John Hedges
10-06-2008, 10:41 AM
I have been using a Lenox Trimaster for resawing since I bought my bandsaw several months ago, and have been very pleased with it's performance. I thought however that it would be good to get a backup blade for when this one dulls. I ended up ordering the new Woodmaster CT (also from Lenox), because I have heard some good things about it, and it is considerably cheaper than the Trimaster and Resaw King. The CT is Lenox newer blade designed specifically for wood. The Trimaster was actually designed for metal work as I understand it. The CT is a 1 TPI blade as opposed to the Trimaster which is a 3TPI blade. All I can say is that I am very impressed with it and it is now on my saw as my primary resaw blade. I thought I would post some of my thoughts here for anyone else considering this blade. Here are the things I really like about it.
1) Price. As I said it's about half of what you pay for a Tri-master retail.
2) Dust collection. It seems to have improved the dust collection at the Bandsaw. While it was good before, the DC at a bandsaw is usually difficult when resawing because so much of the cut is above the table. What I found is that with the larger gullets, it is clearing the dust more efficiently and there seems to be less fine dust created. With the Trimaster there was a lot of dust left on the board after the cut, and with the CT that dust does not seem to be there in any quantity.
3) Feed Rate. The Trimaster fed well, but required some feed pressure, especially in harder woods. The CT almost seems to self feed. I didn't have any scientific way to measure this, but the difference was very noticeable.
4) Noise. There is a lot less noise with this blade. While I always wear hearing protection, I never really noticed the noise the Trimaster made, however my wife would always tell me she could hear it up the street while visiting neighbors. So I compared the two without hearing protection on and the CT is quieter by quite a bit.
5) Thinner Kerf. The CT has a thinner kerf so you get more veneer per board. IIRC the kerf on the CT is close to that of the Resaw King.
Drawbacks.
1) The only downside I can think of is that the surface of the finishished board is not quite as smooth, as that left by the Trimaster, but it is very close. After the first pass through the drum sander with 120 though there is no difference.
2) Don't know about longevity. Because this has fewer TPI and a thinner kerf there is less carbide. I dont know if this will be offset by the fact that the blades seems to run cooler due to the TPI difference, so only time will tell. My Trimaster is still very sharp, so I think either blade will last the hobbiest a long time.
Below are some pics for a comparison.
First the Trimaster
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hedgehog55/bandsaw/table.jpg?t=1223302224
And the CT
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hedgehog55/woodworking/IMG_2206.jpg?t=1223303023
1) Price. As I said it's about half of what you pay for a Tri-master retail.
2) Dust collection. It seems to have improved the dust collection at the Bandsaw. While it was good before, the DC at a bandsaw is usually difficult when resawing because so much of the cut is above the table. What I found is that with the larger gullets, it is clearing the dust more efficiently and there seems to be less fine dust created. With the Trimaster there was a lot of dust left on the board after the cut, and with the CT that dust does not seem to be there in any quantity.
3) Feed Rate. The Trimaster fed well, but required some feed pressure, especially in harder woods. The CT almost seems to self feed. I didn't have any scientific way to measure this, but the difference was very noticeable.
4) Noise. There is a lot less noise with this blade. While I always wear hearing protection, I never really noticed the noise the Trimaster made, however my wife would always tell me she could hear it up the street while visiting neighbors. So I compared the two without hearing protection on and the CT is quieter by quite a bit.
5) Thinner Kerf. The CT has a thinner kerf so you get more veneer per board. IIRC the kerf on the CT is close to that of the Resaw King.
Drawbacks.
1) The only downside I can think of is that the surface of the finishished board is not quite as smooth, as that left by the Trimaster, but it is very close. After the first pass through the drum sander with 120 though there is no difference.
2) Don't know about longevity. Because this has fewer TPI and a thinner kerf there is less carbide. I dont know if this will be offset by the fact that the blades seems to run cooler due to the TPI difference, so only time will tell. My Trimaster is still very sharp, so I think either blade will last the hobbiest a long time.
Below are some pics for a comparison.
First the Trimaster
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hedgehog55/bandsaw/table.jpg?t=1223302224
And the CT
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hedgehog55/woodworking/IMG_2206.jpg?t=1223303023