CARBIDE TIPPED Resaw blades?- do use em?

[Bob Oswin]

I used to use a carbide tipped blade for all my aluminium cutting on my old bandsaw.
I believe it was a Lennox.
Do any of you use a 1/2" carbide for resawing?
What kind of life do you get and what are you sawing mostly?

There has been an Urban myth about these breaking prematurely but I can't find any facts to back up the prattle.

Does anyone have hands-on experience?

My friend and I are going to make the switch for bowl blanks pretty soon.

p.s. I may cross post this message if I can't get enough info here.
My apologies in advance if you see it again.

Regards
Bob

[David Rose]

Bob, I don't own a table saw (of any use) and do all my ripping and whatever won't fit the miter saw with a Lenox Pro Master III blade. I think that's the model. Anyway, it's a 1/2" 3tpi Lenox carbide.

The saw is a Delta 14" with riser and a 1 & 1/2 HP motor. I normally resaw slowly for smoothness but I've never had anything near a stall with even 12" wood and the original 3/4 HP motor. I've cut mostly hard maple with it to this point, but also some walnut and softer hardwoods.

Even with the factory tension spring there is virtually no bowing of the blade on resawing. It is an impressive blade. Ripping cuts are very smooth. They seem even smoother than a TimberWolf 6 tpi that I used for a while.

This blade has been in service for somewhere around two years and is still sharp and exhibits no noticable lead.

David

[Dave Anderson]

Hi Bob,
There was some discussion about this on the MiniMax Users Group a few days ago. The issue was use of a 1" carbide blade on a MM16. Feedback was that a 1" carbide blade's thickness was too much for the tight radius of the 16" wheels and a possible cause of early blade fatigue and cracking. A suggestion was to use a 1/2" or at maximum a 3/4" blade on a 16" bandsaw because that size band is thinner than a 1" and more likely to last longer.

I have a 1" Lennox Tri-Master (carbide) that I have used occasionally on MY MM16 with excellent results resawing Cocobolo and White Oak. No signs of cracking, yet, on that blade. But, as a Hobbiest, I don't use it on a daily basis and fully expect a long life on that blade.

EDIT: Oops, the above info is for carbide blades generally...

To your specific question of using a 1/2" blade for resawing - as long as you can get enough tension on the 1/2" blade, you should have no problem resawing with it. Many woodworkers have been using 1/2" blades to resaw or cut turning blanks with great success on as small as 14" bandsaws.

Go for it!!!

[Ed Weiser]

I have a Laguna 16" bandsaw and when I inquired with Laguna about carbide resawing blades, they steered me away from Lenox. Apparently, they, too, had heard about premature fracture of the blade when used on 16" saws. What I bought instead was a 1'' wide carbide blade marketed by Laguna based on a low tension silicone Swedish steel back. I have had it approximately one year. It cuts easily and quietly and leaves a smooth surface in hard maple or cherry or oak and has no lead at all. All in all, worth the money.
Hope this helps.

Ed Weiser

[John Preston]

Ive got a 3/4" 3 tpi Lenox carbide blade I use on an 18" Agazzani, and I really like it. I've sawed cherry thin enough I used it for a lampshade with no sanding. You can see the saw marks, but the light comes through.

The reason carbide blades would tend to break "prematurely" is because they are thicker. every time the blade goes around, you flex it and unflex it twice. Fatigue life is what would kill it. if you have a 14" bandsaw, you would want the blade with the thinnest band you could get. The thinner bands do not exhibit as much surface stress as the thicker bands when bent to the same radius.

In "Bandsaw Basics" (I think) the author mentions that carbide blades are expected to break before, or at the same time as the blades get dull.

Maybe this will help.