Official Luthiers Forum!

Is anyone here on the forum currently using this saw in this configuration. I know this saw will work with the standard carbon steel and bi-metal blades. My interest is in whether or not someone here is successfully using this saw with a 1 inch carbide tipped blade.

Thanks,
Chris

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

Chris, I own that saw and was wandering the same thing as i have had trouble finding those blades in the size i resaw with.Seems they are only made for 1" or wider blades and i only use 1/2" blades for reasawing to get the proper tension on that saw.Also i was concerned about the kerf being larger with carbide blades.

Mark - I own a carbide tipped Tri-master (3/8th's wide) I bought from Louis Iturra and I can tell you from personal experience that it will perform flawlessly on a cast iron framed 14" saw (that's been worked on). I've done some awesome Cocobolo with it and that particular wood, in my opinion, is a benchmark wood. My expectation is that it should perform even better when put on a 14" Rikon Deluxe. That particular blade is actually on sale at Iturra too.

My issue is that I want to run a Woodmaster CT to get a faster feed rate. I'm not going to buy one to test it on my current saw because I don't think my saw will tension it properly, regardless of my upgrades. I have concerns that the Rikon 14" Deluxe will handle this blade. I think it's rated for blades up to 1 inch but tensioning a Timberwolf is the same as tensioning a Lenox 1" Woodmaster CT.

Speaking in general terms the kerf is almost always wider on carbide tipped blades to accommodate the need to have enough 'meat' behind the carbide to hold it properly.

Chris

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

Chris, I don't think our saws are rated for anything over 3/4" blades. The wheels aren't wide enough for any larger. A 1" blade would ride in a bad spot on the wheel giving poor resaw results and would not be very kind on the belts.I'm also concerned about the wider kerf eating away wood on every cut.I know they would give a smoother finish though which might make up for the kerf.

Do you have a link for this? I have a Grizzly G0555X with riser (1.5 HP) and am looking for a good resaw blade to pair with this saw.

Thx!

Glenn

Chris, I run the 1/2" timberwolf blade, and it does a fine job.It's easier on the motor as well because of the thin kerf and that is a good thing for resawing as resawing is very demanding process on any saw.If i were to use a carbide blade on my saw, i would upgrade the tension springs for more tension and maby swap out the motor for a bigger one as well because the larger kerf would be more of a strain on it too.

Louis Iturra - 904-642-2802

He doesn't have a website it's all done over the phone. Great guy to talk with. If you order from him you'll get his catalog and you'll be shocked at the information in it. It's more of a bible.


Mark - you are correct. In my fevered pitch I neglected to check that spec...I just assumed.

With respect to wider kerfs, I can tell you from experience that the resawing I did here recently resulted in NOT having to go to the sander to clean it up. One of my neighbors that thinks he is a woodworking GOD pretty much called me a liar....so I made him sit right next to the saw while I sliced off a piece of Cocobolo and took him down a notch. It's a trade off.

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

I went through about 20 Timberwolf's before I changed my mind. The day I changed my mind
was the day a 1/2 inch Timberwolf decided to go bad right in the middle of a slice on a fantastic Cocobolo billet. In my estimate, that cost me 100 dollars. That ONLY CONSIDERS the value of the back set I lost, not the cost of a new blade etc..etc...etc. In Louis Iturra's estimation a carbide tipped bandsaw blade will last an average of 40 times longer than a bi-metal blade, given certain considerations of course.

So while I am having success resawing on a 14" cast iron bandsaw (with every upgrade you could imagine) with a carbide blade....I am looking for a saw that is more properly rated for the duty. I'm looking for faster feed rates, longer blade life, less headache...etc...

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

1" carbide bands wll not work well on any 14" saw. As Todd pointed out, tension is not the only problem

If you are looking for a good resaw blade to fit a 14" saw, look at the Lenox kerfmaster from Spectrum Supply. In my experience, it lasts longer and cuts better then the timberwolf or Viking bands.

-jd

In steel bands, the change from .025" to .032" happens when you move to 3/4" with the exception of the Timberwolf AS-S 3/4", which is .025. I think that is the max blade you could run on a 14"saw. With a 3/8" carbide blade you get past the tensioning issue, but you still are flexing a .032 band around the small wheels.

Chris says the 3/8"carbide is working great for him, though. So why does he want to go to 1"?

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

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Howard it's a combination issue rather than a single issue. The 3/8th's on my saw makes wonderful cuts - the part I've left out is that one cut takes FOREVER (atleast it does on the Cocobolo)! In addition, I have to really watch the saw closely and try to catch something going out of whack before it actually happens. Not an easy thing to do really when paying attention to the cut is what I should be doing.

So I am looking for a larger blade (like the Woodmaster CT in Iturra's catalog) and another saw to run it. I was trying to get input on the 14" Deluxe Rikon as it relates to this blade....turns out you can only run a 3/4 blade on that saw.

So now I'm looking at the 18" Rikon.

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

I agree on the small 3/8" carbide blade... I would be seriously concerned about kinking it... That takes a whole lot of work on a 1" blade... but you will kink a 3/8" blade if it grabs a piece of wood that isn't supported well...

While the Rikon 10-325 is supposedly a fairly stout saw (I have one that is suffering from a lack of outlets in the basement..)... I don't think it is in the same class as the big industrial saws... I think if I was seriously going to go bigger carbide for heavy duty resaw, etc... I would look into a used big saw. If you check out industrial/commercial equipment auction and resale vendors, you can get ahold of big bandsaws (20-36") and the prices really aren't that astronomical.... just make sure of the power requirements as many take 480/3-phase.

The other option might be the bigger Rikon and Minimax 16" and 20" saws... The wheels are big enough to handle bigger blades, and the frames are stout enough to handle the tension. You would probably need a 50A 220v outlet, but that isn't really too bad...

Thanks

John

Well, you have the right idea: you need a bigger saw in order to do what you want. The original post asked about running a 1" carbide blade on your 14" saw, and then you said the 3/8" blade was performing "flawlessly." Cognitive dissonance, eh?

Even though you can tension the 3/8" blade, you have too many teeth per inch, too small gullets, and are taking too big a kerf for the power of the saw. No wonder you need to go very slow. Not enough saw for the job.

You can run a 3hp motor on a 20amp 220-240V circuit. A 50 amp circuit at 220V will go to about 7-1/2 hp. 3hp is a good motor size for resawing on an 18" saw.

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

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Actually Howard the original post does not ask about "running a 1" carbide blade.." on MY saw. I asked about running a 1" carbide blade on the 14" Rikon Deluxe...which I don't own. Truth is though...I wouldn't have asked this question if I had researched the saw thoroughly enough to discover that Rikon only recommends a max blade width of 3/4 inch. I assumed...and we know how that kind of thing goes.

While I might have issues getting my points across, I am sure I don't have mental issues.

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

I've got the Grizzly G1019X (older 14") with riser and I've had good results with the 1/2" woodslicer. If I had the money I would like to try a carbide tipped blade. I like the timberwolfs for general use but haven't had good luck using them for resawing. My saw is pretty well tuned up and I also installed a stronger tension spring from Iturra.

I would really like to upgrade this saw and have been looking at the 14" Rikon. My problem is that I don't have a lot of room in my shop so the footprint can't grow too much from what I have now. Anyway, good discussion.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

The dissonance was mine, Chris.

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

When all else fails, clean the shop.

That's a good heads-up Filippo. Thanks!

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