Bandsaw Observation

[James Jayko]

I go to a public workshop in Philly. We have a Laguna 14BX setup for resawing. Everyone complains about it being crappy / inconsistent / bad for resawing. its been setup with a 1" resaw blade.

I had some resawing to do. I ordered a new $30 Timberwolf 1/2", 3 TPI resaw blade. Put it on, squared up the fence.

I was cutting veneers for a bent lamination that were about as good as you can get with zero effort simply by using a fresh blade and taking the 15 minutes to actually set it up for the job required. We aren't talking all the adjusting for drift and the weird voodoo you see on dialing in your bandsaw video. Square fence, fresh blade. That's it.

TLDR: I see lots of posts about needing a new bandsaw. Don't underestimate the power of a fresh blade (and the right one for the job) and a good setup before parting with your money.

[John TenEyck]

How true. A 1" blade is probably more than that 14" saw can handle and would be a prime contributor to effective resawing.

John

[Edward Weber]

I've seen similar situations many times, with people saying things like, "this thing is junk", it's only "junk" because you don't know what you're doing.

I have a 17" Grizzly, but I still keep my (will never get rid of) HF 14" BS. It's a great little saw. I've cut things on it that others with much more expansive and powerful saws can't, only because they didn't set them up properly.

Good thing you didn't listen to the others, sometimes it's best to figure things out on your own.

[glenn bradley]

Well done. We have to be careful. If people start actually aligning their bandsaws and running the right blade for the job we could bankrupt the bandsaw-aftermarket-gizmo industry.

[lou Brava]

Some SMC forum member byline is "Sharp solves a lot problems" Also that 14" Laguna should not have a 1" blade on it.

[Richard Coers]

I go to a public workshop in Philly. We have a Laguna 14BX setup for resawing. Everyone complains about it being crappy / inconsistent / bad for resawing. its been setup with a 1" resaw blade.

I had some resawing to do. I ordered a new $30 Timberwolf 1/2", 3 TPI resaw blade. Put it on, squared up the fence.

I was cutting veneers for a bent lamination that were about as good as you can get with zero effort simply by using a fresh blade and taking the 15 minutes to actually set it up for the job required. We aren't talking all the adjusting for drift and the weird voodoo you see on dialing in your bandsaw video. Square fence, fresh blade. That's it.

TLDR: I see lots of posts about needing a new bandsaw. Don't underestimate the power of a fresh blade (and the right one for the job) and a good setup before parting with your money.
I've been giving that advice for decades James. Good for you!

[Curt Harms]

Some SMC forum member byline is "Sharp solves a lot problems" Also that 14" Laguna should not have a 1" blade on it.

I wonder if the rule of thumb with consumer/small shop band saws and blade width should be something like "What the manufacturer claims minus 1 step or 1/4". IOW if the manufacturer claims their saw will run a 3/4" blade, use a 1/2". I'm sure some saws will run well what the manufacturer claims but I'm not sure that's the majority.

[James Jayko]

I heard Mike Pekovich say on a podcast, "If you're resawing, just get a new 1/2" 3 TPI blade." I'm sure there are times when you need more than that, but I think that is a good rule of thumb unless there are some obvious other considerations. I remember I always used to run the widest blade I could, and my results were never awesome.

[Edward Weber]

Well done. We have to be careful. If people start actually aligning their bandsaws and running the right blade for the job we could bankrupt the bandsaw-aftermarket-gizmo industry.

I think the proper response is, You owe me a keyboard, good one

After I almost shot coffee out my nose, I had a good laugh.

[Alex Zeller]

I've always said company cars should race NASCAR. They accelerate faster and brake harder than any other car on the road. Plus they don't need pit stops to replace things like worn out tires and brakes. Most companies have the test drivers who will try to prove my point. Tools in a shared shop usually are a close second. Nobody wants to work on them. They want to come in and do woodworking.

Before COVID I belonged to a group that had a number of shared tools. Once a month each member was expected to spend a day working on the tools. It was often more of a social thing. We got together and did lots of talking but the tools were always in very good shape. Often members would say they had an issue and another would speak up and show what they were doing and not having that issue (or a work around). The tools rarely needed much of anything so repairs didn't take long. I was amazed by the two types of people. One group would buy their own tooling (blades, bits, sandpaper, etc) and others would just use what was on the tool. Those who had their own tooling would leave it behind when they felt it was getting worn out.

[Zachary Hoyt]

A 1/2" 3 TPI blade is the only size I own for my "big" bandsaw which is an 18" Parks. I use it for ripping, resawing, cutting large curves etc and as the OP said as long as it's sharp it almost always cuts straight. I've resawn up to 10" or so and gotten good enough results for what I am doing, making acoustic guitars and such.

[John TenEyck]

Let's not get carried away on a 1/2 - 3 tpi blade being a great choice for resawing. It is, in fact, about the best choice on my cast iron 14" Delta, and likely also is on many other saws that can't muster much tension. Putting a wider blade on it is a fool's errand since the 1/2" blade can only be tensioned to about 12ksi, which is half of what you ideally would want for resawing. Does it work OK? Yes, if the saw is set up really well and the blade is sharp, as the OP demonstrated. I've cut veneer with mine over 10" wide - very slowly.

But on a substantial saw like the MM16 and on up, with more HP and the ability to tension the blade adequately, a wider blade will make resawing far easier and much faster. Set up is less critical, too, as long as the blade cuts straight. Side guides are pretty much unnecessary for resawing once you get enough tension on the blade. Which harkens to Glenn's comment about aftermarket bandsaw accessories. With repect to resawing, blade guides and especially drift fences are poor solutions to a problem better solved by learning how to set up the saw correctly. Those things are simply unnecessary on a saw that can put adequate tension on a sharp blade designed for resawing.

The comment about manufacturers overstating the ability of their bandsaws with respect to blade width is generally true for light duty saws but larger saws often are capable of putting 25 ksi or more on even the widest blade recommended. This is not universally true, as we saw for a certain Felder saw a couple of years ago, but most larger saws are very capable. That said, you can get very good resaw performance by using a blade 1/4" narrower than the max. recommended. I use a 1" Woodmaster CT on my Grizzly G0636X 17" saw, which is rated for and can tension a 1-3/8" blade. It resaws and slices veneer like nobody's business. I guess the point is, use the narrowest blade that does the job well for you.

John

[Tom Trees]

, it's only "junk" because you don't know what you're doing.

Good thing you didn't listen to the others, sometimes it's best to figure things out on your own.

Count me in on that!...though I have my excuses :)
How about aligning wheels which won't run well no matter where you adjust the lower wheel, tire wear can throw things off...
How about not knowing if damage of the upper wheel carriage causes vibration or not...
or not knowing if you can trust a wheel with a worn bore, or finding out that the wheel edges only look dressed, and how close they need be to use as a reference,,
and how to accurately align the wheels without guessing, and at the end of that actually dressing the tires properly in the end,
which for an Italian machine, actually has a profile to them, and not "flat" unless perhaps one is referring to that under blade tension.
That I don't know.
I'm only certain now that flat tires simply will not cut without the blade diving into the thrust guide.

Eager to replicate that Centauro replacement tire profile I have, since I've got vulcanized ones I've dressed flat as I didn't know any better.
Should be the final thing left to do.
Silly me didn't look at it twice, and assumed it were flat, as it appears so without stretching,
so I had the answer all along, lol! :)

You live you learn I suppose.
Tom

[Michael Rutman]

I have the Laguna 14/12 and it will not properly tighten a 1" blade. It barely tightens my 3/4" Laguna Resaw king. If the blade is not tight enough, or worse it flexes/bends the bandsaw, expect poor quality.

The BX on the Laguna website says outright 3/4" blade. However, if they've been overtightening a 1" blade, check for warp. By overtightening I mean they cranked it past what the machine can handle to get the 1" blade tight enough.

[roger wiegand]

I spent a couple decades doing (if one were to believe the interweb) "impossible" resawing on my 14" delta with the riser block. That said, I'm not going to give up my relatively recently acquired MM20. While the difference is crystal clear I'm really happy I didn't just sit on my hands for 20 years not making anything until I could afford a more perfect saw. I know there are bigger and more powerful saws yet out there, but I'm going to continue to just keep making stuff.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

With any tool including bandsaws, I think it's important to work with them enough to find a method that works for you to provide consistent performance that allows you to produce the results you desire.