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I'm about to do a fair amount of resawing of hard maple, bloodwood, and mahogany and need to know if there is any consensus on bandsaw blade brands.

I have a local friend that says Woodslicer is the ticket but I've heard other names bandied about. Is there anything clearly better than Woodslicer?

Also, my machine can take up to 1" width but is there a definite advantage to any particular width for resawing?

I have a big Rikon.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Woodslicers cut real nice but don't stay sharp for all that long. I haven't got one yet but my next resaw blade will be carbide tipped. I think somebody said Iturra can hook you up with a good one at a fair price. No doubt you'll get some good recommendations from the usual suspects shortly.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Lennox Tri Master which is Carbide Tipped is by for the ultimate (in my opinion), a bit expensive but you will only need to buy one as it will last a very long time and hold it's edge realy well. Next one down from that is thier Bi-Metal blade (Die Master) less expensive but still very good
blade with a very clean cut and also holds it's edge extremly well. I use all of these for resawing as well as the" woodslicer" I feel the wider the resaw blade the better for resawing as it will give you a straighter cut with less deflection in the blade. I feel the "Woodslicer" is also a very good blade won't cost as much as the lennox blades but won't last as long, so it may cost you more in the long run by having to replace it more often. The Woodslicer only goes up to 3/4" in blade width as well, but as I said I use them all so it mostly depends on your budget.
So I rate them as: No1 Lennox Tri-Master, No2 Lennox Die-Master, and No3 Woodslicer.
Bob

I'd be really surprised if the woodslicer made it through one slice of 8" bloodwood. I use the Lenox Woodmaster CT 1.3 TPI
For a smoother finish the Lenox Trimaster is very good. Google Spectrum Supply for a good price.

PS: I wouldn't use anything smaller than 3/4" on that saw.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
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The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

As of Friday last week Iturra was currently waiting on restock for the Wood slicer line. Might have changed by now.

If these are back and side sets do you know approximately how many? I ask because I've had situations where that blade lasted for 12 sets (before replacing).....and then turn around and only do one billet of spruce (and it failed on the last cut). You will attempt to find ways to kick yourself if the blade fails before your billet is finished.

The Rikon can realize the benefit of the 1 inch blade so yes to that part of your question. I run a 1 inch Woodmaster CT on mine for resaw purposes. Just as an aside, Iturra quoted me 118 dollars for a 3/8th's 3/4 tpi carbide blade just last week. I own that blade and can state unequivocally it's the smoothest cutting blade I've ever used. I used it for resaw operations on my old Grizzly 14" saw and while it was slow (on that saw) it ate right through 8 inch Cocobolo. I liked it so much I sent it back to Iturra and had him lengthen it to fit the Rikon.

The Wood Slicer will do it but not without risk (vs. volume). I don't view this blade in a negative light but there needs to be a balance between how much a blade can cut and your expectations.

Chris

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

I was just going to edit my post for this....Thanks UncaBob!

_________________
There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Without hesitation the CT is best, if your saw can handle 1", get it, the kerf is the same as the 3/4, off the top of my head .055. You can approximate a 1/16 loss. Planing losses are minimal if your saw doesn't suffer from vibrations due to beam flex. Run the wood slow with a laterally short fence or consider a resaw powerfeed system. Good luck, T.

Lennox carbide.

Laguna has 3/4" Resaw Kings on right now, 2 for $150. I think it's up to 180 inch. I have a 1" Resaw King and I like it a lot but have not tried any other carbide blades. Very thin kerf. I got 2 sets out of an 11/16" board. I'd like to know others opinion of that blade.

Happy Canada Day!

Danny I have used the Resaw King blade. It is by far the smoothest cutting blade I have ever used.
However the hard dense woods dull it very rapidly. Great for the softer woods like mahogany, walnut and
similar woods. That's a great price for that blade.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I use the Lennox , same as Zootman . I found the other blades can't hold a candle to it. I just cut 100 sets on my lennox and it is still going strong. I use ceramic guides. I can honestly say it is the first Bandsaw rip blade that cut parallel to my rip fence. Cuts African Rosewood like butter.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Nice response guys. Thanks!

That Lenox blade looks good and I found it for $107 at Spectrum which I expect is a pretty good price.

http://www.spectrumsupply.com/band-saw-blades.aspx

I'm not resawing sides or backs. I'm making an electric body from a series of bookmatched laminates. When the front is sculpted the laminates will create two parallel bands of varying width around the body profile. It looks very nice on cad and I expect it will look even better made from wood.

Appreciate the advice!

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

I see that Spectrum Supply has the Woodmaster CT on sale right now. My saw takes a 183 inch blade. It normally cost $180.98. Right now the price is $139.21. I am not sure if they do this all the time, but I have not seen a price this low anywhere else.

Ken

Does anyone know anything about the Woodsaver Plus Thin Kerf Bandsaw Blade from Supercut Bandsaw. I think this is the same carbide impregnated resaw blade that Grizzly sells. Just curious. Want to know all my options.

Ken

The Breadslicer is supposed to be the best thing ever.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

This has been very interesting for me. Can anybody recommend a good resaw blade for a Grizzly Extreme 14" (1.5 HP) with riser? I have a 1/2 3 tpi on there now, but was wondering if anybody feels I can move to a 3/4" carbide blade (and are there any recommendations for 3/4" carbide - is grizzly carbide resaw blades any good? any other?)

Thanks

Glenn

Thanks Todd!

Glenn

I just thought to ask.

I've been assuming that I should use the fast blade speed on the Rikon when resawing.

....but when machining metal, sometimes slower is better so that the tooth gets a better bite. That can help tools stay sharper for MUCH longer.

If I'm not correct someone plz let me know? I'll be using the 1.3 tpi.

Thanks.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Where are people seeing the resaw king blades at two for $150? When I go to the Laguna site I see buy two (at over $190 a piece for 111 inches) and get a third free - Not nearly as good a deal.

Paul

Yup....use the higher blade speed. I've used both settings on more than 1 saw and in all cases felt as though there was a performance gain on the higher speed settings. Incidentally, the higher speed on the Rikon is still not as high on some other saws built for the explicit purpose of resawing.

Chris

_________________
There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

All I can add to this is I have s 1" Laguna Resaw King blade on my Jet 18" and I love it. I don't get to use it much right now, but it's fun when I get to. I was told it would leave a 220-like surface and it lived up to that. Actually I have two of them...