Thin Kerf Carbide Blade for Resawing
What's the lower limit to available resaw blade thickness? January 2, 2012
Question
I'm searching for a carbide blade to use on a horizontal resaw bandsaw. I’m looking at carbide because I was told there is a carbide blade that has a kerf of 40-50 thousandths, rather than the thicker kerfed blades, say .080-.10" that are normally available on resaws. The resawing will be done as part of the production of engineered hardwood flooring, trying to maximize yield.
Forum Responses
(Solid Wood Machining Forum)
From contributor D:
I would be surprised if a blade that thin is available. Typical best yields are on orbital frame saws, the kerf being around 90 thousand stellite. They go thinner, slightly, but the life expectancy is so short almost no one uses them. We also have a horizontal resaw, and we asked a local shop to give us an assortment to try out. I have to say that would be a new one, seeing something that thin. Figure roughly .06" being a whopping 1/16" and .04" only two thirds of that. Figure the actual blade is roughly half the total kerf. It seems pretty fragile to me.
From contributor F:
I've had several Baker resaws over the years and always bought my blades from them. Exactly .060 kerf. Don't think you will find one under that. Run a piece through the resaw and put the two pieces back together and put the calipers on it and it's .060 smaller than before. Leaves a saw kerf finish that will clean up by taking off .020 with the bottom head at the moulder. The blade lasts minimum four hours to three days depending on what you are cutting, feed speed, and how good the weld on the blade is. Blades used to cost around $18, probably more now. Throw them away when done.
From contributor F:
I used to run the vertical resaws with 4" swedge tooth blades and ran a lot of distributor moulding that was two out of 4/4 and two out of 5/4 oak. Used to lose 20% at the moulder due to scantness and wavy cut from the resaw, especially on the ends. I switched to Baker horizontal resaws and all the problems went away. Best bang for the buck (I think my first one cost $10,000 dollars) I ever spent. Also great for salvaging spear ended off-fall into blanks for shoe and screen instead of using a straightline. No kickbacks and no trips to the emergency room when using a resaw.
