Resaw Blade Advise

[Kevin Proaper]

I am looking to invest in a good resaw blade for my bandsaw and would like recommendations on what has worked well for others out there.
I have a 16" Laguna HD 144" balde length.
I want to get a carbide.
I have looked at the Laguna "resaw king" but have heard some people have had problems with them breaking.
I don't wantr to invest $150.00 ++ and not get some life out of the blade.
I am going to be doing bookmatch work and require a good finish.
Any help would be great,
Thanks
Kevin

[Mike Spanbauer]

1/2" Lenox Trimaster

It's thin kerf and cuts like a dream.

mike

[Pete Bradley]

Carbide is mucho expensive. How about a thin-kerf resaw band? I'm one of the zillion or so people who will recommend a silicon steel band (often known as "Timberwolf") from Suffolk, Constitution Saw, etc.

Pete

[Jim Becker]

TriMaster. They were reformulated to withstand breaking on the smaller saws, particularly the 16" machines like you and I have.

Pete, yes, carbide is expensive up front, but the same blade can last for years rather than hours or minutes like the steel bands do for this kind of work. In that respect...they are cheaper. But one also needs to care for them by religiously detensioning them and never trying to cut curves with a resaw blade.

[Kevin Proaper]

Thank you for the info.
How about a source for the tri-master, is Suffolk where to go?


One other question:
I need to cut some finer curves.
What kind of guides do you recommend?
I have the Euro style Carter? guides now but can see they probably wont work for a smaller blade.

[Jim Becker]

Kevin, for the TriMaster, Iturra is probably one of the best sources. 866-883-8064. No web site...still. They can also guide you on guides... :D

[Phil Pritchard]

Bit late to the fray, but I, too, would recommend the Lenox Trimaster III (variable pitch) - the vari-pitch means less chance or harmonic vibration being set-up when sawing extremely hard timbers such as ebony

Phil

[Kevin Proaper]

Thanks,
Phil I have the catalog coming!

[Bill Arnold]

I've had the best luck with a 1/2" Woodslicer available from Highland Hardware. I have a G0513 17" bandsaw and have resawn up to 12" wide boards with the combination.

[John Terefenko]

I use the Lennox 3/4" trimaster blade on my Delta 14" with riser and cut all kinds of exotics. I would not be able to do that with any blade other than a carbide and have it last as long as it does. I recommend them.

[Dan Larson]

Kevin,

I've been using a Resaw King blade on my LT18 saw for nearly 2 years now... cut quality is still great... no issues with it breaking. In my opinion, it's hard to go wrong with this blade.

Dan

[Jamie Buxton]

I've been using the Resaw King on my LT16HD for several years. It works quite well. One advantage over the Trimaster is that Laguna resharpens it. I looked around quite carefully, and could not find anybody who sharpens the Trimaster. If you spend a couple hundred bucks on a blade, resharpening for $30 gets you a lot more use of that couple hundred bucks.

[Kevin Proaper]

Thanks everyone.
The laguna re-saw king is on sale now til xmas.
Makes it a pretty good deal @ $1.10 per in. x 144" I'm in for $160.00


Any idea what the trimaster costs?

[Matt Calder]

All,
A cautionary tale. My resaw king was ruined when my three year old started the bandsaw while the blade was untensioned. My fault I know, scared the crap out of both of us. I wonder why a high end saw like my 18" Laguna doesn't have a switch/control to not allow it to turn on unless there is a minimal amount of tension on the blade?

Matt

[Kevin Proaper]

Matt,
Too close for comfort. Always UNPLUG !! I have a curious three year old, want her to keep ten and ten you know, nuff said.


My Laguna has a lockout on the off switch, after you hit it you have to push in and turn the red knob.
I just bought a 2000 model 16 HD.

I think these were made by Meber.

["Felix Marti"]

I have been very happy with the cut and performance of my Wood Slicer blades.
I have used exclusively the 3/4T x 1/2" blades.
Have recently upgraded my saw to a 20" PowerMatic, and still have a few 144" blades in the shop. Does anyone need these?
Felix

[Mike Ontko]

I've had the best luck with a 1/2" Woodslicer available from Highland Hardware. I have a G0513 17" bandsaw and have resawn up to 12" wide boards with the combination.

I don't have experience with other resaw blades to compare it to, but I have used the same blade on my G0513 17" with good results on 8/4 x 8" ash. It's a little rough for lighter work though, like CVG Douglas fir for example, but that could have just been a result of my setup (wrong tension maybe).

[Ted Phillips]

I'd also recommend the TriMaster. Beautiful, clean cuts and smooth as silk. Expensive? Yes. But the thing stays sharp forever. My only recommendation is to demount it and clean it every so often...

TedP

[Curt Harms]

I've been using the Resaw King on my LT16HD for several years. It works quite well. One advantage over the Trimaster is that Laguna resharpens it. I looked around quite carefully, and could not find anybody who sharpens the Trimaster. If you spend a couple hundred bucks on a blade, resharpening for $30 gets you a lot more use of that couple hundred bucks.


I wonder why nobody sharpens the Trimaster? Not enough demand?

[Scott T Smith]

I have a 30 hp dedicated horizontal resaw and have used both Tri-masters and Resaw Kings on it. In comparing the two, here is my assessment:

Tri-master: Pro's - less expensive than RK, more rigid band (less deflection if you encounter a knot). Cons: Cannot be sharpened, thicker kerf than RK's.

Resaw King: Pro's - thinner kerf means more yield from a given board. Finish is smoother than the TM's. I only have to sand about .015 to remove all kerf marks from the sawn veneer, versus closer to .030 for the TM's. Can be resharpened by Laguna for a very fair price. Con's - Cost more than the TM's and sometimes more deflection over dense areas.

Conclusion: Although the RK's cost more, due to their narrower kerf and ability to produce more yield, as well as their ability to be resharpened, they offer the better value (especially when you factor in sanding time to remove kerf marks). Note - my first RK's were horrible, but once Laguna resharpened them they exceeded my expectations. When I reorder them I request that the new bands be automatically resharpened by Laguna before being shipped to me.

YMMV.