Let's talk about resaw/rip Bandsaw blades

[John Coloccia]

So I've recently picked up another bandsaw. I found a nice, G0555 that was practically unused, with a riser block.

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There's the evidence for the stealth gloat. LOL. So I immediately took off he guides and stuck a Carter stabilizer on this thing. First of all, let me tell you the Stabilizer ROCKS, and the 555 is one heck of a nice saw for not much money. I can't believe how easy it is to follow a line with no wandering and no problems at all. This is the real deal, guys! The Stabilizer was worth every penny.

Anyhow, I now have a dedicated curve cutting bandsaw, and a dedicated straight line/resaw bandsaw....enter, my trusty G05142X2

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Currently, I'm running a 3/4" Woodslicer, and let me tell you this cuts through wood like hot knife through butter. Incredible, really. The only thing I hate is that it dulls so quickly. I want to replace it with some sort of long life, carbide (or whatever) something or other that will resaw and straight line rip like crazy. In fact, I've been playing around with the idea of not really needing a table saw in my shop for anything, or at least putting it on wheels, chopping the rails and storing it in a corner somewhere for occasional use.

So what says the collective? Keep in mind that I don't think this thing will properly tension or run a massive blade like a 1" Resaw King. It's silky smooth the 3/4" Woodslicer but I wasn't at all impressed with a 1" Timberwolf, to be honest.

[Van Huskey]

On the carbide front the best choice for that saw is a Laguna Resaw King in 3/4". It has a .024" gauge backer which keeps the absolute pressue low and also has the benefit of a narrow .041 kerf as well. It arguably leaves the best finish of the resaw blades as well and easy relatively cheap sharpening via Laguna.

I also like the Trimaster and Woodmaster CT from Lenox but the WM only comes in 1" and the Trimaster still has a thicker gauge at 3/4".

The middle ground would be a bi-metal blade, much cheaper than carbide tipped, much longer life than the hardened spring steel like the Woodslicers (Atlanta Sharptech stock) or carbon BUT without reducing the set and resharpening they won't leave as nice of a finish as the Woodslicer and certainly not the carbide blades.

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi John,I did have a 16inch laguna for about 10years.The best blade i ever ran on the saw was the resaw king.I did try the trimaster 1/2 wide the cut was good and it did last.But not as good as the RK blade.I stopped buy the expensive blades because i kept suck small cut off pieces down and bending teeth and kinking the blades.The last blade i bought for the saw was a olsen mvp.025 i think about a four tooth..Its a good blade i think i got from black stone ind. or something like that .The 16 inch laguna ran a 132 inch blade.I did try the bimetal blades thicker than .025 and was not happy with the cut or the noise the blade made running thru the guides.Hope this helps Andrew

[John Coloccia]

I wonder if there's anyone out there that's switched from a 3/4" Woodslicer to a 3/4" Resaw King and can give a comparison for performance and blade life? My blades are 143", which is a $250 Resaw King. For $250, it needs to last over 6 times longer than a Woodslicer just to break even. I wonder if I should just buy a bunch of Woodslicers, especially when you consider occasional damage that can happen for whatever reason.

What does the sharpening cost from Laguna, Van? I'm using my BS enough cost is starting to factor into this sort of stuff. Will I really save money with a Resaw King, especially considering that I'll need two of them (one working while one is being sharpened)?

[Andrew Hughes]

John the resaw king will cut circles around a woodslicer.On good dry stock the finish from a resaw king will sometimes look like it came off the table saw.It will also zip right thru pau ferro all day long.The wood slicer blades i have used would dull quick on most tropical woods.I used to send my RK blades to Daley saw service in Los Angeles they are not a mom a pop shop.I thought they did a better job than laguna.Same price for a 11' was about 65 bucks but they are local for me.Hope this helps

[Van Huskey]

I keep a Woodslicer (technically a Kerfmaster from Spectrum but it is the same Atlanta Sharptech stock) in the uber thin .016 gauge for when I REALLY want to save wood so although I haven't "switch" I have a feeling for what you are asking. A RK or any of the carbide blade will outlast the hardened tooth spring steel blade at least 10-1 and that is being very generous to the spring steel blades. Sharpening is $45 with return shipping, about $55 per if you ship flat rate USPS to them (it comes Fed Ex back) conservatively you can get 3 sharpenings from 1. So you pay for the first one then get 3 more for about $170. That is through Laguna.

If you do a lot of resawing you can't help but save money with the RK. The RK's finish is as good as your feed, hand feeding will not produce a perfect finish, I am sure you can "read" a resaw and can tell everywhere you increased or decreased feedrate and where you stopped to reposition, it isn't as noticable with a ground carbide tipped blade as a set tooth blade but it is still there. You can get true "table saw quality" with a feeder or I suppose if you are perfect with your hand feeding.

Love or hate Torben one has to give him credit for a near perfect resaw blade for the vertical saws we mere mortals own. When Lenox designs a wood resaw blade they are catering to their industrial users. Take for instance their Woodmaster CT which is technically their carbide resaw blade (the Trimaster is a tough metal blade that just happens to do well with wood) it used to only be available in 2" width, from the outside it might appear they were provinding "us" a blade with their 1 and 1 1/4" versions but they were designed for the wood flooring industry to be used for "gang" resawing stock for flooring. In fact I think they have recently quit making the 1 1/4" version since the 1" ended up better for the flooring industry. The RK was engineered for "us" and "our" saws and it shows.

[John Coloccia]

Well, thank you both very much for all of the input. Resaw King it is! This ought to be fun.

[John Coloccia]

I just got off the phone with them. The current deal that they're running for SMC is 50% off the second blade. For me, that works out perfectly well as I was buying 2 anyway (so I could have one while one is out for sharpening), so it's equivalent to the 25% off a single blade. They're also doing $.99 shipping at the moment.

So there you go. Looking forward to my new blades

[John Coloccia]

I would strongly recommend following up your order with phone calls and be sure you get an actual tracking number.

[mreza Salav]

It seems you should follow up with them. I'm still waiting to have my RK blades (ordered on 3rd) to be shipped.
Apparently they have had problems with their welding machines that has been resolved (they kept pushing the shipping date on my and are promising to ship it out today).

[Mike OMelia]

Creekers have always gotten good deals on Resaw King blades. Watch the Deals forum for posts from Tim Lory at Laguna. Not sure if Tim is still working that area, but someone always is.

And, I love my Resaw King blades.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

You guys are starting to sway me . As to sucking small cutoffs into the bandsaw's throat and damaging your blade; a ZCI is inexpensive or easy to make. I use old pegboard scraps but have some plastic ones as well.

[John Coloccia]

So let's talk about blades OTHER than Laguna Resaw King blades. What is the best blade I can put on my BS, other than a Resaw King for resawing?

[Van Huskey]

So let's talk about blades OTHER than Laguna Resaw King blades. What is the best blade I can put on my BS, other than a Resaw King for resawing?

You have a 514 right? Lenox Trimaster, I would probably go with a 3/4" 3TPI (that is a thicker band than the RK) BUT it doesn't come variable tooth, I would rather have the 1" 2/3 Varitooth BUT it will be your call if you want to try it on a G0514 I would be VERY reluctant, you may want to solicit opinions from 514 owners, be aware if their experience is an 1" RK the TM has about 40% more cross section so 40% more pressure to get to the same tension as a 1" RK. Next after that would be the Lenox Woodmaster CT only available in 1" (that will physically fit your saw anyway) and also .035" gauge like the TM so it is a stretch, it is avialable in 1.3 and 2 TPI but not variable pitch.

Better luck!!!

[David Wong]

I use an old Laguna Kerf King (>2 tpi?), and a Lenox Trimaster (3 tpi) for resawing and ripping. Both are very nice blades. The Trimaster cuts is noticeably smoother than than the Kerf King, but the Kerf King will slice through 9" of claro walnut like butter. The Trimaster will cause some burning if I attempt to cut at the same feed rate. I have had no problems tracking with either of these blades. I have only resawn for panels, and not for veneer.