Carbide Bandsaw Blades

[kevin nee]

Hello, I went to a friends shop and cut up some material (thick oak burl) and was blown away by the way it went right thru the 6 to10 inch material. It also delivered a beautiful cut surface. No drift or burning, just a no nonsense quality cut. Now I will be getting a carbide tipped bandsaw blade. He bought the saw used and the blade came with it. I am looking to get one for my 18 inch jet bandsaw and am looking for suggestions on brand names, tooth count and blade width.
Thanks in advance, Kevin

[Mike Cutler]

Kevin

1st question is what are looking to do with it?
I have a 1", Lennox 2/3 vari-pitch TriMaster blade on my 18" Rikon. The saw and blade are specifically setup for re-sawing on this saw. The quality and consistency of the cut is very, very, good. I don't think you can go wrong with Lennox

[Jim Finn]

I use "Supercut" carbide impregnated blades to re-saw 8" cedar, walnut and maple. These blades do not last forever but much better than any, steel only, blades I have tried. I use a 1/2" 3 TPI blade for my 14" saw and the cost is under $29 the last time I bought some.

[Tim Bridge]

I have the Laguna Resaw King blade on my 18” saw.
Cuts like budda :D

[John K Jordan]

I have the Laguna Resaw King blade on my 18” saw.
Cuts like budda :D

Thick green wood or dry wood?

JKJ

[Darcy Warner]

A carbide band is over 300 bucks for my large saws. I cut a lot of curved parts and carbide won't work for that.

Bimetals are nice for when I cut lots of tropical wood.

[John TenEyck]

Lennox Woodmaster CT 1" x 1.3 tpi on my 17" Grizzly. It cuts exceptionally smooth; perhaps not quite as smoothly as the Trimaster, but a whole bunch faster. It was about $150 for a 162" blade which is pretty cheap for what it does and how long it will do it.

John

[Bruce Page]

1” Lenox tri-master 3 tpi. It’s the only carbide bandsaw blade I have used but it cuts just like your friends.

[Andrew Hughes]

Looks like Lennox is offering a low priced Resaw blade. The Woodmaster Gt I might get one i like have a good carbon steel blade esp one that can be resharpened without a heavy burr left behind. I haven't been happy with any of the bimetal blades after they are back from sharpening service.:(

[Derek Cohen]

I have a Hammer N4400, which is a 17 1/2" wheel. For resawing I use a 1" Lenox Woodmaster CT. The finished cut is not as smooth as a Trimaster, but it does cut quickly. What I would emphasise is that these are thick and stiff blades. They require an awful lot of tensioning. When I replace the existing blade, I plan to do so with a 3/4" - I believe that will still cut as straight, but it will require less tension, and this will improve the quality of the cut. Bottom line: ensure your bandsaw can manage the tensioning needed for a carbide blade. The Resaw King is a thinner blade and requires less tension than the Lenox blades.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Rick Alexander]

I have the Lennox vari-pitch TriMaster 1 inch on my 19 inch Grizzly and yes it cuts great. When it finally wears out I'm thinking I'm just going back to 3/4 standard resaw blade. Not worth the money to me plus changing that >$300 blade is nerve racking and a pain in the batookie because you're so nervous about breaking teeth. A well set-up/adjusted saw will re-saw just fine to me without all that expense. Either one of the results off them have to make a trip to the drum sander either way so I'm not convinced it's worth the expense.

[Ted Phillips]

I love the performance of the Lennox TriMaster carbide blades as well. However, I have broken the last two I owned (at over $100 apiece) after only a couple of months' service. I'm going back to trimetal blades.

[Bill Adamsen]

I have been using the Lennox 16’ 9” x 1” x .035” x 1.3 tpi woodmaster ct on my 28" Centauro. It works very well. I usually buy the next blade when I mount a new one, and they last about a year for me. As others have mentioned, the cut left, often (typically?) requires clean up ... but I have been successful using it for veneers with a touchup on the wide belt sander.

[jerry cousins]

have settled on using a 1" resaw king - cuts great - and can be sharpened at least 2 times - i think it costs $40. a few years ago a new one snapped and laguna repaired it with no charge.
using it on a mm16
jerry

[Derek Cohen]

Jerry's post reminded me to comment on sharpening. I sharpen my bandsaw blades with a diamond disk in a Dremel - just stroke the back of the blade. I do not touch the face or the gullet.

The Lenox carbide blades are not meant to be sharpened, or at best the factory can do them once. The Resaw King is said to be able to be sharpened 5 times, and also only by the factory.

So far I have sharpened my Lenox Woodmaster twice. I did this before reading that they cannot be sharpened! Of course, I though I had stuffed up the blade, although it was still sawing. Perhaps all I had left was just the carbon steel, and the "tiny" carbide tips were history. So I had a close look at the teeth, and took a photo ...

https://s19.postimg.org/4hdp92k5f/image.jpg

The carbide tips look good for a few more sharpenings.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John K Jordan]

...I sharpen my bandsaw blades with a diamond disk in a Dremel - just stroke the back of the blade. I do not touch the face or the gullet....

That's good to know. I sharpen all my steel bandsaw blades with the Dremel (using the same method) but hadn't heard of anyone sharpening the carbide blades.

JKJ

[John TenEyck]

have settled on using a 1" resaw king - cuts great - and can be sharpened at least 2 times - i think it costs $40. a few years ago a new one snapped and laguna repaired it with no charge.
using it on a mm16
jerry



A Resaw King for $40? Where?

John

[Nick Decker]

Probably $40 for resharpening.

[John TenEyck]

Ahh, yes, of course. Thanks.

John

[Morey St. Denis]

My opinion is those Lenox and most other brands of Carbide tipped bandsaw blades were initially intended largely for specialized industrial metal cutting. The Laguna Resaw King alone appears uniquely engineered specifically for woodworkers. Believe the recent Jet woodworking bandsaws presently utilize steel frames, but likely bear cast aluminum wheels on your 18" size. I concur with Derek, that you'll need to pay particular attention to the requirement for adequately tensioning the various CT blades for best performance.

2nd Derek's: "Emphasis that these are thick and stiff blades. They require a considerable level of tensioning." "Ensure your bandsaw can manage the tensioning needed for an industrial carbide blade."; but "That the Resaw King is a thinner blade and requires less tension than the Lenox blades."

Use of conventional resaw blades can demand up to 48% more spring force from your saw's mechanism and structural frame to equivalently tension the Lenox CT, Tri-Master or other conventional CT brands at identical width. Increased tension force is entirely due to differing thickness of the "backing" band that carries those carbide teeth.

I can offer a brief summary of features you'll likely want to consider carefully in reaching a decision on your first carbide tipped resaw blade:

Laguna Resaw King uses a backing band thickness only 2/3 that of all other conventional CT blades. Precise figures on band thickness are 0.6mm or 0.024" as compared to the nearly full millimeter or 0.035" & 0.042" found with others. A 2/3 thickness factor allows not more than 2/3 the spring force to achieve any targeted band tension loading expressed as normalized tensile stress units of psi.

Saw kerf (material wasted) typically is nearly 1/16" (1.3mm or 0.051" with Lenox) while kerf width for the RK is only about a millimeter or 0.041", fully 24% to 34% less material wasted! While resawing often demands greater power output due to typically taller cuts involved; you can anticipate up to 1/3 better pacing out of your existing motor when the blade is wasting that much less material. Believe you may have mentioned Oak and other burlwoods? Applies equally to all valuable or exotic hardwoods you might have occasion to resaw. Waste less, consume/spend proportionately less on extensive resaw projects...

Another great benefit of reduced backing band thickness over every other resaw blade marketed is in lower bending stress repeatedly imposed on the band, twice every cycle; especially that singular weld joint, and at each tooth's brazed carbide juncture to the band. Keep in mind that the calculation of imposed bending stress is a Non-linear equation with regard to thickness. Stiffness and therefore bending stress actually is an inverse exponential function relating exclusively to band thickness! Peak bending stress imposed on any band conforming to smaller tire diameters is exponentially higher; so a simple reduction by 1/3 in the band thickness typically relieves stiffness, power loss and peak band stress by half! This may likely explain Ted's premature failures with the Lenox product... Some will have no doubt noted that higher performance resaw blades are not generally recommended for use on tires under 16" diameter; though not much concern for your saw's 18" wheels.

It has been observed with large multiples of uniformly spaced teeth engaged in resawing often results in perturbed harmonic vibrations that can adversely affect noise level, surface quality, and sometimes further the need for secondary smoothness processing or planing after resaw. Variable tooth spacing goes a long way toward dampening this unfortunate occurrence. 2-3 TPI variable pitch spacing comes standard with all Resaw King configurations, a feature not available with more general purpose blade designs. Lenox Tri-Master reportedly affords their vari-tooth feaure only on blade widths of 1.0" and above while with the WoodMaster CT it's only found at 2" widths or greater for large band saw mills.

The engineering behind Resaw King clearly points to it being optimized for use in exotic and other valuable hardwoods; RK can accommodate marginal band saws as small as 14" and typical resaw blade widths of 1/2", 3/4", 1" and greater.

Reviewing the above mechanical considerations unique to resawing has led me to decide upon Resaw King blades as the best choice for my 17" resaw machine. Likely a number of people will no doubt report they are happily getting away with certain subtle misapplications in their resawing equipment, but there's little sense in aiming toward a situation where you'd attempt to cheat the clever mathematics and material science properly applied to our craft.

[John Lanciani]

My opinion is those Lenox and most other brands of Carbide tipped bandsaw blades were initially intended largely for specialized industrial metal cutting. The Laguna Resaw King alone appears uniquely engineered specifically for woodworkers. Believe the recent Jet woodworking bandsaws presently utilize steel frames, but likely bear cast aluminum wheels on your 18" size. I concur with Derek, that you'll need to pay particular attention to the requirement for adequately tensioning the various CT blades for best performance.

2nd Derek's: "Emphasis that these are thick and stiff blades. They require a considerable level of tensioning." "Ensure your bandsaw can manage the tensioning needed for an industrial carbide blade."; but "That the Resaw King is a thinner blade and requires less tension than the Lenox blades."

Use of conventional resaw blades can demand up to 48% more spring force from your saw's mechanism and structural frame to equivalently tension the Lenox CT, Tri-Master or other conventional CT brands at identical width. Increased tension force is entirely due to differing thickness of the "backing" band that carries those carbide teeth.

I can offer a brief summary of features you'll likely want to consider carefully in reaching a decision on your first carbide tipped resaw blade:

Laguna Resaw King uses a backing band thickness only 2/3 that of all other conventional CT blades. Precise figures on band thickness are 0.6mm or 0.024" as compared to the nearly full millimeter or 0.035" & 0.042" found with others. A 2/3 thickness factor allows not more than 2/3 the spring force to achieve any targeted band tension loading expressed as normalized tensile stress units of psi.

Saw kerf (material wasted) typically is nearly 1/16" (1.3mm or 0.051" with Lenox) while kerf width for the RK is only about a millimeter or 0.041", fully 24% to 34% less material wasted! While resawing often demands greater power output due to typically taller cuts involved; you can anticipate up to 1/3 better pacing out of your existing motor when the blade is wasting that much less material. Believe you may have mentioned Oak and other burlwoods? Applies equally to all valuable or exotic hardwoods you might have occasion to resaw. Waste less, consume/spend proportionately less on extensive resaw projects...

Another great benefit of reduced backing band thickness over every other resaw blade marketed is in lower bending stress repeatedly imposed on the band, twice every cycle; especially that singular weld joint, and at each tooth's brazed carbide juncture to the band. Keep in mind that the calculation of imposed bending stress is a Non-linear equation with regard to thickness. Stiffness and therefore bending stress actually is an inverse exponential function relating exclusively to band thickness! Peak bending stress imposed on any band conforming to smaller tire diameters is exponentially higher; so a simple reduction by 1/3 in the band thickness typically relieves stiffness, power loss and peak band stress by half! This may likely explain Ted's premature failures with the Lenox product... Some will have no doubt noted that higher performance resaw blades are not generally recommended for use on tires under 16" diameter; though not much concern for your saw's 18" wheels.

It has been observed with large multiples of uniformly spaced teeth engaged in resawing often results in perturbed harmonic vibrations that can adversely affect noise level, surface quality, and sometimes further the need for secondary smoothness processing or planing after resaw. Variable tooth spacing goes a long way toward dampening this unfortunate occurrence. 2-3 TPI variable pitch spacing comes standard with all Resaw King configurations, a feature not available with more general purpose blade designs. Lenox Tri-Master reportedly affords their vari-tooth feaure only on blade widths of 1.0" and above while with the WoodMaster CT it's only found at 2" widths or greater for large band saw mills.

The engineering behind Resaw King clearly points to it being optimized for use in exotic and other valuable hardwoods; RK can accommodate marginal band saws as small as 14" and typical resaw blade widths of 1/2", 3/4", 1" and greater.

Reviewing the above mechanical considerations unique to resawing has led me to decide upon Resaw King blades as the best choice for my 17" resaw machine. Likely a number of people will no doubt report they are happily getting away with certain subtle misapplications in their resawing equipment, but there's little sense in aiming toward a situation where you'd attempt to cheat the clever mathematics and material science properly applied to our craft.

Sounds a little like a sales pitch, have you ever used a trimaster Morey? I had a resaw master and a trimaster (in the “reportedly” available 2/3 TPI varipitch) in my shop at the same time. The resaw master went away and the trimaster earned a place in my shop due to the consistent and repeatable results that I achieved with it as well as its durability. The .01” extra kerf thickness is offset by the ability to take veneer directly from the saw to the veneer press without needing to clean up the back side of the veneer before glueup.

[Geoff Crimmins]

What's the model and age of Jet Bandsaw? What size is the motor? Keep in mind that a thicker, wider blade is much harder for the bandsaw to tension, and requires much more energy just to spin the blade. I have an older Jet 18" bandsaw with a 1-1/2 hp motor on it. It does fine with a 1/2" 3tpi carbon blade, but expect that it would break before it could properly tension a carbide blade. I expect that the current Jet 18" bandsaw would be much better, but you'd still have to choose your blade carefully. What bandsaw does your friend have?

--Geoff

[kevin nee]

My Jet is the older (early 90s) $900 new 1 1/2 hp, my friends bandsaw is a Rikon 10-345 2.5 hp
i have been using the Highland Woodworking Woodturners Blades that cut very fast and I could buy 8 of these for the price of carbide. Not as straight of cut. I am always impressed by higher quality tools when I use them personally. I started using Ridge Carbide table saw & mitre saw blades about 5 years ago and feel there is quite a difference there.

[John TenEyck]

You will need lots of patience cutting thick stock only having a 1.5 HP motor. If you want carbide the thinner Resaw King is likely the best option. As for width and tooth count, I'd start by looking up the max. width Jet says you can put on your saw and then go one size narrower; so if it says it can use a 1" wide blade I would not use anything wider than 3/4". That way you stand a good chance of being able to put enough tension on it to cut straight. Carbide blades need more tension than plain steel, 25 - 30K psi. Tooth count, the fewer the better for speedy resawing but there will be limitations the narrower the blade. You mentioned the price of carbide being 8X steel blades. Maybe, but they last 10X longer and can be resharpened, making them the lower cost alternative unless it breaks or you trash it.

John

[John K Jordan]

You will need lots of patience cutting thick stock only having a 1.5 HP motor. ..

Yikes, I must have been blessed with lots of patience. For years I used a older 28-216 Delta with a riser block. I don't know the HP but it plugged into 115v. I regularly cut up to 12" thick green log sections for turning and a fair amount of thick dry wood. Once my buddy and I resawed a 12' long 2x12 douglas fir board into four thin boards straight enough to easily plane them on one side. I remember those three resaw cuts taking a long time but I didn't think it was unreasonable. I did put on a new blade first and had just aligned and tuned the saw as per Duginske. Maybe it's just what you get used to. Perhaps it would frustrate me horribly now since I've gotten used to a more powerful saw.

JKJ

[John TenEyck]

Yikes, I must have been blessed with lots of patience. For years I used a older 28-216 Delta with a riser block. I don't know the HP but it plugged into 115v. I regularly cut up to 12" thick green log sections for turning and a fair amount of thick dry wood. Once my buddy and I resawed a 12' long 2x12 douglas fir board into four thin boards straight enough to easily plane them on one side. I remember those three resaw cuts taking a long time but I didn't think it was unreasonable. I did put on a new blade first and had just aligned and tuned the saw as per Duginske. Maybe it's just what you get used to. Perhaps it would frustrate me horribly now since I've gotten used to a more powerful saw.

JKJ


Yes, you were blessed with lots of patience. I, too, had and still have a 14" Delta with riser and I cut a lot of 10"+ veneer with it, slowly, very slowly. I have a 1.5 HP motor on it, and use a 1/2", 3 tpi blade. After deciding I want to build a lot more veneered projects than I would ever have years left to do with that saw I bought a Grizzly G0636X with a 5 HP motor. That's the saw I have the 1"x, 1.3 tpi Woodmaster CT on. Lets just say the speed difference exceeds an order of magnitude. The Grizzly/Woodmaster CT combo will literally cut 12" veneer as fast as you can push the stock through it, and it comes out straight, smooth, and of consistent thickness, every time. I still use the Delta for lots of things, but not cutting veneer or resawing.

John

[Geoff Crimmins]

My Jet is the older (early 90s) $900 new 1 1/2 hp, my friends bandsaw is a Rikon 10-345 2.5 hp
i have been using the Highland Woodworking Woodturners Blades that cut very fast and I could buy 8 of these for the price of carbide. Not as straight of cut. I am .

That sounds like the same Jet bandsaw I have, and I'm not convinced that it can properly tension most carbide blades. If I was going to try it, I would try the 1/2" 3-4tip Resaw King blade and see how it works. Based on my experience with a few different bandsaws, I think your friend's saw cuts like butter because of the larger motor. My friend's bandsaw with a 4hp motor cuts like that with a 3/8" 4tpi carbon steel blade. I think the nice smooth cut is a result of the carbide blade, though.

--Geoff

[Brian Holcombe]

I use a CT master, I’m under the impression that they cannot be resharpened, is this not the case? They’re good blades but cutting white oak veneer for a kitchen has caused me to use them up faster than preferred.

[Andrew Hughes]

I use a CT master, I’m under the impression that they cannot be resharpened, is this not the case? They’re good blades but cutting white oak veneer for a kitchen has caused me to use them up faster than preferred.
Ive had my Woodmaster ct sharpened by Daily saw service they are out here in California I remember the blade cuting very close to new. The blade was used to Resaw birch plywood so I thought it was worth it. I also remember that blade having a great weld.
It's hard to throw out a blade with a great weld.

[Brian Holcombe]

Sounds good, I guess I should stop throwing them out then. :D

[Nick Decker]

I'll toss in my experience, should it be of interest to someone using the same saw as me - the Rikon 14" 10-326.

For resawing, I've been using the Kerfmaster 1/2" .022, 3/4 tpi, AKA the Highland Woodslicer, with excellent results. I use the Spectrum Supply version, for obvious cost reasons. Usually resawing 8" - 10" walnut, oak, cherry, sometimes hard maple.

I decided to try the Tri-Master carbide 1/2" .025 3 tpi blade, thinking that it would wear longer and, well, because I just can't leave well enough alone. :)

The Tri-Master arrived today and I've just tried it on a couple of boards, cherry and maple. Had to fiddle with things a bit to get it to track well, something that's never been a problem with the Kerfmaster. I was able to tension it enough, I think, although the spring wasn't bottomed out. It was MUCH tighter than I usually run the Kerfmaster, almost no deflection when pushing the blade sideways. No idea what that translates into for PSI.

The cut was quite a bit rougher, a little slower, and a little louder. The cutting speed and noise aren't really a big deal to me, but the rougher cut means more sanding. Guess I'll go back to the Kerfmaster.