I need to resaw 4 1/2" maple and would appreciate any advice or opinion on the best blade to use.
I am using a 36" bandsaw with a 7 hp motor. I cut some pieces today with a 1/2" 4 hook blade, and it did okay, but I think that I need a more substantial blade to cut in any quantity.
I've never had occasion to do very much resawing before and would be grateful if anyone is willing to share their experience.
From contributor Da
Dedicated resaws will have 3" or wider blades and a power feeder.
I used a Wadkin PBR for years that would resaw 3" to 7" wide Poplar all day at 30 l/f per minute.
From contributor Je
General advice….best blade depends on what your trying to do. Best blade for re-sawing paper thin veneers would probably be something like the Woodslicer.
For cutting paper thin veneers for more than a very short amount of time then a carbide blade like the ReSaw King….though it's on the slow side and not cheap!
Best blade for cutting stock quickly with a reasonable finish and price would be something along the lines of a Bi Metal blade with as few teeth as possible, (1-2 tpi).
You have to decide what's most important and then pick the blade that's right. How much stock are you cutting? Are you cutting daily, or a couple times a year? Do you need to maximize material….or time? Once you narrow down what your looking to do the choices will narrow as well.
good luck,
JeffD
From contributor Ga
I use a Felder bandsaw, but an aftermarket fence makes changing blades a bit slow. So I fit a 1/2" 3 tpi bi-metal blade and use it for pretty much everything from cutting tight curves on thin MDF templates to sawing 1/8" veneers (or less) that are 8" or 10" deep in highly figured hardwoods.
There's no doubt I could fit blades that are better at each of these jobs, but the point is this one blade delivers perfectly acceptable results across a huge range of tasks.
Good luck!
From contributor he
I used a lenox woodmaster CT. 1.3tpi carbide tipped. Their not cheap but last forever!
From contributor La
We use Lenox Woodmaster steel blades, 1" x 2 TPI cutting hardwoods up to 8.5" on a hydraulically fed 20 hp band resaw. They last quite a while and are relatively inexpensive. The carbide tipped blades run a long time, until you hit something other than wood.
From contributor Ge
I think if you are not going to doing a lot of resaw work the bimetal blades will work fine.
Depending on the wheels on your saw 1 to 1.5" should be fine. The bigger consideration is the TPI. The thicker the piece the deeper the gullet needs to be to prevent overheating due to the gullet loading up. I think 2 to 3 teeth per inch hook tooth will work fine for that thickness of material and still give you a finish that is acceptable. The other factor to consider regarding gullet loading is feed rate. You need to feed slow enough so the gullets don't overload but fast enough not to overheat the teeth.
HTH
Gerry
