Laguna ResawKing vs Lenox Woodmaster CT

[Jamie Buxton]

I’ve been using the Resaw King on my bandsaw for several years. I use the saw primarily for resawing hardwoods. I do a lot of bandsaw veneering. I’ve used up three Resaw Kings, so I’m pretty well-calibrated on them. When the last one died, I decided to try a Woodmaster CT. I’ve had it for a couple weeks now. Here’s some comparisons….

The Woodmaster CT cost me $125. (My saw takes a 144” blade.) The Resaw King has had a recent price hike, and would now cost $250.

The Woodmaster CT is 1.3 tpi, whereas the Resaw King is 2 tpi. As you might expect, the Resaw King has a slightly smoother cut face, but the Woodmaster requires less feed pressure for a given feed rate. Both blades give a remarkably smooth cut compared to conventional steel blades.

The CT has teensy carbide tips. They’re about .04” deep. The Resaw King’s tips are about .15” deep. My Resaw Kings have been resharpened five times or so before they run out of tip. Resharpening helps amortise the initial purchase price. The CT also has unusual tip shapes. A full-kerf-width tooth is alternated with a narrower tooth. This too may present challenges to a resharpener.

According to dealers, the CT has carbide tips. Lenox itself seems silent on the issue; the Woodmaster CT does not appear on Lennox’s site. Laguna is not clear what the Resaw King is tipped with. IIRCC, the introductory ads said “carbide”. The web site now says “C-8 steel”. Their reps say “carbide alloy”, but fail to be any more specific than that. (The carbide on woodworking tools is tungsten carbide particles cemented together by cobalt. That is, all carbide tools are actually carbide alloys. Steel, in contrast, contains iron, carbon, and many possible alloying metals. Steel is not carbide, or vice versa.)

The CT has a band thickness of .035”, whereas the Resaw King is .025”. On my 16” saw, this may be an issue. One of my Resaw Kings failed from work-hardening of the band. The thicker CT band might fail faster. The CT has a nominal kerf width of .051”, while the Resaw King is .042”. I don’t think this will make much difference in my use.

On the initial analysis, the CT is the better value. The performance is very similar, and the cost is half of the Resaw King. Of course, the big question is lifetime. How many miles will I get before the teeth dull or the band work-hardens to death? If the blade has only half the life of the Resaw King, the purchase price difference washes out. I’ll repost when I know more.

[Dave Tinley]

Jamie-
I know this is an old post from you but I found it via Google.
I am wondering if you have any updates on the Woodmaster CT. IE-How you like it ? Is the cut still good? Etc-
Also, who do you use to resharpen your bandsaw blades?
I have a tri-master that nobody locally can resharpen.

Thanks
Dave

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Laguna is not clear what the Resaw King is tipped with.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
That's laguna.

[Jamie Buxton]

Dave, the CT is still running okay. It only has a couple months on it, so I would have been surprised if any wear showed up. I also would have posted that to this thread.

As for sharpening carbide bandsaw blades, I've had Laguna sharpen my Resaw Kings. I don't know of any shop which sharpens Trimasters. I've asked this question before ---http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=39110&highlight=sharpen+trimaster

[Jamie Buxton]

It is now a year since I put my Woodmaster CT into service, so it is time for an update. The blade is still going strong. There's no sign of work-hardening, and the teeth are still sharp.

It is clearly a better value than the Resaw King.

[Rob Wright]

Great write-up and comparison. Thanks for the insight into these two and following up on the CT- I have been looking at both of them for my 16" Griz.

- Rob

[Andrew Joiner]

Thanks Jamie,

So 1- CT lasts as long as how many Resaw Kings with out sharpening 2 or 3?

Is it fair to say the CT now roughly 1/2 used up and somewhat dulled,cuts smoother than a 1/2 used up King? This is a key to value of course. Another way to ask is does cut smoothness drop faster on either blade? On my TS blades I don't really notice much drop in smoothness as they age, but do notice I have to feed slower.

Also what saw do you have? What species have you been resawing? If one blade sawed more abrasive woods it may skew the value opinion.

Thanks for keeping us updated!

[Chris Padilla]

I'll post my usual displeasure of my Woodmaster CT. The only reason I got it was that it is cheaper than the Trimaster and has a slightly smaller kerf (0.051" vs 0.063") and I'm on a mission to find the ulitmate veneer resaw blade that maximizes yield of veneer from a plank of wood.

I have a Minimax 20" bandsaw, euro guides, and have been resawing lottsa ~3/32" walnut veneers for my Tansu project and then drum sanding them down to 1/16". The MM20 takes a 168" (14') long blade.

My blades I've used for resawing veneers:

Lenox Trimaster 1" : 2/3 var tpi, 1/16" kerf, carbide
Lenox Diemaster2 1/2": 6 tpi hook, 0.035" kerf, bimetal
Lenox Woodmaster CT 1": 1.3 tpi, 0.051" kerf, carbide

In my experience, I've found the Woodmaster CT to leave a much rougher cut over the Trimaster and the Diemaster2. The Diemaster2 costs ~20% of the Trimaster and CT (roughly). By my best estimates, the Diemaster2 is pretty darn close to the type of blade David Marks like to use to resaw veneers on Woodworks.

[Mike Heidrick]

My MM20 uses 171" blades (newer saw maybe). I will get pictures up of all three blades as well if folks want to see them.

I have:
Lenox Trimaster
Woodmaster CT
Resaw King
and heck I will get the Diemaster 2 up as well

Mikie

[Chris Padilla]

Mike,

How would you rate the blades?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have a tri-master that nobody locally can resharpen.
Thanks
Dave

Contact these people:
http://www.hastingssaws.com/
I hear they sharpen the Tri-Master blades

[Jamie Buxton]

One more update on the Woodmaster CT. I've declared it used up. The blade still cut, but it took more feed pressure, and the quality of cut became more like a standard steel blade. So the blade lasted about a year and a half in my usage, with no sharpenings. The Resaw Kings would have been getting sharpened every three or four months, and would by now have been getting to the end of their lifetime too. The Resaw King for my saw costs $290 (incl S&H), and a sharpening costs about $50 including shipping. The Woodmaster CT costs $111 (incl S&H). So the total lifetime cost of the Resaw King is about 5 times that of the Woodmaster CT! Needless to say, the replacement blade I bought is a Woodmaster CT.


One more thing... When I bought the first Woodmaster CT, the Lennox site didn't mention it. They've finally updated their site, and this blade is now listed.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/1_carbide_blades.asp

[Andrew Joiner]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton
One more update on the Woodmaster CT. I've declared it used up. The blade still cut, but it took more feed pressure, and the quality of cut became more like a standard steel blade. So the blade lasted about a year and a half in my usage, with no sharpenings. The Resaw Kings would have been getting sharpened every three or four months, and would by now have been getting to the end of their lifetime too. The Resaw King for my saw costs $290 (incl S&H), and a sharpening costs about $50 including shipping. The Woodmaster CT costs $111 (incl S&H). So the total lifetime cost of the Resaw King is about 5 times that of the Woodmaster CT! Needless to say, the replacement blade I bought is a Woodmaster CT.
One more thing... When I bought the first Woodmaster CT, the Lennox site didn't mention it. They've finally updated their site, and this blade is now listed.
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Thank you Jamie for keeping track of all this!

Laguna say's here:http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=122393
"The Resaw King tips are a Carbide Alloy. They contain just enough high grade steel to allow bonding to the bandstock, and resharpening, but really primarily Carbide."

Your test indicates the alloy that Laguna uses dulls MUCH quicker. It sounds like it's not even a close call between the CT and the (I can't call it a King anymore!) Laguna blade.

Did you cut similar clean dry wood with each blade?
Did the Laguna cut WAY smoother after each sharpening?

Please keep us posted. If you get the CT resharpened please let us know how that works out.

[Jamie Buxton]

Did you cut similar clean dry wood with each blade?
Did the Laguna cut WAY smoother after each sharpening?

Please keep us posted. If you get the CT resharpened please let us know how that works out.

Yes, I only cut clean dry wood, and the species are comparable.

The Laguna's signal that it needs sharpening is that the blade starts wandering in the cut, and it starts burning the wood. After a good resharpening, it returns to like-new behavior.

I didn't even try to find a sharpener for the CT. The carbide tips are teeny -- perhaps .05"x.05"x.05". There's just no material there to sharpen. Furthermore, the CT has a triple-chip teeth, so there are two different sharpening profiles for the teeth. I can't imagine anybody could sharpen it for a reasonable cost.