Official Luthiers Forum!

I purchased several 166in by 1.in x 3 tpi blades from a co in MI that makes BS blades . Sadly the blades are going dull very quickly. I am looking for a better quality blade for general resawing of light hardwoods.prefer a 1.25 in w blade . I have a resaw king that works great for exotics. But would prefer a lesss expensive blade for spruce willow cypress, basswood sycamore walnut etc . Thanks in advance. This laguna bs can resaw to 15 plus in and has a usa 5 hp motor. Looking for recommendations

I have been using a Woodmaster CT (http://www.spectrumsupply.com/woodmasterct.aspx) on my 18” Rikon. It’s not exactly cheap, but it lasts a long time and cuts quickly and cleanly. The only drawback is that the kerf is a bit wider than a bimetal blade. I have run bimetal blades on this saw to get the thinner kerf, but they dull way too quickly.

I use a Tri-Master CT (1/2”) on my Rikon 18” for general purpose and for re-sawing. I have re-sawn back and sides of cocobolo hardness down to spruce with good results. I think my last blade lasted 3+ years before I replaced it. Initial cost is high but lifespan more than compensates for it. Another plus is that there is virtually no drift.

Tnx for your input , I used the woodmaster ct on my laguna, 20 in and it broke twice,and for whatever reason did not work too well or last a long time on my italian BS. My lenox trimaster broke last week on my 18 in minimax s 45. Granted it cut straight for a couple of weeks, and then cut at an angle for the next 3 plus yrs before breaking last week .I am looking for a cheap 3 tpi carbon steel bs blade that can be easily sharpened with a dremel etc.. I have access to3 by3 wet sycamore , willow, basswood pine oak etc. So I would prefer to use my laguna resawking only for rosewood bubinga ebony . kingwood , pernam etc.

I used these https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woo ... lades.aspx for years on my 14” bandsaw. I could sharpen them 3 times (with a Dremel) before performance suffered. They were pretty good on the softwoods, but hardwood would dull them very quickly. I believe Iturra Designs sells them for a bit less than Highland. When I bought a couple for my Rikon to take advantage of the thinner kerf, they dulled very quickly. I went back to the Woodmaster.

Wooslicer blades dulled very quickly. Found bis laguna in st louis , they sell bandsaw blades . Will check them out

FWIW, I love the RK blades. Yes they’re expensive but I’ve had the same one on for a few years, and just cut a pike of sets the other day no sweat. I think it’s only 40$ plus shipping to have them sharpened at Laguna...

TNX ed , mines still good, probably invest in another resaw king blade. and save the cheap carbon steel blade for rough work. The local builder here has rough 3 by 3 squares of pine , basswood, sycamore poplar oak, cottonwood , which I salvage. But i like your idea better Have one resaw king always mountedon the saw an keep the spare one handy or send outfor resharpening. Did not know they were $40. Have not sent it out yet

Have any of you folks built any jigs or tools for sharpening them?
Seems like its the way to go for larger machines.
Here's an interesting thread posted recently on Sawmill creek by John TenEyck
looks good for a quick touch up
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php ... sharpening

and when the gullets need to be worked, here is his shop made machine for the job
https://1drv.ms/a/s!AptW3HZ8tqg0gsVMqgkydraHP_xpxw

It's as fascinating as Keith MacKenzie's kerfed lining jig

Tom

Something seems wrong if you are breaking blades. I've used Lennox Woodmaster blades for many years on a 24" Laguna. As a wood seller, I cut a lot of wood. I'm sure I have used more than 50 Woodmaster blades and I have NEVER seen 1 break. If they are breaking, you may be running them way dull, which would create heat and stress the weld.I've tried the Tri-Master, which gives a cleaner cut but dulls faster.They could still be worth using on high value wood. I also have not found anyone who will resharpen Tri-Master blades, but Woodmasters can be resharpened if desired. Truth is, when I calculated the cost of blades and what they do, I've just gone to buying new blades instead of resharpening. I'm interested in looking at those 2 links just posted on resharpening though. For smaller general purpose blades up to 1/2", you can save a lot by buying bulk blade rolls and making your own blades. No welder needed. Can easily be done the old fashioned way with silver solder. Kits available online or in catalogs. Silver soldered blades break far less than welded blades in my experience.

_________________
“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Bob when I first got the laguna 3 yrd ago . I bought a woodmaster. ct I could not ascertain if the carbide blade was dull or not. before breaking. This is a 2004 or 5 Laguna which I got I got from its former owner in 2017 , who passed last yr . It was used for furniture making, and he had a 1 in 10 tpi blade . I/ve had no breakages at all from the resaw king blade or cheap carbon steel blade . I set the tension at betweeen 25 to 30 on the scale depending on hdwd or softwood the resaw king does a good job I detension to 10 when not in use , So I have no clue as to why I broke the woodmaster blade twice ? . I found out the 1/2 in trimaster could not be sharpened , .It cut straight for a while. I used it for making a lot of rough cuts in wood that I had chainsawed up.Got 3 yrs use out of it on the s - 45 minimax. I replaced it last week with a 5/8 in ultra thin kerf blade from edge mfg .But dont know if they are still in business they are located in Pevely mo. I contaced a laguna tool and bs blade supplier in st louis . I guess you can silver solder blades , but I/ve never been too good at it. Tnx for your input .

Ernie, The forums verify that 5 different woodworkers will have 5 ways of doing things or different kinds of tools that work for them but not for the other 4. It would be great if there was only 1 perfect path! You probably have the Laguna ceramic guides already, but those are really good. Way better than Carter guides or anything else I've seen on small resaws.Resaw King blades could easily have changed since I last saw one. There was one on my saw when I bought it probably 10 years ago. From that experience I'd have to say if you offered me a free one, I would not bother to take it. Back then the backing was extremely flexible, which made it useless for the kind of heavy resawing I was doing.I was 64 then. Now I'm 74 and maybe it would work for the somewhat diminished resawing I do now. The Lennox blades have simply really never let me down. I used to send them out to be resharpened, and sometimes do the funky hand sharpening with a Dremel and a diamond blade myself, but now I just buy new ones. I buy them in bulk and they are at least a third cheaper. Like all the woodworkers around here, for larger resaw blades and saws with a sturdy frame, I've always just cranked the tension as far as it would go, regardless of what the gauge says. Never broken a blade over 1" yet. I'm not saying you should do that, but it's common practice around here.

As far as silver soldering blades goes, most people over think it. Contrary to popular belief, when blades break, you don't fix them. They generally break because they are shot. A total waste of time and materials to fix them. The cheap online kits come with the correct solder and flux, enough to do new blades for years. The weird little jig that comes with the kit works great. The coolest thing about making up your own blades, besides the fact that they are cheap, is that you will get in the habit of changing blades when they are dull, and before they break. I think people worry too much about making a perfect joint. You simply take the new blade ends to any kind of flat belt sander and make a short scarf joint.You don't have to get carried away about cleaning the blade either. Just wipe the oil off. Then you apply the flux, use the jig to align the ends, and heat it with a propane torch until it just starts to go cherry red. Lay the solder on the joint and it will suck right in. Stop heating the blade immediately It will cool enough in 30 seconds to take it out of the jig. If you did it right, the solder will be shiny. Look at the underside to make sure solder penetrated the joint. Take the blade back to the sander, sand the back edge smooth, then sand both sides of the joint. Just get it smooth.Don't get too carried away. Don't worry if the tooth spacing does not match at the joint.
If you take a welded blade and bend it 90 degrees at the joint, the blade will break at the joint. Do the same with a silver soldered blade and the blade will simply bend 90 degrees about a half inch or so from the joint. If your joints are a little rough at first, no worries.A bandsaw is for rough cuts, not brain surgery. Sourcing bandsaw blade coil stock is probably the most difficult part of making your own blades. I'm sure you can find sources on the Mainland. Probably eBay, though i would look for quality stock.

_________________
“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

I used a 1/2" 3TPI blades on 14" bandsaws.

I could not find 3 TIP 1/2" blades in Taiwan, the common brand here is Amada, and they do not have anything this coarse. In fact Amada only makes metalworking blades so all of their blades, even up to 1" or higher, are still more than 4 TPI. I think they're intended for cutting metal.

I have little choice except to order it from the US or the UK. US sellers are not easy to deal with. Either they will not ship outside of the US or they will charge 80 dollars to ship a 20 dollar blade. I have a 1/2" 3TPI Starret blade on mine for a year. I sharpen them when it dulls with a dremel and it has served me well, and has not broken so far.

Does anyone make coarser blades for 1/2" width? Like 2 TPI? I find with coarse blades I'm less concerned about it lasting, as they are easy to sharpen.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

TNX! for all the detailed info bob, I resaw wood now for my own stockpile . I did buy the silver solder kit from ww supply of NM years ago Tried it on one break an gave up LOL. I/m 1 yr younger than you, and not too keen on resharpening BS blades at all . Its a PITA. I will clean up my carbon blade and resharpen it tomorrow. Coil stock is definitely the way to go . I hear starrett , morse and simonds are good brands .Should do some research I will likely buy another resaw king blade . They seem to work very well on my 20 in BS. Will skip the woodmaster an trimaster blades the trimaster is too thin an whippy imho and the woodmaster broke twice . At the high $$ price for the woodmaster . dont feel like taking a chance , and will stick to what works. Perhaps the resaw king blades have changed over time ?? . I can practice on some broken blades in the shop first before running out to buy a coil . I have 6 BS a 12 in delta a 9 in ryobi , 10 in craftsman 12in craftsman, 18in minmax and the 20 in laguna . if i could find an older 14in laguna , that would be great . Used tools here in the okc metroplex are seriosuly overpriced . TX is 2+ hrs away with a lot more options . I have a trailer now, so can schlep big tools home . Once again thank you so much for all your help bob . It is much appreciated and gives me a different perspective on resawing. !!! TNX also for the detailed tut on soldering . When I first tried to solder I used a butt joint weld instead of the scarf joint exc pt !!!