Tensioning resaw blades on 14" bandsaw

[Victor Robinson]

I know the rule for resawing is to get the widest blade your bandsaw will tension.

I also know there's considerable disagreement on whether a 14" bandsaw (e.g. my G0555) will be able to tension a 3/4" blade. Tim from Laguna, for example, had assured me in a PM that the 3/4" Resaw King will work on my saw. Based on others' experiences with it, I'm a little hesitant.

On Van's recommendation I checked out the Lenox blades. The Kerfmaster looks pretty good. I was hoping to get a 5/8" thin kerf (.016)...I'm going to be resawing a bunch of exotics so the thinner the kerf, the better (not that there is a huge difference between .016 and the more standard .022).

If my saw can properly tension 1/2", but maybe not 3/4", 5/8" should be ok?

[Howard Acheson]

I have the same saw. I tried both a 3/4" blade and a 1/2" resaw blade. The 1/2" worked fine while the 3/4" wiggled around the resaw line no matter how I tried to adjust it. The bandsaw gurus like Bird and Duginske say that the crowned tires on most aisian bandsaws do not give as consistant support to blades wider than 1/2".

My thought is that if the 3/4" blade does not give materially better performance it's not worth the extra price and hassle.

[Victor Robinson]

I have the same saw. I tried both a 3/4" blade and a 1/2" resaw blade. The 1/2" worked fine while the 3/4" wiggled around the resaw line no matter how I tried to adjust it. The bandsaw gurus like Bird and Duginske say that the crowned tires on most aisian bandsaws do not give as consistant support to blades wider than 1/2".

My thought is that if the 3/4" blade does not give materially better performance it's not worth the extra price and hassle.

But....but....5/8"?

[Van Huskey]

You have 2 things that are an issue the actual blade width and the tensioning ability.

First on tensioning you want about 15,000 psi but remember the thicker the beam of the blade the more tension you need BUT since you are using a very thin kerfed (and thus beamed) blade there will be more tension in psi on the blade with the saw set to the same tension on the indicator as you would get with a blade having a thicker beam. So although I didn't do the calculation you should be able to tension this thin blade fine on your saw.

Second, you have the tracking issue, this is a tougher one since it will vary from brand to brand, vintage to vintage and saw to saw. My gut feeling is that if you have a pretty easy time tracking a 1/2" blade you will "probably" be fine. Given that you aren't looking at a blade with the price of a 3/4" carbide resaw blade I would say try it since I am pretty sure you should be fine.

I know some have had good luck with the Resaw King on a 14" cast saw, a Delta "clone" just can't get near 25,000 psi on a 3/4" carbide blade which is what you want for the blade. It would be a little too much money for me to put into a blade that by definition the saw couldn't properly use.

[Myk Rian]

I really don't see any need for wider than a 1/2" blade.
They work for me.
Seeing as it's a thinner blade, It's really up to you if you want to be a Guinea pig for us. I would suspect the saw will tension it just fine. Please report your findings if you go with it.

[Mike Leung]

I have some experience with this issue. I tried different bands and the thinner bands at around .025 will be fine. I now have a resaw king 1" .0235" thick and a .041 kerf on my 14". This blade works perfectly for resawing. Laguna just sent me a couple of RK blades but the band thickness is .035 and it does not work on my saw. If the beam is thin, you should not have a problem with 3/4.

[Victor Robinson]

I really don't see any need for wider than a 1/2" blade.
They work for me.
Seeing as it's a thinner blade, It's really up to you if you want to be a Guinea pig for us. I would suspect the saw will tension it just fine. Please report your findings if you go with it.

Alright, you know what? For as cheap as the 5/8" .016 Kerfmaster is, I WILL be your guinea pig.

[Mike Minto]

i use a 5/8 myself, based mostly on what blade manufacturers have told me, and from reading other posts here. the 5/8 has served me very well, even for cutting blanks from logs.

[Pete Bradley]

I know the rule for resawing is to get the widest blade your bandsaw will tension.

You'll hear that a lot, but the real "rule" is to run the band that gives the best resaw on your machine. Often that's not the same thing.

On your machine, I expect you'll find that a 1/2" 3TPI (or even 4 for hardwoods and no riser) works well and likely best. That's mostly what I run for resaw on my 20" old iron Delta (and that includes max height resaws - 13" on that machine).

Pete