Official Luthiers Forum!

I bought some 8" boards of Coco and am wondering what kind of resaw blade to buy for my 12" Powermatic. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Will it actually fit?

I like the Lenox carbide blades the most. I think mine is a Tri-Master.

I'm not familiar with the saw. Cast iron frame? You probably shouldn't try anything wider than a 3/8" blade. I have
a 1/2" blade on my Delta 14" and can't tension it to more than 60% or so of its desired tension. Still works well though.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Yes, 8" fits after I modified the saw BB guides slightly. It's the old welded square tube saw similar to some of the Jets. Saws very well, and I have sawn 6" ebony with a 3/16" blade, no problem. My main concern was the oilyness of the coco, and buildup. Any reason to by a carbide tipped?

I started with a similar set up. My first thought was a finer tooth blade well NOT !!! . If you are just doing very small amounts any coarse tooth should work. I use the Lennox but the timber wolf blade did the trick. I got the widest one that would fit my saw with I think it was a 2 or 3 tooth per inch. The lennox does have a smaller kerf than the standard steel blades.
It was 8 years ago so my memory is at a disadvantage , but I got it at Grizzly and it was a 3/4 inch blade. Be careful of the dust . Some people are very allergic to the Cocobolo dust .

_________________
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

Carbide tip blades are great and last for ages, especially when resawing the harder woods like coco. Only problem is that small machines like a 12" or even the 14" saw have a very tight radius for the band to follow and the shorter length allows less time for cooling at the same FPI feed rate. These factors combine to fatigues the metal in the band very quickly and the bottom line is that you end up having to toss away all those lovely sharp carbide teeth long before they wear out because the band will begin to crack as it gets more and more brittle.

You may be best sticking with disposable bi-metal me thinks.


Cheers

Kim

John, I would buy a 3-4 tooth blade...I only use 3/16" for mandolins (some very small radii involved there) and it cuts ebony nicely. I can make those 1/32" back veneers for headstocks.
Thanks for the input folks! Believe I will go for a 1/2" 3TPI and try it. I've got a really good dust collector and shop air filters and I will wear my respirator.