Let's talk about resaw/rip Bandsaw blades

[John Coloccia]

So for those who have used a Woodslicer and a Resaw King, how would you compare the feed pressures? I'm finding I have to push hard....very hard, actually....to get anywhere with the RK. Is that normal? The WS cut everything like a hot knife through butter. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the thinner kerf?

It seems as though I can apply more than enough tension. I have two blades here. One of them seems to be OK. The other one is all over the place. It suffers from a MASSIVE amount of twisting and drift. I still can't get it cutting well. The good one seemed to cut OK right out of the chute without doing anything special. Anyhow, just trying to get an idea what I should be seeing.

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi,John sorry to hear about you cs experience with Laguna tools.The rk blades I have used in the past should cut fast just as fast as wood slicer unless they have changed the grind on them.I did get a blade from Laguna that was properly sharpened and they did correct it.sounds like they owe you a blade a fresh one.I dont live too far from Laguna tools so it's not too much trouble dealing with them.But I can understand how much trouble it is for you wish I could help more. Andrew

[Van Huskey]

First, on the tension side I am of the same school as Dave, in that I like a lot of tension (28,000-29,000) PSI on a carbide blade. If you assume the spring is linear then it is going to move the gauge on the saw about twice as much as a Woodslicer of the same width.

Second, in terms of feed pressure, the pressure will be more than a fresh Woodslicer, the WS is thinner kerf and it is much sharper than the carbide tips. For a comparison it should feed about like a 3TPI 3/4-1" carbon blade.

Third, check the welds carefully especially since the machine had had issues.

Fourth, how is the finish?

[John Coloccia]

First, on the tension side I am of the same school as Dave, in that I like a lot of tension (28,000-29,000) PSI on a carbide blade. If you assume the spring is linear then it is going to move the gauge on the saw about twice as much as a Woodslicer of the same width.

Second, in terms of feed pressure, the pressure will be more than a fresh Woodslicer, the WS is thinner kerf and it is much sharper than the carbide tips. For a comparison it should feed about like a 3TPI 3/4-1" carbon blade.

Third, check the welds carefully especially since the machine had had issues.

Fourth, how is the finish?

I checked the welds first thing. They're dead nuts. Very nice welds, actually...I wish all of my blades came like that. Blade #1 is a basket case and it is unusable. The drift is absolutely massive and it required a tremendous amount of feed pressure to cut. Blade #2 cuts OK under 3 or 4 inches, but bows and wanders badly past that. I sliced off a bunch of nice 2" tall Yucatan Rosewood veneers. Again, it requires a good deal of feed pressure, though less than #1. I practically have to lean my whole body into it to cut through 7" of figured maple (that would be soft maple). It's scary, actually. I'll try one more time to crank the tension way way up (though I've tried that already), but I'm afraid I'll brake the blade and then I'll really be up a creek. I'll put one turn on the wheel and see where we end up.

re: the finish
The finish on #2 has marks in it and is wavy. It cut through a 3" or 4" piece of cherry nicely.

Off to test. Thanks for the help.

[David Kumm]

sounds to me like the grind is bad. I've heard of inconsistencies before but thought that had been resolved. It should work so well you don't question it. Dave

[John Coloccia]

Well, I just contacted them to see if there's anything they'd like me to try on the #2 blade. I'd love to have it work and have the kind of performance others get out of it. It's just seeming like the stars just aren't aligned on this one, for whatever reason.

[Phil Thien]

Well, I just contacted them to see if there's anything they'd like me to try on the #2 blade. I'd love to have it work and have the kind of performance others get out of it. It's just seeming like the stars just aren't aligned on this one, for whatever reason.

Is there any chance the blade is inside-out so the teeth are upside down? Just thought I'd ask.

[John Coloccia]

Ha ha....nope What's bothering me is they both drift to the right....one more strongly than the other...and it doesn't seem to matter where I track it. Normally I can dial it in with tacking and get it dead nuts.

[mreza Salav]

Your experience with the cut quality is making me concerned as my RK blades are in transit to a friends place in US whom will ship it to me in Canada.
I hope your problems sort out and that I don't need to deal with those sort of problems.

[John Coloccia]

Everyone else seems to have no problems. I think there's a little dark cloud over my head on this one.

[bob hertle]

John,
You're a better man than I am to be able to put a "ha, ha" and a smiley face in your post, under the circumstances. Those blades are just too expensive to have cr*p like this happen! I agree with Van and David that higher tension is in order, I run a Trimaster at 25-30,000 psi. But it sounds to me like you got blades that were either not finish ground, or ground improperly. My experience with the Trimaster, was higher feed force than I was used to with a 3T carbon or bimetal blade. Higher, but not that much higher. The trimaster cuts about the same kerf as my 3T hook 3/4 bimetal blade, resulting in about the same feed force. My 1/2" 3T Olson blades cut with probably 25% less feed force out of the box. The Olsons cut with even less feed force after I modify them, and cut almost as smooth as the Trimaster. All I do to them is touch the face only of each tooth at 6.5 degrees with a 60 grit resinoid bond wheel. This is done very precisely, and quickly in an indexing fixture in a tool and cutter grinder. That lowly little 1/2" 3T blade has become my favorite! I will probably never buy another Trimaster, and certainly not a RK in light of your experience. I find the Olsons have better set control than the recent Lenox bimetal blades I've bought. I've painstakingly measured the set on the last 3 Lenox blades, and found several "errant" teeth--around .005-.007". Those errant teeth will ruin a finish. The Olsons, by contrast measure consistently within .002. Interestingly, DoAll used to guarantee set within .002". My sawn surfaces will usually clean up with 2 or 3 strokes of a cabinet or card scraper. Again, these blades are run at 25-30,00 psi, and I've never, ever had to "adjust for drift", which I believe is a band-aid for some other deficiency in the machine or setup.

Just rambled too long!

Bob

[John Coloccia]

It seems like I'm getting this periodic vibration, and it leaves behind these deep, diagonal lines. I end-up with these periodic columns of diagonal marks in the wood, almost like a hatching pattern. It's quite bizarre. Maybe that will help diagnose what's going on? At this point I don't think it's too low tension. I have GOBS of tension on it. Let me see if I can post a picture.

[Howard Klepper]

One of the best kept secrets in resawing wood is the Lennox Aluminum Master. It has a narrower kerf (.042" iirc) than the Woodmaster and Trimaster. Triple chip grind teeth. Takes a smoother cut than either the Trimaster or Woodmaster. Less aggressive, so you feed a little slower. But I think most of us here are looking more for maximum yield rather than maximum speed.

[John Coloccia]

OK, so I'm convinced I just got a bad batch...nothing more, nothing less. I've made boo boos too, and so have you, so don't read too much into it. I'm annoyed at how the rest went down, but I can't ding them too badly for this because I make mistakes too. I put my dulling Woodslicer back on, and it still slices through 8" maple with hardly any force at all. I have to lean on the RK to the point that I use a push stick starting off the table for fear that I'll run my hand into the blade. I've seen videos of people using this blade, and no one seems to be using that much force. I think the excessive feed pressure is what's causing all of my problems.

I'm going to put the RK back on in a bit. I just really want to convince myself that's the problem. What's funny is that it actually seemed to cut better with less tension, not more. Not sure why that is...completely counterintuitive to me. I will say this...in the areas that don't have the chatter and the waviness/drifting problem, the finish is very very very good. Probably better than off a planer because there's no scalloping. If I can really get that consistently, it's worth a bit of work. The finish off the Woodslicer always has tooth marks in it. Very minor ones...just sand them out really quickly, but they're there. Off the RK, I could take the "good" areas and go immediately to glue up if I really wanted to.

[John Coloccia]

OK...I'm crosseyed. Put the RK back on and I don't know what the deal with #1 is, but #2 is definitely a bad weld. Back and forth, back and forth....Grrrr. I though I checked that. Someone even mentioned it, and I said Yah Yah I checked...what do ya' think, I'm dumb? Of course I checked. LOL. I think I did on #1 but not on #2.