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Recommendations?

Hi David,

I use almost exclusively the 1/2 inch 3t industrial (hardened front and back) blade from R&D bandsaws here in Canada - they are in Brampton, just outside Toronto). I have also resawn with a 3/8 3t as well - both worked really well.

I just cut up some claro and cocobolo B&S a few weeks back, worked like a charm one blade cut 3 guitar and two harp sets of claro, starting from a large 2x12 6 footer (first cut was a 1/2 slice off the whole length), and 4 guitar sets coco, 2 harp sets ... not bad for a 20 buck blade.

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www.karol-guitars.com
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David,
Is this an old Delta or a new one ? I have one of the old US build saws and have been happy with a Lennox 5/8 x .016 3/4 tooth kerfmaster carbon steel blades for resaw. I have cut lots of wide cherry, hog, oak, and maple with good results, but I have not cut rosewood backs with one. I have been tempted by the 1/2" diemaster but have not run one yet.

If this is the new imported version of the delta , the castings are much lighter, so I would back off to a thinner band. perhaps the 1/2" kerfmaster or even a 3/8 band.

I have not had good luck getting life out of the Suffolk Machinery timber wolf blades, but others like them. I can say they are much quiter running than the Lennox bands.

-jd

My Delta is circa 1996, with the 1hp motor, and riser. I'm slicing up padauk for b&s, maple, and some ebony for bindings. The padauk is really resinous.

With wide Paduk, I'd be tempted to try the Bimetal Diemaster. You are going to have to cut really slow to get good life from a carbon blade.

I have cut a bunch or Paduk and Satine fingerboards with Kerfmaster bands without problems, but that was much narrower stock.

I think '96 should have the US castings -which is good news.

-jd

I was looking at the Lennox trimaster.

Tri-master is a great band for big saws, I have not tried it on a 14". It has an agressive hook angle and I am skeptical that you have enough power for that band with 1HP. My 14" Delta has 2HP and I would not try than band on my saw...

If you really want to run Carbide on a 14" saw, I would call Lou Iturra first. I have heard he has a blade.

-jd

I called Spectrum and their wood guy suggested the 1/2" trimaster. So we'll see how it goes. -- db

The guys at Spectrum usually know what they are talking about.
Let us know how it works on your saw.

-jd

I've known several cases where folks have tried the Trimaster on a Delta 14 w/riser and haven't had great results, me being one of them, but my blade was improperly welded. The big issue is that it seems to require more tension than the saw can handle. That said, some folks have had good luck with the combo, so if your saw is tuned well, and you're very careful with the setup and tension, you should be able to handle a small amount of work with it. But I wouldn't try to resaw BRW with it...

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What kind of problems, Don? And what did you find that you preferred?

The main problem is rough cuts. I have seen this on an early 17" jet saw as well. Not enough tension + not stiff enough frame + not enoughpower = jerky cutting action, bad surfaces and wandering cuts.

The tri-master is an agressive blade and like all blades it needs to be running smoothly to get good results. This usually means a big stiff saw and lots of power.

-jd

What jd said!
You should measure your max blade tension (frame flex) on your bandsaw before spending money on expensive blades. http://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/tension.html shows how with a Caliper and some small C clamps.

The Trimaster needs a lot of tension. I've seen a plywood I Beam bolted onto the spine of 14" bandsaws. Adding a riser really handicaps you from a stiffness perspective.

The Dimaster isn't really available in anything coarse though, at least at the 3/8" or 1/2" width (unless you want to go with a .035" thick blade). I really like the Lenox carbon steel flex back 3/8" x 3TPI blade. It chews through Padauk really fast. It does make a LOT of noise while doing it though.

I just wish they have a Dimaster of that format... on the plus side since 3TPI is really coarse it shouldn't be very hard to sharpen.

I've seen a 1/2" x 3TPI blade from Olson MVP, but I heard that Olson MVP requires a lot more tension than the Dimaster.

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I've often wondered if inserting a vertical jack (of some sort) between the arm and the fence when resawing would help with the stiffness issue. Not sure it would be effective or worth it. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

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

I found that with the Delta 14 saw, if I went to something thin like a Woodslicer or Bladerunner (Iturra) I could get better results than with a blade like the Trimaster. Once I switched to the Laguna saw though, it was carbide all the way, and I had the flatter wheel tire design and higher tension to support the blade. I'm personally convinced that the more crown a wheel has, the less consistent the results will be when tensioning the blade at higher levels.

What happened to me was that as I was cutting woods like cocobolo, it would chop down through the wood aggressively and start bouncing around until it slammed and either wrecked the wood or the blade came off the wheel. The rake angle on the blade is pretty flat, so it was more like chopping than slicing, and the results were all over the place. I gave up on it after several attempts.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Move slow to preserve the blade eh? That explains the short life of my newer Carbon blade. I paid about $60 for it. Is it worth taking it to the guy down the street to sharpen it?

By the way. The Grizzly extension block kit fit the Rigid 14" band saw perfect.

Another option is a Morse "FB" carbide band... I got one from White County based on some reading while poking around on other woodworking forums... Of course, the price being 2/3 of the Trimaster didn't hurt either.... I had to special order mine in 111" - because the minimum "Standard" size is 10' or 120"

I would call the Morse band a "Carbide tipped" band rather than a carbide "Tooth" - as the only place with the carbide is the very tips of the teeth.... On the other hand - the tooth profile is what I would consider more "Conventional"....

Put it on for my first test cut (After deciding my Woodmizer was getting really noisy and was barely cutting at a snail's pace)... My 1st test cut in 4" thick walnut cut fast, smooth, and quiet! There was hardly any pressure required, and the band cut straight and true... I have the tension set at 5/8" on my Rikon saw for reference...

I am going to try resawing a spruce "Billet" to see how it performs with a deeper cut.. but I am sold so far.

Thanks