I resaw primarily koa for instrument builders. And I go through blades much to quick. I have spoken to others and they say I must be doing something wrong when I tell them how little cutting I get done with a high quality carbide tipped blade. Recently added a blade mister to my set up, this helps, but not nearly enough.Going to add a variable speed powerfeed soon. I have done everything that I can think to do as far as blade alignment and tracking. Making sure the table is plumb and square to the blade. Making sure the guides are positioned right. I push the stock very slowly. I see nothing left to do except add more horsepower. So I guess my question is, does adding more horsepower burn a blade up more fast or is it better on the blade. The bandsaw I use is only 3 hp and am thinking to buy a 6 hp. Though the 3 hp motor never bogs down. Everything works really well until the blade starts to dull, which is after about cutting for 30 minutes.The material that I am resawing is no more than 9 inches in height. The blade I am using is a Lennox woodmaster CT. Any insight from you guys would be much appreciated. Thanks

First, watch the video posted on the Cabinetmaking Forum:

Band saw blades: What to order

I have used bandsaws for 45 years and learned a few things.

Generally, tooling dulls with heat, and heat is caused by friction. It is normal to think that one would want lots of teeth (per inch) to cut something like Koa at 9" wide, but less teeth is better. Also, you may need to try raker vs skip tooth patterns.

Lastly, commercial resaws operating at 30 fpm have 3" wide blades, 36" wheels, and 20 hp with power feeds. They often turn about .090 to .110 to dust in their hurry to do the job.

I have by all means had better production out of a blade with less teeth. My only problem is I need the bookmatch to be right on the money. And on a more aggressive blade, obviously the cut is not clean, and by the time you have cleaned the board up through the sander, you really start loosing your bookmatch.

Here is one possibility...due to the low hp, you must cut slowly and with the number of teeth you have, that means that the teeth are rubbing a lot rather than cutting. The sawdust will be real fine. A mister will help. The solution is fewer teeth and more hp. I am surprised that you are not also seeing some blade wandering.

Right out of the gates everything cuts perfect. Perfect cuts. Motor not bogging down at all. But after about 15 minutes cuts have slowed down significantly. This is when the blade starts to heat up. You can see it in the color of the sawdust. The wandering of the blade is next in line. Time for another blade.The only thing that I have not tried is more hp. But a new saw is an expensive little gamble.I am probably going to have to find out because I have quite a bit of wood to resaw. Thanks for the input.

if u can see that much difference in a matched pieces your eyes are better than your saw. saw with less teeth and sand a little and get a better product instead of burning up your saw and wood some times less is better

You said, "Though the 3 hp motor never bogs down." If you are feeding so slowly that you don't hear any reduction in speed, even with a new blade, then you are obviously feeding too slowly.

Saw teeth need to take a proper size chip, for the chip to take the heat away. I would suggest that you try to feed faster. I hope you have a good sharpener for those blades.

Like Gene, I was also thinking about suggesting a mister. I have a couple of Koolmist around for my grinders, but sometimes will use it on my saws when I know there will be a problem. Like recently some friends brought a plexiglass desk with bubbles in a 2" thick line. I cut it with a hand held circular saw, while one of them held the mister shooting into the cut. It cut great, and probably would have welded itself permanently in that groove otherwise.

Here is a like to a cheap one. You can use a plastic drink bottle for the fluid, and set it to where there is a tiny mist hitting the blade just above the kerf. It probably won't require enough mist to have any MC change in your wood.

the blue fluid will keep the tools from rusting, and is safe to use. A gallon is probably more than a lifetime supply, so try a pint, if you can find it.

http://www.kahntools.com/kool-mist-portamist-unit-only-1.html