Woodcraft bandsaw blades...

[Jim Hinze]

Just an FYI---

If you ever need a cheap blade quick, these are good.

I had some re-sawing to do this morning... I needed to cut several 5/8" slices off of a red-oak stock almost 3" thick. I was struggling a ton with my timberwolf 1/2" blade (blade flex, burning, huge drift) and had remembered I bought a woodcraft 1/2" 4tpi blade the other day and slaped it on the saw..

cut was better than the timberwolf.. had to feed it a tiny bit slower, and the resulting cut was signifigantly smoother! The largest variance on the resulting thinner boards was .006. One pass on the planer and it was golden...

these were cut for seat back slats and the seat slats for a kiddie desk I'm doing.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Thanks for the heads up! If you leave the blade on the saw, let us know how the life of the blade is. Does it seem to dull faster than the timberwolf, etc.

[Charlie Plesums]

My experience was the opposite... The Woodcraft store brand blade dulled quickly, then drifted all over the place. So I replaced it with a 1/2 inch Timberwolf from Woodcraft (more expensive than mail order, but available immediately), and got great results. The Timberwolf is now at least a year old, been used a lot, and did drift a bit when I was resawing some 6 inch wide Ipe earlier this week, but I consider that an indication that it may be time to replace the Timberwolf - it has served well. (And some might say I am crazy to try to resaw Ipe with a 14 inch bandsaw - it is hard as iron.)

[Jim Becker]

(And some might say I am crazy to try to resaw Ipe with a 14 inch bandsaw - it is hard as iron.)

Don't worry, Charlie...you'll have a big white and blue band saw one of these days...

Seriously, my experience has been identical to yours...the TW blades cut wonderfully and last as long as I expect them too. Actually, they last longer on the MM16 since the teeth do not engage the tires due to the way you track on the flat tire wheel design. Even though the tires are crowned on your 14" saw, under tension, there surely is "influence" on the set over time which will cause the blade to start wandering when one side becomes "flatter" than the other with regard to tooth set.

[Mac McAtee]

Charlie,

Wanna try a little experiment?

Get your Dremmel tool out. Put a 1/8" dia. carbide bit in it. Mark a tooth on the blade with a magic marker. Touch the 1/8" carbide cutter into the gullet of the tooth. Work your way up or down the exposed part of the blade and keep turning the wheels. Go through the whole blade until you get back to the tooth you marked. It takes no more than 10 min.

Look at the blade, magnifying glass if necessary. If the cutting edge of most of the teeth is not shinny, then go around again. Try and hold the Dremmel in the gullet for the same amount of time. Like, "One, Two, Three" then on to the next gullet.

When the cutting edge of most of the teeth becomes shinny, stop.

Try cutting. You will be very pleased.

Can't do this with a blade that has been damaged, cut metal or had the set knocked out of it, just ones that are dull.

[Jim Hinze]

Do you hold the dremel at an angle? Perpendicular to the gullet??? Just curious?

[Charlie Plesums]

... Touch the 1/8" carbide cutter into the gullet of the tooth. Work your way up or down the exposed part of the blade and keep turning the wheels. Go through the whole blade until you get back to the tooth you marked. It takes no more than 10 min.

Look at the blade, magnifying glass if necessary. If the cutting edge of most of the teeth is not shinny, then go around again. Try and hold the Dremmel in the gullet for the same amount of time. Like, "One, Two, Three" then on to the next gullet.

When the cutting edge of most of the teeth becomes shinny, stop.

...

At first it sounded like you are only grinding the gullet, which would only get the cutting edge shiny by magic. Are you using the gullet to align the angle of the Dremel and letting the side of the Dremel cutter sharpen the tip of the bandsaw blade teeth? Or do I still not understand?

I do have a Woodcraft blade that should have been thrown out long ago that I might try it on

[Mac McAtee]

Do you hold the dremel at an angle? Perpendicular to the gullet??? Just curious?

When I have done this I hold it parallel to the table.

[Mac McAtee]

At first it sounded like you are only grinding the gullet, which would only get the cutting edge shiny by magic. Are you using the gullet to align the angle of the Dremel and letting the side of the Dremel cutter sharpen the tip of the bandsaw blade teeth? Or do I still not understand?

I do have a Woodcraft blade that should have been thrown out long ago that I might try it on

No magic here.

The radius of the gullet of the teeth is aprox. the same as the radius of a 1/8" diameter solid carbide Dremmel tool bit. It may not be exactly the same but it is so close that I couldn't see the difference.

If you want to make a check of that take the blade and a 1/8" drill bit and put the solid end of the drill bit in the gullet. You will see where the tool would cut from that. If it changes the geometry a tiny bit it doesn't really matter in the big picture. The idea is to sharpen the tip of the teeth so they can cut some more wood. As expensive as TW blades are it is a way to get more life out of them. As long as the teeth haven't been damaged. If you really want to get picky you can reset the blade also. Just get a saw sharpeners tooth setting tool and go at it.

When you put the running Dremmel cutter in the gullet you need to cut as deep as it takes to get the cutting edge of the blade sharp again. The key is to keep it uniform amongst all the teeth. You don't want to cut half the teeth to one dimension and half the teeth to another dimension.

This is no different than hand filing a handsaw or a chain saw for that matter.

Back before we had a throw away society this was done all the time by wood workers. Folks have just forgotten how. Back then you didn't use a Dremmel, hadn't been invented. You used a chain saw file, you can now if you wish. A Dremmel just makes it quicker.

[Mac McAtee]

Another bandsaw blade story from way back.

I learned from my father how to fix a broken bandsaw blade. When we broke one we didn't run out to the store and get another one.

This is Tink McAtee's procedure. Get two fire bricks. Break one in half. Set the whole one on the ground. Take some sand paper and clean up the two ends of the broken blade. Put one end of the blade in the middle of the brick. Set half of the other brick so it will hold it in place. Match the other end of the blade up with it, make real sure that there is not a twist in the blade (DAMHIKT). Set the other half of the brick on the other part of the blade. You want a gap between the two half bricks so you can get to the place where the two ends meet. Make sure the ends of the blade are touching and that they are laying straight with each other.

Then you take some 20 Mule Team Borax and mix it with a little water. Just a half teaspoon is all you need. Put a wad of that on the break in the blade.

Get a dime, a real dime, not the fake silver dimes we have now. Cut it about 1/4th of it off with some tin snips. and lay it on top of the break in the blade.

Fire up your blow torch. That is not one of those little propane things we use these days, this is a thing that looks like a Liberty Bell. You put white gas in it, pump it up, open the valve so some gas pools up in the little basin under the burner and touch it off with a match. When it warms the burner up then you open the gas valve and wait for the roar of the flame to start. Once you get a good blue flame going you point that sucker at the place where the two blades, 20 Mule Team and dime all are waiting for you. That dime will turn in to a puddle of silver in just a few seconds. Pull the blow torch away and turn it off. Wait for the blade and bricks to cool down.

Pick up the blade, clean up the silver soldered joint with a file and put it back on the bandsaw. Doesn't take very long at all.

[Charlie Plesums]

...The radius of the gullet of the teeth is aprox. the same as the radius of a 1/8" diameter solid carbide Dremmel tool bit....

Darn, you are right. I would have guessed that the gullet on my resaw blade was a lot larger than 1/8 inch. Actually it is a little less, but I have a diamond grinding bit that is a little less also.

As a cheapskate who sharpens chainsaw "blades" countless times, I will try this.

Thanks for the suggestion
Charlie

[James Carmichael]

I'll give it a shot. Probably not real cost-effective, but it grates on me to throw something away.

Charlie,

6" Ipe? Are you trying to burn the motor so you can justify a bigger saw?

[Charlie Plesums]

...
6" Ipe? Are you trying to burn the motor so you can justify a bigger saw?

No, a new lathe comes before a new bandsaw, since I am already on my third bandsaw.

I am making Adirondack chairs, and like thinner wood for the backs, so there is some flexibility. Boy was it slow! Still takes 34 linear feet of 5/4 x 6 wood - one solid chair!