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I took some pictures as examples of how a couple of my different blades perform. It seemed like there were a lot of posts asking what blade was best, or why some blades were giving people problems.

This is a woodslicer. Made one cut on an 8" Honduran Rosewood back(22" long).


I cleaned the blade, and made a second cut on the same billet.


I cleaned it again, and this time sliced a 10" Sapele Billet(24" long), This is the result.


I had about enough cleaning so I switch over to a Woodmaster. This is a pic of the Woodmaster(1.3 TPI), Woodslicer(3/4 TPI), and a Trimaster(3 TPI). Note the gullets, and teeth. The Woodslicer is most prone to buildup, Trimaster is next, the Woodslicer is almost immune to buildup.


This is the Woodmaster after 2 cuts of Honduran RW, 9 cuts of Sapele, 10 cuts of Koa, and 40 cuts of Cocobolo. All back billets.


When any of the blades clog or build up problems start. The Trimaster and Woodmaster can deal with more buildup without having significant cutting problems because they have a bit wider set, but the Woodslicer gets real touchy with buildup, and is most prone to buildup.

Next post I will show some pictures of how I clean a blade. Cleaning blades is a must. Often people confuse dirty clogged blades for dull blades.

Peace,Rich

This is the process I use to clean my blades. It takes about 1-2 minutes. I should note, up plug the Bandsaw, only spin the blade backwards by hand. I used the Woodslicer after taking 1 slice off a Honduran RW billet for these pics.


First I use a wire brush held against each side of the blade as I spin it backwards to clear most of the gunk from the gullets. If you let the gunk set up or cook on you need to take a blade to each gullet and scrape it clean(painfully time consuming, so try to keep up with the cleaning).


After brushing.


Next I scrape the sides with a blade by holding it against the sides and spinning(careful not to grab a tooth)


After scraping


Next I use a sanding pad to knock off any bits that might be hanging in there.


After sanding. Looking pretty good.


I finish up with Mineral Spirits.


One more cut of Honduran RW, and lets do it all over again . I have little patience for Woodslicers on Rosewood.


Peace,Rich

Thanks, Rich!

-Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Thanks Rich ! I need to go clean mine now .
Very good pics !

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I was hoping the pictures would help to show why a very tight tooth set and small overall kerf can be the root of cutting and blade tracking issues. The low loss blade design builds up faster for several reasons. The size of the cut is closer to the actual blade dimension, which leaves less room for the material thus packing it tighter in the gullets. This creates more heat causing the material to set harder against the blade, and not release as easy. More teeth per inch with smaller gullets, makes for a smoother cut, but also is easier to pack material in. After the material is packed in the gullets and around the teeth, the heat rises, and clearing gets worse. Setting the material harder. Given the small set, the blade has less clearance from side to side, and the buildup starts to guide the blade based on the build up. If you have on guide set closer than the other, material will build more on the side with more clearance, and then turn the blade at the guide, as well as in the cut. Compounding the problem further, the more trouble the blade has clearing and worse the teeth are able to cut, the slower you feed the piece, again generating more heat. These are the things you need to consider and control with low loss blades, especially with resinous or oily woods. The blades dull quicker than carbide for sure, but I have heard like 20 cuts and the blade was dull, which is not what I have found even when cutting tuff woods. I suspect cleaning may restore those blades.

Anyhow... I hope the visuals help explain what I have found to be true. At least better than just trying to describe things with words.

Rich

Thanks for the tutorial, Rich. I'm going back over my old blades today.

Best,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Rich, Thanks for posting this information. I was the one who said I was getting 20 or so perfect cuts with the Iturra thin kerf. Looks like I should go back over those blades and give them a good cleaning and try to fire them up again. Thanks!

Burton

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.