Band Saw Blade For Resawing

[Ken Krawford]

I have a 14" Delta BS with the riser kit. I'm going to be resawing some cherry to make veneer. In the past I've used the Wood Slicer from Highland Hardware and it seemed to do the job fairly well. My only complaint was that it didn't seem to stay sharp for very long.
What blade would you recommend given the saw I have and the job at hand?

[Tony Shea]

I would look into Lenox blades. I've used their Diemaster blades for quite some time with very good results. The Diemaster is a bi-metal blade which holds up much longer than regular Carbon steel blades. I use the diemaster for general purpose bandsaw work and when I'm lazy I will just use it to resaw up to around 6" wide. When I am doing any resawing for a length of time or if the board is wider than 6" I switch out to their Tri-Master blade. The Tri-Master blade is the nicest blade I've ever used on a bandsaw hands down. Then again I have never used a different brand carbide blade but can't imagine that it gets much better than the Tri-Master. The Tri-Master is a pricey blade, especially for my 18" saw, but is well worth the expense IMO. I do not abuse this blade and keep it cleaned so hope it will last a long time. I use the 3/4" 3 tpi version.

[Alex Zeller]

I also use a Lenox bimetal blade for most everything. It's a 1/2" 3tpi blade I bought to cut bowl blanks for turning. It has become my default blade for almost everything. It's not going to leave a perfect cut like some of the carbide resawing blades though. If you have no plans on resawing in the future and don't mind a little sanding then this is a good option that'll cost 20% of what a carbide tooth blade costs.

On my old 14" BS I used the Highland wood turner's blade. Like you it worked good but it dulled pretty quickly. I assumed that it was from cutting bowl blanks that had dirt in the bark. But I've cut twice as many with the Lenox and it's showing no signs of getting dull. I also have a bimetal 1" blade for resawing that I rarely put on the saw.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I use 1/2" 3 tpi TimberWolf blades for everything including resawing. They do dull a bit faster but they cut nicely. I tried a Lenox Diemaster II blade once and it cut OK but the kerf was a lot thicker and that matters in higher value woods like when I'm resawing ebony and rosewood for fretboards. It also cut slower, because the kerf was so wide and a lot of wood had to be taken out of it. To top it all off the blade broke at the weld before a TimberWolf blade would have become dull, so I was not happy with it.

[Steve Boring]

The post recent episode of FWW’s podcast talked about resale blades. I remember they liked Lenox, but don’t recall the specific model. Link to the episode is here:

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2021/04/09/stl238-tim-colemans-shop-sawn-veneer-secrets-revealed

[Andrew Hughes]

I recommend Olsen blades for a 14 inch wheel. It’s what I used when I had a 14 inch bandsaw.My favorite blade was a 4 tooth skip. The Olsen offers 2 different types that I liked pro series pgt. And mvp is also a good blade. One of the two also comes with .020 band that’s very thin. Saves wood.
Good Luck

[Doug Garson]

Have you considered sharpening your existing blade? For a 105" 3 or 4 tpi blade you should be able to sharpen it with a Dremel and metal cut off wheel in about 20 minutes. I've just done it once but I was surprised at how easy and effective it was.

[michael langman]

I also like the olson pro series blades They cut reallly well and are worth the few dollars more then their regular blades.

I resharpen them with a small diamond file and after that I use a ceramic triangular stone to give the teeth a nice finish. Just a few swipes with the diamond file and then the eramic, and I can resharpen a blade numerous times.

The teeth on the olson blade are fairly hard at around 65Rc.

[Mark Rainey]

Ken, keep it simple. Lenox Flexback carbon blade. 1/2 inch 0.025 inch thick 3 teeth per inch. About $18. Buy 2. I have been resawing a lot of cherry for the past few months. Over 500 board feet. Set your bandsaw up correctly and the blade will do the job. I have played around with a $150 3/4 inch Resaw King on my 14 inch saw and the cut is better, but at this point I just don't think it is worth it.

[Bill Carey]

I've been using the 3/4 resaw king for 2 years and it still cuts great. I resaw a lot of QSWO and walnut. That blade stays on the saw unless I'm cutting curves.

[Michael Cuthriell]

Spectrum Supply sells a blade called Kerfmaster that I have used for resawing with success. I have used the 1/2" X 0.022 3/4 tooth. These saw easily as well as the wood slicer at a much lower cost. I am able to re-sharpen them two times before being retired.

[Ken Krawford]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. As expected there isn't a total consensus on this topic. Interesting that resharpening was mentioned a couple of times. I've got about every tool known to mankind but have never bought a Dremel. I do have a Fein Multimaster. Is there an adapter that would make this suitable for resharpening my blade? Also I'm assuming that for my setup a 1/2" 3 tpi blade is about as big as I can safely go. Correct?

[John TenEyck]

Yes, a 1/2" blade is all the 14" Delta can tension; even then you can only apply about 12 ksi on it without risk of bending something. I'm surprised to see Bill say he gets good results with a 3/4" blade. Hard to imagine on that saw.

My two cents is the Diemaster II was just OK on my saw. I get smoother cuts and greater durability with Starrett bimetal blades. I have a 3/8" x 4 tpi blade on my saw 90% of the time. What I loose in width I make up for by being able to run higher tension.

John

[Stewart Lang]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. As expected there isn't a total consensus on this topic. Interesting that resharpening was mentioned a couple of times. I've got about every tool known to mankind but have never bought a Dremel. I do have a Fein Multimaster. Is there an adapter that would make this suitable for resharpening my blade? Also I'm assuming that for my setup a 1/2" 3 tpi blade is about as big as I can safely go. Correct?

I'd definitely recommend sharpening. The best way is to clamp a belt sander vertically and put 600 grit on it. Touch the top of each tooth very lightly to resharpen and you're good to go. I was able to do my 21" bandsaw blades in about 20 minutes. They're sharper than new.

[Doug Garson]

This is basically the method I used (only once so far) but without the jig, I just freehanded it. Next time I may build a similar jig. Lot's of other methods on an off the saw, this one just seems the quickest and as I said gave surprisingly good results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRFASuwGodE

[Ken Krawford]

After watching Doug's Youtube link I happened to stumble on this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxvYXbeaLxE&t=191s. Amazingly clever !

[Ken Krawford]

An update - ended up ordering a Lenox Diemaster 2 blade and cut my veneer slices yesterday. They came out fairly uniform and smooth. With it being a brand new blade and cherry not being an especially dense, hard wood I was a bit surprised at the amount of effort required to achieve the proper feed rate on a 6" wide blank. Only time will tell how long it will retain its sharpness.

[Curt Harms]

I would look into Lenox blades. I've used their Diemaster blades for quite some time with very good results. The Diemaster is a bi-metal blade which holds up much longer than regular Carbon steel blades. I use the diemaster for general purpose bandsaw work and when I'm lazy I will just use it to resaw up to around 6" wide. When I am doing any resawing for a length of time or if the board is wider than 6" I switch out to their Tri-Master blade. The Tri-Master blade is the nicest blade I've ever used on a bandsaw hands down. Then again I have never used a different brand carbide blade but can't imagine that it gets much better than the Tri-Master. The Tri-Master is a pricey blade, especially for my 18" saw, but is well worth the expense IMO. I do not abuse this blade and keep it cleaned so hope it will last a long time. I use the 3/4" 3 tpi version.

I have a 14" Rikon 10-325 steel frame saw. I recently bought a 1/2" 3 T.P.I. Trimaster. The only source I've found is Toolcenter.com. (https://www.toolcenter.com/111_Band_saw_Blades.html). This blade is .025" thick rather than the usual .032" or more so it should be easier to tension. I've only experimented with it, not done any significant work but I was pleased with the initial experience. I don't know if a cast iron 14" saw would tension this blade. John TenEyck has a homemade tension gauge that I haven't taken the time to make yet.