MM 16 bandsaw blade

[Steve Bagi]

I have an older MM16 with a 145" blade. My 1" Trimaster blade just broke and I am trying to figure out what to replace it with. I'll mostly be using it for resawing and ripping. I tried a woodslicer and had a hard time getting it to track straight. I'd rather go with a thicker carbide blade. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Steve

[Jamie Buxton]

Lenox woodmaster CT

[Steve Bagi]

Lenox woodmaster CT

Thanks Jamie. Would you go with 1.3tpi or 2tpi?

[Jamie Buxton]

I mostly resaw. I use the 1.3.

[Sam Puhalovich]

Steve ... BEWARE the 'thick' CT band. I was running a CT .037 x 3/4 x 145 3 TPI in my 16" Laguna ... it cut wonderful for about 10 months. Then it just broke. When I took it out I could see that there was a crack at every gullet. I've been running a CT .025 x 1/2 x 145 x 3-4 TPI for about 14 months ... no problems.

[Erik Loza]

Repeat after me: “Thou shalt never keep carbide blades under tension on the machine when not in use”.

I sold about eleventy-million 1.0” Lenox Tri-masters for MM16’s back in the day and never had issues unless someone violated the above rule.

Erik

[John TenEyck]

Another vote for the Woodmaster CT 1" x 1.3 tpi. Alternatively, the 3/4" x 2 tpi is a little more versatile and easier to tension.

John

[jerry cousins]

i've been running a 1" laguna resaw king on my mm16 (after several years of the trimaster) specifically for resawing veneers- it has been a great blade. i do de-tension each time after use.
jerry

[Steve Bagi]

Repeat after me: “Thou shalt never keep carbide blades under tension on the machine when not in use”.

I sold about eleventy-million 1.0” Lenox Tri-masters for MM16’s back in the day and never had issues unless someone violated the above rule.

Erik

I was religious about de-tensioning the blade after every use. I must have had a bad one. It did last quite a while though and always performed well.

[Erik Loza]

I was religious about de-tensioning the blade after every use. I must have had a bad one. It did last quite a while though and always performed well.

How old would you say that blade was, Steve? Just curious. I have a lot more hands-on experience with Tri-masters than Woodmaster CT's but have prematurely killed carbides by trying to resaw things I shouldn't have been with that blade. As in, "Was working fine, then did some unwise cutting and broke it"-type situations.

Erik

[Steve Bagi]

How old would you say that blade was, Steve? Just curious. I have a lot more hands-on experience with Tri-masters than Woodmaster CT's but have prematurely killed carbides by trying to resaw things I shouldn't have been with that blade. As in, "Was working fine, then did some unwise cutting and broke it"-type situations.

Erik

Hey Erik. Probably ten years old. I'm a hobbyist so it didn't a ton of use. I hadn't used it in probably a year. I needed to resaw some walnut so I tensioned the blade and fired up the saw. I immediately noticed the blade was pulsing front to back. Turns out the blade was cracked halfway through.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Hey Erik. Probably ten years old. I'm a hobbyist so it didn't a ton of use. I hadn't used it in probably a year. I needed to resaw some walnut so I tensioned the blade and fired up the saw. I immediately noticed the blade was pulsing front to back. Turns out the blade was cracked halfway through.

As a hobbyist I also use my bandsaw infrequently.

IMO under a such situation it isn't worth to have very expensive blades. I use Lenox/Starrett and Makita regular blades. They have a good temper for the teeth. I am plenty glad with them.

[Erik Loza]

As a hobbyist I also use my bandsaw infrequently.

IMO under a such situation it isn't worth to have very expensive blades. I use Lenox/Starrett and Makita regular blades. They have a good temper for the teeth. I am plenty glad with them.

I've read that some folks were unhappy with Timberwolves but they were my favorite budget blade during the bandsaw days.

Erik