Laguna Resaw King On cast iron bandsaw

[George Waldener]

I have a new 14" Grizzly cast iron saw with riser. I will be using it only for ripping, resawing, tenon cheeks, etc. and keeping the same blade on there all the time. I saw that the carbide tipped Resaw King is available in 1/2 wide, .022 band thickness. Would the saw be able to tension that blade? I have had good results with a Woodslicer clone on my other Jet 14", so should I stay with Woodslicer? Thanks for your thoughts.

[Dick Mahany]

I do not know if the 1/2" blade will be better than the 3/4" blade but I had two very bad experiences with the 3/4" Resaw King on a 14" cast Delta with riser. Initially the blade cut beautifully and it left incredibly smooth finishes when slicing hardwood for veneer. It eventually dulled and I sent it to Laguna for resharpening. At first it cut almost better than new and I was blown away. Then after only approximately 2 hrs of use, it suddenly broke while cutting a fairly small piece. Upon inspection, I noticed a stress micro crack on every 3rd gullet ( the smallest gullet with the pronounced dip at the bottom) of the variable pitched blade. I contacted Laguna and asked them if it had those cracks when they received it for sharpening. They didn't know, but said the blade should have been inspected prior to sharpening.

They said it appeared to have been over tensioned. That surprised me as so many have claimed the 14" cast saws can't tension that blade sufficiently. In any event, Laguna sold me a second blade at a discount. That blade also failed on fairly short order from the same micro cracks. My saw has the Carter Cobra Coil and quick tension release which I typically always use. I switched to the Lennox Trimaster and have never had the same problem with that blade.

I have read that the 14" wheels simply have too small a radius to handle that blade, and wonder if that is why I had several fail. I really liked the RK blade, but those failures were an expensive lesson that I'll not repeat.

Perhaps those with more experience can chime in on whether a 1/2" version would be better.

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399086

[John TenEyck]

I think Dick is right; 14" wheels are too small for a carbide tipped band, even one only 0.022" thick. The process of brazing the tips on puts stress in the band, which can lead to cracks after it is run around a small wheel for awhile. My friend broke two carbide tipped blades on his 14" Delta in short order. Of course, the higher the tension the faster it will happen, but there is no way a 14" CI saw can put much tension on a 1/2" blade, much less too much tension. My 14" Delta can't get more than 18K psi on a 1/2 x 0.025" blade with a fully compressed Iturra spring on it, and I wouldn't run it that way. For actual use it runs about 12 ksi. Most carbide tipped blades are meant to be run at at least 2X that tension, 24 - 30 ksi.

I'm surprised you haven't had a similar problem with the Trimaster. Hopefully, it will give you good service. Just recognize that you can't get enough tension on it to really take advantage of what it has to offer. If it does break early you might consider a bi-metal blade to get longer life than a Woodslicer but rougher surface finish. Of course, if you plan to slice much veneer you might want to consider moving up to a saw more suitable for that task. I cut quite a lot of veneer on my 14" Delta but finally bought a larger, steel frame saw with a much larger motor. I still have the Delta but would never cut veneer on it now.

John

[Van Huskey]

There is a lot to address here, first to the basic question from the OP, no the 14" cast Delta clones can not tension even a thin backer 1/2" RK to the tension it operates best at, maybe 50% at best and than you are stressing the upper wheel hinge which is the weak point of that saw.

Second, fatigue cracks aren't really due to it being carbide tipped. Any blade with a similar cross-section run for the same duration under similar tension will develop fatigue cracks. The fact that carbide blades last so long and are often resharpened mean they are more likely to develop fatigue cracks simply because they are run longer. The smaller the wheels of the saw the faster this happens. It is also exacerbated by crowned wheels, which put uneven strain on a blade. This is why you will never see a resaw with crowned wheels.

While wheel size, tension, crowned wheels and "mileage" all speed up fatigue cracks the root cause is primarily uneven finish in the gullets which presents nucleation points for the cracks. The better the finish and the more even the finish the less likely for fatigue cracks to occur, or at least they will occur slower. This is one reason you see variations in longevity from company to company and even from batch to batch of coil stock.

The best option for small crowned wheel saws is an impulse hardened spring steel blade like the Atlanta Sharptech stock sold by Spectrum Supply, Iturra Design and Highland Woodworking. They are sold in order as the Kerfmaster, Blade Runner and Woodslicer, they are also listed in lowest to highest price. My favorite for the 14" Delta cast saws and clones is the Kerfmaster in 5/8" x .016". These blades give excellent finish off the saw, very close to carbide blades BUT dull fairly quickly and while they are not the most economical choice for larger saws they make the most sense for small saws. They are also useful on larger saws when one is sawing veneer and wants a good cut but the thinnest kerf available.

You absolutely can use a 1/2" RK on these saws but they will have a limited life compared to being used on larger, especially flat, wheels. In the end the economics lean to the blades I listed above and one gives up little in terms of finish or speed, they also are excellent for low HP saws since they have a very thin kerf and are initially extremely sharp, much sharper than carbide tipped blades.

[David Kumm]

Some resaws do have crowned tires, but the crown is less pronounced to give the wide blade more support. Smaller crowned saws had a more steep crown meant to help narrow blades track. That combined with the small diameter bend and the lack of tension which forces the blade to rely on the back bearing and heat up, lead to problems with expensive blades. Dave

[Larry Frank]

An interesting thread as I am thinking about getting a Resaw King. I looked on the website and could not find any warning about using them on a smaller bandsaw. They sell blades that would go on a 14" bandsaw.

The cracks in the pictures look like fatigue cracks and could be related to smaller wheel diameter. However, there could be other issues causing fatigue cracks. If they are, why not mention this on their website. The same goes for the tension issues on a smaller bandsaw.

[Nick Decker]

An interesting thread as I am thinking about getting a Resaw King. I looked on the website and could not find any warning about using them on a smaller bandsaw. They sell blades that would go on a 14" bandsaw.

The cracks in the pictures look like fatigue cracks and could be related to smaller wheel diameter. However, there could be other issues causing fatigue cracks. If they are, why not mention this on their website. The same goes for the tension issues on a smaller bandsaw.

My guess is that mentioning the potential problems with 14" saws would mean selling fewer blades to the owners of those saws, of which there are a few. :)

[Mike Kees]

Well you can't say that nobody warned you if you choose to buy a Resaw King for a 14'' cast saw.

[Larry Frank]

I have been thinking about the fatigue crack issue.


The blade performed fine with the original sharpening
The blade was resharpened by Laguna
The blade broke after 2 hours of use after resharpening.



I relooked at the picture of the fatigue crack and also of some new blades. What strikes me is that the gullet seems to have been ground during the resharpening and the crack in the picture is located at a dip in the gullet. It is very possible that this dip and how it was ground makes a a stress riser and maybe the cause of the cracks.

I am uncertain that just the wheel diameter is the cause of the cracks. I think there is something else going on.

I am in the process of contacting Laguna about the issue of smaller bandsaw wheels and what the recommended tension is and if it can be achieved on a 14" Bandsaw. We will see if I get a reasonable response.

[Dick Mahany]

I have been thinking about the fatigue crack issue.


The blade performed fine with the original sharpening
The blade was resharpened by Laguna
The blade broke after 2 hours of use after resharpening.



I relooked at the picture of the fatigue crack and also of some new blades. What strikes me is that the gullet seems to have been ground during the resharpening and the crack in the picture is located at a dip in the gullet. It is very possible that this dip and how it was ground makes a a stress riser and maybe the cause of the cracks.

I am uncertain that just the wheel diameter is the cause of the cracks. I think there is something else going on.

I am in the process of contacting Laguna about the issue of smaller bandsaw wheels and what the recommended tension is and if it can be achieved on a 14" Bandsaw. We will see if I get a reasonable response.

That gullet with the pronounced dip repeats every 3rd tooth. When I carefully examined the failed blade, I had stress cracks on ALL of them throughout the entire 105" blade, but only that gullet profile (the other two were fine). I found that suspicious and that is why I called Laguna to inquire about it. If they had been there before sharpening, I would have thought they would have noted them and refused to sharpen it.

Since this was my first time having a blade resharpened and then experiencing such a quick failure, I just chalked it up to beginner's misfortune. Unfortunately, since the replacement blade also failed in the same manner without having been resharpened, I tend to agree with the previous folks who attributed the failure to fatigue from small radius wheels. Ultimately, I'll never know for sure, but I sure liked that blade when it worked. Looking forward to what you hear from Laguna.

[David Kumm]

There have been reports about the gullet cracking after sharpening for years. Seems to be hit or miss. While many have resharpened carbide blades with success, I have always assumed the risk was 50-50. Dave

[Larry Frank]

I contacted Laguna about the Resaw King and how to tension and adjust it. Following is the response that I got.




To get the best performance from your saw and from the blade, we recommend properly adjusting Tension - With the guides backed off properly tension the blade and check it by pushing sideways on the blade on the left side between the wheels. You only want about 1/4" of deflection



Tracking - set the tracking so that the blade rides in the center of the wheels without the guides in place




Guides - Set the guides to the blade. For the type of guides that you have on your Delta, you will space them about the thickness of a piece of paper away from the blade.




Fence - finally, set the fence adjustment to cut straight with the way that the blade is dynamically cutting. We have several videos that show this step




When adjusting the saw in this order, you will get the most out of your saw and your blade. You will find people that tell you all kinds of different ways to adjust blades. While some are correct, others may lead to premature blade failure or poor cut quality


For example, in some posts you will read about the "flutter method" of tensioning a bandsaw blade where the blade is loosened to where it flutters and then is tightened back up. We never recommend running a blade in this method without the proper tension.
Please, could you provide a link to the videos. Thanks

[Dave Cav]

Shortly after I got my G0513X2 about ten years ago I bought a Laguna Resaw King on the old SMC discount deal. It broke from stress cracking after less than a year. I replaced it with a WM CT and never had any more problems.