Wood Slicer blades: up to the hype?

[Bob Jones 5443]

Highland Woodworking's house brand resaw blade "Wood Slicer" for band saws: They've been around for a while and the press is pretty good on these. "Sharper, harder, stronger, thinner", and they come in baby size (70 1/2") for my little 10" saw. 1/2" of course. I'm tempted. Do they live up to the hype?

[roger wiegand]

I imagine there are other blades that are as good, but I've come to rely on the wood slicers for critical cuts. I always keep a newish one around for cutting veneer from exotic boards. I find that they track very consistently and produce a nice surface that requires only a little sanding. I'm using it on a 14" delta saw with a riser block, so nothing remotely exotic in the way of a saw. I've frequently resawn 10" boards with that setup, I also regularly make 1/16" thick veneers.

In my hands, yes they live up to the hype. Not the blade I choose for roughing logs into shape for the lathe, nor for cutting curves, but for resawing on a small saw, absolutely. There may be a cheaper source for a similar blade, but at my usage level it's not worth the time or effort to chase it down.

[Robert Hazelwood]

They are pretty good, and for resawing are about as good as you can get for smaller saws that can't use carbide blades. They have a thinner kerf than just about anything else, and when new they are very sharp and cut with little feed pressure. They are only spring steel, however, and will dull relatively fast compared to bi-metal or carbide.

Due to the minimal set they are no good for cutting curves or for green wood- strictly for ripping and resawing.

You can get the same blade stock from Spectrum Supply, called Kerfmaster, made in any size. They will sell the blade cheaper than Highland, but their shipping is pretty high and from what I remember it ended up being kind of a wash.

[Jon Endres]

I'm using it on a 14" delta saw with a riser block, so nothing remotely exotic in the way of a saw.

Same setup here. Are you using a 1/2" blade or a 3/4" blade? I don't know if the 14" Delta w/ riser can handle a 3/4" blade.

[John TenEyck]

They cut great in stable wood and leave a very smooth finish but dull VERY quickly. And if the wood you are cutting pinches so much as a nanometer it will bind up the blade because it has so little set. One and done for me.

John

[Peter Kelly]

Give Louis Iturra a call, he has the identical thing for less than Highland: 904-642-2802. Can weld up any length, excellent service.

I like these blades a lot and yes, they dull faster than others but I’ve gotten pretty fast at sharpening them.

[David M Peters]

I went through one or two of them and found them to dull too quickly, same goes for Highland's woodturning blades. I'm currently on a Timberwolf kick and have been happy so far.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Thanks, all. So, to recap:
- 1/16” veneers in 10” boards
- dulls quickly
- my baby saw has no carbide option.

OK, I’m sold. This and the 3 tpi Timber Wolf will be my two 1/2” blades — one for special cuts and the other for everyday 1/2” use.

[Alex Zeller]

I've been tempted to try one. I got a reasonable life out of their woodturner's blade but found Lenox bimetal blades seem to last a lot longer and really don't cost much more. But I got rid of my 14" cast iron saw so I can run thicker blades without a problem.

[roger wiegand]

Same setup here. Are you using a 1/2" blade or a 3/4" blade? I don't know if the 14" Delta w/ riser can handle a 3/4" blade.

I use the 1/2" blades. I wouldn't want to try and fully tension a 3/4" blade on my saw. I just got done replacing several bent and stripped parts as it is. When I'm re-sawing a piece of wood I've paid several hundred dollars for I don't begrudge the $35 for a blade that lets me do it right the first time.

That said I'm very much in the market for a 20-24" Italian saw that can handle bigger blades and cuts more easily. Watching Craigslist every day.

[John TenEyck]

I would make your everyday, go-to blade a 3/8 x 4 tpi one.

John

[Mike Kees]

I use 3/8 4 tpi blades as my everyday blade on my delta 14'' saw. This has more to do with the fact that I bought a coil of this blade stock (538') on the bay. just pure luck on my part that it works real well for me. So yeah John I agree with you.:D

[Zachary Hoyt]

i use the 3 TPI 1/2" Timberwolf to resaw as well as for everything else on my 18" saw. It is not a super smooth cut, but the kerf is fairly thin. I tried a Diemaster 2 bimetal blade but it took a huge kerf compared to the Timberwolf and was therefore much slower cutting, and the one I had broke at the weld before it got dull, the only bandsaw blade I've had do that.

[Bob Jones 5443]

I would make your everyday, go-to blade a 3/8 x 4 tpi one.

John

John, I agree. When I said "everyday 1/2" blade" I meant the one I'd use for ripping stock 2 – 3" thick, such as the bloodwood 3x3x12 for the Krenov plane I keep saying I'm going to make (although that species may be tough on the blade?).

My kit includes three evenly spaces widths: 2, 5, and 8 sixteenths, so I figure that covers the range my 10" saw can handle:

1/8" for small circles and curvy stuff in thinner stock, 3/4" and less
5/16" –– my true "everyday" blade
1/2" for straight cuts. For this width I'll have two.

I'm going to need to resaw 4" cherry soon; hence the interest in how the Wood Slicer performs.

My Wood Slicer arrives next week, and the Timber Wolf is new in the package. I broke the last Timber Wolf trying to rip 5" hard maple. Band saws require experience, and I'm only about a year into mine.

[John TenEyck]

FWIW, both Timberwolf blades I tried on my 14" Delta broke, but not at the weld, one after not all that much use. That soured me on them, too. My experience with the Diemaster II sounds similar to yours, durable but slow cutting and only OK cut quality. I got some Starrett coil stock (not sure if it's bimetal or carbon steel) from a friend and have been very impressed with the longevity of those blades with decent speed and cut quality. I have enough that I'll probably never need to look for a new blade type for that saw.

John

[michael langman]

I've found the OLson AllPro blades to cut really well and last a long time ifyou do not hit any metal. I also resharpen them with a diamond and then ceramic file quite a few times.
I have a 14" delta saw .

[Robert Engel]

Sorry, but I don't think they are. I've always had issues with durability maybe I'm expecting too much.

I've been using an Infinity blades & so far I'm very impressed the quality of cut & the durability.

[roger wiegand]

Sorry, but I don't think they are. I've always had issues with durability maybe I'm expecting too much.

I don't think durability is one of the claimed virtues of this blade; It's not why I choose them. I regard it as a special purpose blade for making very good resaw cuts, particularly in expensive or otherwise irreplaceable wood where every millimeter matters, eg for precise book matches.

I have a carbide blade on the saw much of the time, that pretty well defines durability.

[Curt Harms]

If memory serves (and it may not) the Woodslicer/Kerfmaster blades are Atlanta Sharptech blades. They're intended for cutting meat & bone. It looks like Atlanta Sharptech was acquired.

http://store.kascosharptech.com/129/ks-handsaw-reciprocating-blades.htm

The fact that blade stock is not intended for cutting wood may account for its relatively short life. The Lenox TriMaster is another blade that is not intended primarily as a wood cutting blade but it does cut wood quite well.

[Jeffrey Hood]

I just tried my Woodslicer out last night on resawing some cherry veneers... had a 1/2" Starret blade on and did one cut with that, and then changed the blade out to the Woodslicer... (1/2" also...) (on a Laguna 14BX 2.5hp...)

Did a decent job, but not much different than the Starret... maybe a bit smoother, but nothing significant... cut was not as fast, and seemed to have more trouble with the 9" cherry... I think I'm going to keep it mostly for narrower resaws... time will tell... I think it might have actually dulled a bit with the two 4' cuts in the 9" cherry...

Nothing works as well as my 3/4" Laguna resaw king... that goes through anything like butter... kerf is a bit wider, but it's a beast...

JH

[Bob Jones 5443]

Thanks, Jeffrey. Sitting over here in the Little Saw corner, I don't have access to the carbide blades, so I'm rolling the dice on the Wood Slicer. I'll probably use it on 4" cherry, and I won't mind if I need to smooth out the surface after the cut.

[Dan Hahr]

Dulls very fast. Then wanders like crazy. Not sure how it gets that bad so fast. See if you can get a Lenox Diemaster 2 blade. Wider kerf but stays sharp much longer. Kerf keeps it cutting straighter. But if I had a table saw, I’d rip it 3” deep on both edges and cut down the middle of the kerf for the last 4”.

Dan

[Bob Jones 5443]

Dan, you’re referring to the Wood Slicer?

[Dan Hahr]

Yes. Sent the first one back because it dulled so fast. Second one dulled in the first 3 feet. You can sharpen them with a dremel but I’ve cut everything from copper to aluminum to maple with my Diemasters and they still cut like new. If you were cutting postcard sized boards from soft wood, you might get some use out of it.
Dan

[Rob Luter]

I just got a 1/2" wood slicer for my 14" Rikon. I've used it a little and it works OK. I resawed some lengths of 2 x 2 White Oak for table legs, peeling a 1/2" off so not much of a challenge. I've got some figured crotch walnut for veneer to try next.