Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: life span of a carbide bandsaw blade

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Marlborough, NH
    Posts
    260

    life span of a carbide bandsaw blade

    I've been running a Woodmaster CT 1" on my 20" Agazzani BS. I'm a hobbiest, so infrequent use. I keep it detensioned when not in use. The blade had been on the saw about three years when it broke. It was still sharp and still cut well. I started to hear hear a thunkathunka while resawing, looked for anything wrong in the guide settings (none found), and then shortly after the blade broke. Not at the weld. I got three or four years out of the first identical blade as well. I use the Laguna ceramic guides set close to the blade, but not in constant contact.

    Is this lifespan to be expected, or should consider that I am doing something wrong?

    Thanks,

    Nelson

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    I'm surprised that the blades' end-of-life was work hardening. Mine always get dull before the band breaks. Like you, I'm running the Woodmaster CT.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,647
    I had the exact same thing happen to my 1" CT after only about 18 months on my 17" Grizzly, only mine broke at the weld. I know now that that thunkathunka sound means STOP because the blade is cracked somewhere. I don't know how your blade fared when it broke, but mine was trashed. Inspection showed the weld was poor but I got no satisfaction from the company I bought it from. I'm using a plain old Woodmaster blade right now. Your story (twice over no less) doesn't make me keen to buy another CT although I loved how fast and smoothly it cut.

    FWIW, the Woodmaster 1" x 2 tpi blade cuts surprisingly smoothly. Two passes through the drum sander and it's dead smooth. Of course it's not as fast as the 1.3 tpi CT I had, but it still cuts at an acceptable rate for my hobbiest needs. I tried a 1.3 tpi version, too, but the cut quality is not nearly as good.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    I should have mentioned that my saw is a 16” saw — a Laguna HD16. The theory is that it should work-harden a band faster than your larger-diameter wheels.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Western PA
    Posts
    1,242
    I dont have any experience with the CT, but i do have a resaw king that is about 8+ years old. Its been sharpened a few times, and probably has another one or two sharpenings left in it. Laguna 20" ACM. odd that you keep breaking blades.

    Also, i think the RK is a thinner blade than the CT, right?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Southwestern CT
    Posts
    1,392
    I've been using the 1" Woodmaster CT 1.3 almost exclusively now for the past 3 years at a rate of about one a year. Mine inevitably "hit something" long before they'd get the chance to work harden. It's not the single hit that dooms them, but that seems to accelerate their demise. I keep the old ones around in case I need to cut something sketchy. My saw (Centauro 800) has ~30" wheels so possibly less work hardening.
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Marina del Rey, Ca
    Posts
    1,934
    I've had the same carbide blade on my 20" Agazanni for many years (8?). I keep the saw tensioned at all times. When you start to hear a blade thump, its welded joint has failed.
    "Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
    Posts
    6,926
    I put a Lennox, 1", 2/3 varipitch, TriMaster, on my Rikon 18" bandsaw in 2005. It's still in use today. The bandsaw and blade are only used for resawing. Nothing else. I have a 14" Jet with a riser kit for everything else.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    It might have something to do with the size wheels it bends around. We've resawn something over 10,000 lineal feet of Cypress, making Cypress shingles, and various other small jobs in different types of wood, and mine will still cut smoothly, about as fast as I can push something through it, on my 24" band saw. I thought about ordering another one to have as a backup, but haven't yet. I think it was just a few dollars over 200, which qualified for free shipping, from bandsawbladesdirect. Every blade, of any type, that I've bought from them has had a perfect weld, and I've never had one break.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,647
    That logic is often offered, Tom, and certainly the differential stress is higher the smaller the wheels, but there are lots of folks running the Woodmaster CT on saws like the MM16 w/o breakage. Mine broke at the weld; the rest of the band still looked fine (except for the teeth that got all smashed when it crashed). The OP is using a 20" saw. Others noted no breakage on smaller saws. I think the argument of work hardening is convenient but not a typical failure mechanism.

    John

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Marlborough, NH
    Posts
    260
    Well I guess I'm not alone, then. I had a resaw King on my 16" grizzly, and liked the cut a lot, but found it didn't stay sharp all that long. Which was why I went to the Woodmaster on the Agazzani. But I guess I'll give the Resaw King another try. Just ordered one up. See if I break that too.

    Nelson

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Central WI
    Posts
    5,666
    Although more anecdotal than scientific, I found that my Lenox blades last longer when I tension so they don't spin the back bearing often. I believe the heat generated when relying on the bearing shortened the lives of my carbide blades. Now I seldom touch the back bearing and have run the same blade for years. Dave

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •