Rikon 10-305 complaining a bit at thicker basswood blocks

[James Nugnes]

I know that there is a lotta' knowledge here about the Rikon 10-305. Bought mine mainly off the stuff I read here. Use mine to make woodcarving blanks and have the Carter scroll attachment on it and an Olson 1/4" x 70.5", 4 TPI blade. The 4 TPI is about the only Olsen Flex back I can find for it any longer. Not sure if the blade type is an issue.

As my carving expertise has gotten better I have found myself using thicker blocks of basswood as my subject matter has just grown in that direction.

Anyway, I have just started to cut on some 3" basswood and I notice the little guy is struggling a bit with it. Granted it is a little band saw. Heck these little guys just barely deserve to be called band saws. But I was a little surprised that it is groaning a bit at 3" basswood. Cuts cross grain easily enough but anything angle on to the grain or with the grain is something of a struggle for it.

Just for clarification purposes, it seems to cut through 3" tupelo easily enough but tupelo is way less dense than basswood. Does not have much trouble with 2" basswood. Fight it a little but not so as you would care that much. But it does not seem to like 3" basswood much.

Is it just time for a new blade maybe? I put a new blade on last summer and I do a lot of woodcarving. So while it does not get tons of work since it is only used for one thing....i have probably cut out about 60-70 blanks since changing the blade. I also cut the blanks pretty close to the pattern on the band saw so 60-70 blanks is more cutting than it might seem.

Anyway, what do you guys think....just time to change the blade? I do wonder if it would be happier with more teeth per inch. First Olsen I put on it was more like 1/8", 14 TPI and while 1/8" seemed a bit light I don't wonder that it would be happier with more teeth. Maybe time to change the blade and change the blade type. Please let me now what you guys think.

[Jim Finn]

Cutting with the grain (re-sawing) requires LESS teeth per inch. Getting the sawdust out of the cut is the issue as you cut thicker wood. Three teeth per inch would work well. I re-saw with 5/8" three TPI carbide bandsaw blade.

[James Nugnes]

I very well may be right. Logical response. I don't think Olsen makes a 70.5"bandsaw blade like that. Can you tell me the maker? I will go buy one pronto.

Thanks for the advice.

[Tony Joyce]

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

http://www.toolcenter.com/070_5_Band_saw_Blades.html (http://www.supercutbandsaw.com/carbon.html)

[Ronald Blue]

Peachtree has what you need. just add the 3 w's to this link. ptreeusa.com/olson_allPro.htm

[James Nugnes]

Well there are not many companies making band saw blades that will fit the small Rikon (70.5"). Woodcraft does not even carry a 70.5" saw blade any longer, at least on line. However while I could not find Carbide, I did find Olson Flex back 3 tpi, 3/8". 70.5" saw blades. Could not believe my luck as it appears anything around 0.25" at 70.5" long at .25 gauge is getting harder and harder to find. I really never liked the 1/8" saw blades. So I will be able to replace the 4 tpi with the 3 tpi. . I am hoping there will not be any performance issues with the 3/8" width blade. The saw will take up to 1/2". While 3/8" is not out of spec, I wish I could have found 3 tpi at 1/4". We shall see how it works.

[Gus Dundon]

You can start by searching "custom weld band saw blades" .

[Roger Pozzi]

Here's how I get mine, local store stocks them and they are available online.
http://www.woodcraft.com/category/4/1004065/1002125/Bandsaw%20Blades.aspx?Length=70-1/2%22

[glenn bradley]

Well there are not many companies making band saw blades that will fit the small Rikon (70.5").

Finding blades of nearly ANY length is a non-issue. I don't htink I have ever ued a pre-made blade. There are many locations to get blades made to order and this is the bulk of bandsaw blade purchases I would imagine. Suffolk Machinery (Timberwolf), Highland Woodworking, bandsawbladesdirect and many more are out there. I just googled 'bandsaw blades' and got plenty of responses. Don't make it hard on yourself; just order what you need ;-)

P.s. I would run a 2-3 skip for anything over about 5" but, everyone has a favorite.

[Steve Menendez]

sawbladeexpress.com is another good source. Most of their blades are cut and welded to order, except for some popular "stock" sizes.

When the blades are cut and welded by a U.S. supplier, they are generally ready to ship in a very short period of time.

If you are told that it will be weeks for a custom blade, that's a pretty good sign that the blades are coming from out of the country.

Steve.

[Myk Rian]

Don't bother with carbide with that little saw. It won't tension it properly.
SuperCut are good blades.

[James Nugnes]

While I knew custom blades were out there, I just never thought to consider them for this little band saw. But I guess if these Olson get tougher and tougher to find, that might be the way to go. I will check to see how long it takes to get one. I now have two of these 3 tpi blades on the way and I had a spare four tpi just sitting there. Guess I am set for now as long as the 3 tpi blades do the job. Be interesting to see how much of a dif a 3 skip makes vs a 4 skip. I agree that the likely culprit is the amount of material building up between the teeth of the 4 tpi.

[Curt Harms]

While I knew custom blades were out there, I just never thought to consider them for this little band saw. But I guess if these Olson get tougher and tougher to find, that might be the way to go. I will check to see how long it takes to get one. I now have two of these 3 tpi blades on the way and I had a spare four tpi just sitting there. Guess I am set for now as long as the 3 tpi blades do the job. Be interesting to see how much of a dif a 3 skip makes vs a 4 skip. I agree that the likely culprit is the amount of material building up between the teeth of the 4 tpi.

I use & like the supercut blades. There are many sources of any-length-you-need bandsaw blades. A couple other suppliers that get consistently good reviews are Iturra & woodcraftbands.com. Supercut & woodcraftbands(not associated with the Woodcraft stores) do little except bandsaw blades so they should be better versed than a more generalized supplier. Supercut claims to make their own blades, woodcraftbands uses Lenox stock I believe. Iturra is considered by many to be THE small bandsaw guru. Iturra doesn't have a web site but a google search should turn up contact into.