Official Luthiers Forum!

With all the bandsaw blade discussion going on, who has a recommendation for general purpose 14" blades? The one major tool purchase I've got left on my list will be a serious bandsaw in the future, but for now I'm working with a Harbor Freight model. It works and is generally considered a great bang-for-buck model, although it does have its limitations. I've had it for several years now and have no great complaints. It makes a blade go roundy-round.

I've considered adding a riser block and trying my hand a resawing with it. I know some that have had some success, although it is known to be underpowered for resawing. I'll probably just save my money for the day that I can afford my dream saw, but I'm still considering it. A riser block mod is pretty cheap.

_________________
Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Thank you Fillipo

DELETED !!!!!

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Wes, I have a really cheap and underpowered 14 inch bandsaw. I found a riser kit on ebay for pretty cheap and am glad I did. I did have to saw off the indexing pins because they didn't line up, but once I torqued the bolt down, it stayed put without them. The blade that came with the kit was pretty much junk but with the right blade, I was able to resaw 9 inch walnut fairly easily with a 1/2 hp motor. I have not tried to do really hard stuff at that thickness though (I did do about 5 inch osage). If you try it, a few tips:

Be very careful about setup, if your saw is like mine, you won't be able to get away with sloppy setup. . .

Don't assume you want to use a 3/4 or 5/8 inch blade. I found that I got better results with a 1/2 inch blade. I was not able to tension the wide blade properly with my frame. The thinner blade made set up much easier.

Hey Wud, that is good to know! To avoid trouble, I'll contact you offline as the spring gathering nears.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Is business that bad? Cannot afford to advertise? What message does that send to our sponsors? That they are wasting their money? I admit it. I'm not terribly pleased with the bashing of Laguna, and the way this has turned into a promotion of of your product. And NONE of this has anything to do with building guitars. I've done a little research myself. What you guys are saying and doing is not fair or in the best interests of this site. If you make one penny after all this is said and done, you have made it unfairly, at the expense of this site, and by successfully bashing a competitor.

Good for you. Why did I know this was where this was all heading? For the rest of you who have not made up there minds based on this shameless bashing and self promotion, Laguna is currently researching this problem, and planning on testing to verify the claims. They are also researching the purchase dates of all the blades they can. Older blades, as in, say, 2004 do not represent current technology.

Mike

Mike

I think that is a bit harsh Mike.

What is the difference between sending some to Iturra and pointing out that someone on the site sells stuff.

Like you said this has nothing to do with guitar making, so the choice of advertising dollars has to be spent wisely.

This specific thread has nothing to do with the Laguna resaw blades. This is for those of us who just need a basic throw away blade for our underpowered 14" bandsaws. If we have a local guy on our site who can sell or advise, I want to know about it. That supports a good community, which supports health for the site.

I for one have been using the Timberwolf blades from woodcraft. They are better than the Bosch blade I first used (which gets a giant thumbs down), but I need to work on my saw setup before I can say more.

John

.

Thats it , IM DONE !!

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Harsh? No. Labeling a thread as "Laguna blades are the reference for garbage blades" on the open builder's forum is harsh, unjustified, and off topic. Filippo and others feel that they can do and say as they please around here without having to face opposing views (or that anyone with an opposing view is a jerk). Also, there is a classifieds forum for selling. I stand by what I said. And there was quite a bit of discussion some time ago about selling on the open forum. Maybe you were not around for it. We all make (or could make) sellable stuff and would love to have this audience for a market. But for our sponsors who play by the rules, that just would not be fair.

Mike

Mike if you have brakes time to use them.

Harsh? - maybe but it's still an opinion and it shouldn't be censored. I for one agree with him.

Unjustified? - whether or not Filippo was justified isn't really up to you since you are a few hundred miles away and can't speak first hand to his experience. The basis of your assertion is flawed at it's root.

Off topic? - the largest stretch of logical thinking I've seen in a while. The man's bandsaw blade was dull right out of the box...and he wasn't the only one. To think that bandsaw blades, or their condition, are off topic is to think that guitars don't need necks or sound boxes.

AND...Filippo didn't tell you or anyone else they couldn't post an opposing view in that thread or any other thread.

Slow down. You've been a contributor for a while. Stay that way.

Here ends my opposing view.



BTW - Wudwerker...stop being DONE!!!!!

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

I am not wrong in my assertions. I believe had Filippo chosen to make his comments in the off-topic forum... no problem. I have said many times that bashing a manufacturer on the open forum is bad form... you never know who MIGHT want to be a sponsor. I vehemently disagree with his assertions. So, one of must be wrong. Either they are garbage and will only make four passes through figured wood or they will do much better than that, as has been my experience. Who is right?

Bashing a manufacturer is off-topic. Harsh, yes, I disagree with him and you. So what you are saying is your brand new, bought in the last year blade sucks. Right? Or are you saying that it was not re-sharpened to your expectations? I'm confused on this point. Unjustified? Well, when we know when these poor performing blades were purchased, we will have a better picture of the problem. As for me staying a contributor, don't worry about it... unless you are trying to tell me something I missed.

Mike

I have talked to Lance about sponsering , and yes since 09 business HAS been that bad . We are a 2 man 1 woman Minority owned business struggling to survive in a bad economy . I have looked into getting a website , its not cheap .

I agree that we need to be fair to sponsers , however I havent offered anything that a sponser sells thus far and have NEVER openly tried to undercut ANY sponser .

Why am I done , because life is to short to be tied up in this petty BS !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Oh please.

I need to purchase bandsaw blades for a 14" Rigid with a riser block. I appreciate hearing feedback, both positive and negative, on the performance of tools and blades. In my mind, it's a major benefit of participating in forums like this. If someone is putting out a bad product or inconsistent product or still selling product mfg'd in 2004........I want to know before I place an order.

With that said, let's get back to the topic of this thread.......what is a good blade for general purpose work and resaw using a 14" bandsaw like many hobbyist own?

_________________
Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Woodmaster CT, or 3/4" Resaw King from Laguna

Make sure your saw can handle 3/4"

BTW, nobody is putting out blades made in 2004.

Mike

Yes yes yes.

_________________
Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I've always heard that the 14" saws can't handle the tension of a 3/4" blade.

_________________
Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I'm a big fan of the Timberwolf blades. I typically stock a 3/8" blade for general purpose work and a 1/2" 3 to 4 tpi blade for re-saw.

Actually, I currently have a 3/4" blade for re-saw but I've found that the 1/2" actually works better. I know that surface area is not supposed to impact friction but I don't think the same mechanism is going on when resawing wood. It seems to me that the wider blades create more drag which is a bigger factor on low power re-saws (i.e. <3hp). When it wears out, I'll be returning to a 1/2" blade.

I've found that if you take your time getting the drift to about zero, the 1/2" plows through the wood more easily than the 3/4", at least on little saws with no loss in cut quality.

As to the riser block - my recommendation would be to skip it. I had a Jet knockoff of the Delta and while I was able to resaw up to 8", it took a lot of time and effort to get things lined up and still was very difficult. I've since switched to the Rikon 14" and it's well up to the task of re-sawing, at least at the volumes I'm doing. If I was resawing a lot, I'd go for an 18" 3hp or more saw.

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

I started this topic. I welcome any feedback in regard to the topic. If someone wants to start a new topic about forum politics or whatever, I respectfully ask that they go do so and keep it out of this one. Thank you.

And thank you to everyone for their input regarding 14" band saw blades. Please continue to do so.

_________________
Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

[/quote]

Another reason I like the Timberwolf - according to their instructions, you only need to tighten the blade until all fluttering goes away. I usually give it a crank or two extra just to be safe.

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

You might be right. I think I recall that as well. Sorry, I am not a 14" user. That for sure throws the RK out.

Hutch, I'm not sure about all 14" saws, but mine (Buffalo [Delta clone] with riser block) cannot. I was surprised to find that I can resaw much better with a 1/2 blade.


As to the rest of this thread, I should probably keep my mouth shut but. . . I didn't read much of the Laguna thread because it didn't really apply to my saw; I don't know what happened over there to start all this, but something tells me this is not about bandsaw blades or sponsors at all. It's a real shame too, now I feel afraid to ask about certain blades for fear of causing more trouble (I'm sure other readers do too). The great thing about fora like this is the exchange of experiences. It is up to the reader to make up his or her mind about how to interpret the information.

Bryan

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Which style TW blade? VPC seems like the right choice but I don't really know.

I'm a big fan of the Timberwolf blades. I typically stock a 3/8" blade for general purpose work and a 1/2" 3 to 4 tpi blade for re-saw.

Actually, I currently have a 3/4" blade for re-saw but I've found that the 1/2" actually works better. I know that surface area is not supposed to impact friction but I don't think the same mechanism is going on when resawing wood. It seems to me that the wider blades create more drag which is a bigger factor on low power re-saws (i.e. <3hp). When it wears out, I'll be returning to a 1/2" blade.

I've found that if you take your time getting the drift to about zero, the 1/2" plows through the wood more easily than the 3/4", at least on little saws with no loss in cut quality.

As to the riser block - my recommendation would be to skip it. I had a Jet knockoff of the Delta and while I was able to resaw up to 8", it took a lot of time and effort to get things lined up and still was very difficult. I've since switched to the Rikon 14" and it's well up to the task of re-sawing, at least at the volumes I'm doing. If I was resawing a lot, I'd go for an 18" 3hp or more saw.[/quote]

_________________
Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

That's the same saw I have. I knew that it could accept a 3/4" blade but I didn't really beleive it could handle it. I guess you are having good luck using 3/4" blades with a riser block? I should get a riser if that's the case. Where did you get yours? I'll do a search.

_________________
Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I think you are right Fillipo, that is why I listed my saw type. I am sure it is a tension problem probably from flex in the column.

I can't complain about my piece of junk buffalo though. I got it from craigslist for $40 and got a bunch of free jatoba with it. Another $50 for a riser kit and I am able to resaw (albeit slowly) backs in woods like black walnut. I haven't had the need to try harder stuff, but I bet with a struggle, I can do it.

Hutch, I bought the sample pack of KerfMaster blades for not too much money but I can't remember which one I ended up liking the best. My shop is out of commission right now so I can't get to where I wrote down which one I liked.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

The general consensus I have seen in the past agrees with most folks' experience here - that best results are had with a 1/2" 3-4TPI blade for "most" 14" band saws. Particularly the Chinese ones like this HF that are known for being underpowered and especially with a riser block added. I have always heard that they just won't tension a 3/4" blade, although I know some who have upgraded the tension springs and had better results. This leaves the motor as the next limiting factor, but a cheap band saw, I'm afraid, could quickly become a real money pit. I will probably just invest toward a bigger saw before I do that.

Thanks for the good input. The 3-4 TPI Timberwolves are the favorites for resawing I have seen touted on other woodworking forums in the past. I may give Jim's blades a try, too.

So, we have kinda hung out on the resawing topic, it seems. Those of you with this setup, do you tend to leave the blade on for other tasks or do you swap out to a smaller blade?

_________________
Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Some interesting comments above...

On an old made-in-america 14" delta 220v/2hp

for general purpose use, I prefer 3/8 x 4 Lenox flex-back bands -cheap, reliable, and decent life with a good cut quality.

For resaw without the riser, I am able to tension and get good performance from 3/4" thin-kerf carbon bands like the Lenox Kerfmaster.
With the riser installed, I have to back off to a 5/8" band to get good performance. My main resaw blade is a 5/8 x 3/4 tpi Kerfmaster

I have been dissapointed with the Suffolk blades in the past and no longer use them.

Having said that, It is clear that my saw is much of more substantal construction than the current models. I looked at one of the newer Deltas last time I was at Woodcraft and I was amazed how thin and flimsy the castings appeared.

-jd