early fatigue on 17" wheels

[Tom Scott]

I did a similar thing last year and kinked my TriMaster, which I loved using. Looking for a cheaper alternative I went with the Lenox Woodmaster CT (1", 2 TPI) for a considerable savings. I can't say it's as good as the Trimaster, but it is really good.
Another option for purchasing is www.industrialblade.net (http://www.industrialblade.net) . Not much of a website, but you can call or e-mail and they respond very quickly. They were about $40 cheaper, shipped quickly and great to work with.

[Dave Cav]

I bought my 131" Lenox Woodmaster CT (1.3TPI, 1") for $130 from BandsawBladesDirect.com. The same blade in carbon steel would have been $21.48.
The do seem to have good pricing, and I was all set to buy a couple of the carbon steel blades to get me through until I figure out what to do next. When I got to check out I found the shipping was going to be over $20, which I think is a little excessive....

[Bill ThompsonNM]

The do seem to have good pricing, and I was all set to buy a couple of the carbon steel blades to get me through until I figure out what to do next. When I got to check out I found the shipping was going to be over $20, which I think is a little excessive....
That's what I thought the first time I went to their website. I ended up ordering from Toolcenter.com, shipping was only $7.95 per order so I bought 3 blades for my Inca saw for $65 (including two bimetallic Lenox). Good place for custom sized Lenox blades

[Tony Shea]

Keep in mind that the RK runs a .024" band vs the .035" on the Lenox. Might be more than your saw can handle. Be sure to not compress the spring or you will continue to break carbide blades before they dull. Dave

What do you mean by compressing the spring? I am extremely new to bandsaws, just received my 17" G0513XB a few weeks back and love the saw. One of the blades I got for it is the Lenox Woodmaster B HSS resaw blade. This thing is larger than I expected and can be a pain to get on and off the saw. I really have to shorten the distance between the wheels for all my Lenox 131.5" blades compared to the stock blade that came on the saw. My tension meter doesn't even end up registering on any tension setting by the time I think I have plenty of tension on the saw. But they still seem to work very well, especially the Woodmaster B. But it is a thick blade and I get concerned about it being too much blade for the saw. I always un-tension the saw when Im done sawing with any of my blades.

[Curt Harms]

These guys have bimetal blades up to 1.25". Their .75" is .035" thick and 3 T.P.I. Bimetal seems like kind of a sweet spot considering price/cut quality/longevity but I haven't used 'em.

http://www.supercutbandsaw.com/bimetal.html

I am using their premium gold .5" blades and am happy with them. The cut quality is not table saw smooth but only needs one pass thru the drum sander. They also make thin kerf resaw blades in 5/8" & 1", Your saw might tension a 1" .025" if you're so inclined. Thin kerf usually means not much set so the finish might be smoother. I'm tempted to try the 5/8" next time I need a bandsaw blade. Plus they're in your part of the world so shipping should be quick.

[David Weaver]

If I recall correctly, those RK blades were .035" kerf, like the lenox blades, and that was the reason they were selling them so inexpensively, as laguna had gone to pitching the think kerf RK blades.

At the time, i had bought the thin kerf, and the thin kerf blades were still much closer to full price than the full kerf that was being offered here for $75. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Given my experience with a dud of a think kerf RK, even if the full kerf didn't work at all, I'd still be in the same place and I'd have an extra hundred bucks.

At any rate, unless they have something else they want to clear out, it's probably unlikely that we'll see anything similar to $75 again.

[Chris Padilla]

I'd recommend a Lenox Diemaster2. The one I use on my MM20 for resawing is 1/2" wide, 6 tpi, hook style. It is a bimetal blade...kerf is something like 35 mil. I also have a Trimaster and Woodmaster CT...love my Trimaster (never cut the same after I kinked it and had it fixed) and did not have a good experience with the CT.

[Dave Cav]

I took my broken blade to Eastside Saw in Bellevue, the go-to saw shop in the Puget Sound area. They declined to weld it, as they said it would just break very soon at the kink, and they could never get all the kink out. We discussed other options, and it turns out they had some 11 foot Lennox blades in stock (my saw takes 10', 11 1/2" blades) that they said should work. I got two Lennox 2/3 tooth QXT bimetal blades for about $35 each. I got home and installed one on the saw and after readjusting the top adjustment stop on the upper wheel I got it tensioned up and cut some wood. So far, so good, I cut a couple of 1/16" flitches from the same spalted maple as before and it cut very straight and pretty smooth. I miked it and it was +/- about .005 over the area of the flitch (about 8 x 12"). We'll see how it holds up in the long run, but it looks good so far.

[Sam Murdoch]

If I recall correctly, those RK blades were .035" kerf, like the lenox blades, and that was the reason they were selling them so inexpensively, as laguna had gone to pitching the think kerf RK blades.

At the time, i had bought the thin kerf, and the thin kerf blades were still much closer to full price than the full kerf that was being offered here for $75. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Given my experience with a dud of a think kerf RK, even if the full kerf didn't work at all, I'd still be in the same place and I'd have an extra hundred bucks.

At any rate, unless they have something else they want to clear out, it's probably unlikely that we'll see anything similar to $75 again.

Here are the current specs on the Laguna Resaw King blades 3/4" , 1" and 1-1/4"



Backing: .024" - .6mm
Pitch: 12mm, 14mm, 16mm
T.P.I. 2-3 Variable
Kerf: .041" - 1.0mm
Priced at $ 1.73 per inch

[Dave Cav]

If I recall correctly, those RK blades were .035" kerf, like the lenox blades, and that was the reason they were selling them so inexpensively, as laguna had gone to pitching the think kerf RK blades.


At any rate, unless they have something else they want to clear out, it's probably unlikely that we'll see anything similar to $75 again.

Yes, my 2 1/2 year old RK was .035". And I agree we won't be seeing deals like that again. Laguna is ignoring my email. Still I got a couple of years out of the blade so it doesn't owe me anything and it looks like the Lennox blades I got are going to work fine.

Now I need to come up with a use for a broken Resaw King. The saw shop suggested having my students make bow or frame saws out of it. Awesome idea; I can hardly wait to post them on the Neander forum. Carbide frame saws...