Bandsaw Blades

[John Petsche]

What bandsaw blade have you been able to get the cleanest rip cuts as close to table-saw quality as possible? I have been looking at the 3/4" wood-slicer blade or 3/4" Laguna carbide resaw blade. I welcome any recommendations or reference cut pictures. Thanks!

[Dan Lambert]

I've been using wood slicer blades for years, and have always been happy with their performance. I won't say that the cut is as clean as a table saw, but it iw quite acceptable for what I use it for. I will typically cut a little oversized, and then plane the pieces to final dimension.

[Jim Becker]

The only band I've ever used that could get "reasonably close" to a table saw quality cut was the carbide tipped Lennox...that I unfortunately buggered years ago and haven't replaced. The downside to these blades is that they require a "lot of saw" to run and honestly, the 1" I owned pushed the limits of my MM16 due to wheel diameter and tensioning. While I do rip more often with my bandsaw these days, I consider it a rough cut and clean it up afterward. I don't really get creative with bands, finding it more convenient to just keep either a 1/2" or a 3/8" low TPI band on the saw for general purpose cutting, including reasonable resawing. I only pull out a specialty band if I'm going to resaw something taller than about 4-6".

[John Petsche]

Do you think the Powermatic PM1500 could tension a 3/4" lenox carbide blade well? What lenox blade model were you using Jim?

[Jim Becker]

Do you think the Powermatic PM1500 could tension a 3/4" lenox carbide blade well? What lenox blade model were you using Jim?

The answer to your first question is "maybe"...I'm not really familiar with that saw. To the second question, it was a Lenox Tri-Master which is a heavier blade. I think that they have a less demanding blade available, but I haven't personally checked into it. Woodmaster CT maybe?

[Derek Cohen]

As far as I know, The Lenox Woodmaster CT starts at 1". There is nothing smaller.

This is a typical cut using my Hammer N4400 bandsaw. The wood is Jarrah (very hard, very dry) ...





Regards from Perth

Derek

[Curt Harms]

The answer to your first question is "maybe"...I'm not really familiar with that saw. To the second question, it was a Lenox Tri-Master which is a heavier blade. I think that they have a less demanding blade available, but I haven't personally checked into it. Woodmaster CT maybe?

Lenox makes a 1/2" .025" thickness 3 T.P.I. Tri-master. That's the same width and thickness as common 1/2" bands. I'm tempted but at $160 for 111" I'm not too tempted. They do sell 3/8: .032 thickness as well. Toolcenter. com. I don't know what other widths they sell in longer lengths.

[Jim Becker]

Lenox makes a 1/2" .025" thickness 3 T.P.I. Tri-master. That's the same width and thickness as common 1/2" bands. I'm tempted but at $160 for 111" I'm not too tempted. They do sell 3/8: .032 thickness as well. Toolcenter. com. I don't know what other widths they sell in longer lengths.

I don't remember what I paid for the TriMaster back in about 2004, but it wasn't chump-change even though I got a decent price from SCM/Minimax for it. And my bands are 145". I'm sure anyone can appreciate how I felt when I buggered it good due to my own stupidity. I may look into that half-inch version you mention as I'm going to need bands soon and with the guitar stuff may start cutting more veneery-things.

[John TenEyck]

You can get a Woodmaster CT in 3/4" x 2 tpi. My friend has one on his MM16. If you price compare the CT is far cheaper than the Trimaster. Not saying it's better, but it's definitely cheaper. The cheapest place I've found to buy Lennox blades is Spectrum Supply.

As for glue ready straight off the bandsaw, well, maybe. I get veneer just like what Derek showed but I don't consider that glue ready though some do. A bandsaw is always going to struggle to do what a tablesaw inherently does well. You might get a few perfect cuts and call them good enough to glue up w/o further attention, but the odds are poor that it will continue to give that quality when you start to hit uneven grain or the blade dulls just a little.

John

Sorry, I was mistaken. The Woodmaster CT does not come in a 3/4" band; 1" is the narrowest offered. 2 tpi is available, however.
John

[Erik Loza]

In order of preference:

-Woodmaster CT
-Trimaster
-Diemaster 2

All will give the result you are after. Just a matter of what your machine will tension properly and your budget. Hope this helps.

Erik

[Patrick Curry]

Do you think the Powermatic PM1500 could tension a 3/4" lenox carbide blade well? What lenox blade model were you using Jim?

Cant say for certain...meaning I read it somewhere or imagined I read it...but the Laguna Resaw King is a bit easier to size up. Maybe the thickness of the band as compared to other similar width blades?
Whether that’s true or not the resaw king cuts well. It’s expensive but can be resharoened a few times.

[Derek Cohen]

It’s expensive but can be resharoened a few times.

I am on my second Woodmaster CT. The first one I managed to sharpen 5 times (doing the sharpening myself).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John Petsche]

Thanks for the great recommendations. It is nice to hear some feedback on an item before shelling out $$.

[lowell holmes]

I bought a box of blade from Amazon. I am happy with them.

[Dave Cav]

I use a 1" WM CT and get results identical to Derek's. A pass or two through the widebelt cleans things right up. The one on the saw is on it's second sharpening. I send them to a place in California, would have to look it up.