Frank Drackman wrote:
I have a Laguna Tools 18" bandsaw and I am looking for recommendations for a
new resaw blade. I have another bandsaw for general work, so I am looking
for a dedicated resaw blade for this saw. I work with a lot of figured wood
so I am willing to trade away a lower priced blade to get a high quality
blade. I have not purchased a new blade in about seven years so I have not
kept current with the quality and features of the different brands.
If you have any recomendations, please let me know.
Couple of questions before throwing in my two cents (was a buck
but after taxes . . .)
TYPE OF RESAWING:
Green wood or dried wood"
Are you resawing to get bookmatched boards, thick (1/16th to
1/8" thick) veneer or thin (less than 1/16th inch thick) veneer?
What's the widest piece you intend to be able
to resaw?
Does the wood you want to resaw scortch easily - like
cherry and maple for example?
QUANTITY OF RESAWING:
By "I work with a lot of figured wood" are we talking resawing for
a half a day each week or do you mean you're looking for a blade
that will work on many different woods?
SURFACE PREP/FINISHING CAPAVITIES:
Do you own a planer and/or a drum sander that'll handle the
widest piece you want to resaw or are you expecting to
surface just the first face and have all subsequent cut
faces be smooth AND flat enough to use with no further
finishing?
Laguna makes, or has someone make to their specs, a
carbide tipped resaw blade called the Resaw King. It
ain't cheap - about $2.50 an INCH! My LT16SEC uses
a 130" blade so for me, the price makes it out of the
question.
Michael Fortune does a fair amount of resawing -
for both bookmatching and thick veneering. He
feels that "sharp" is more important than "expensive"
He gets a dozen or two dozen $10 - $15 blades at a
time and replaces a blade as soon as it starts to get dull.
(if you've to an expensive blade on your saw, the
tendency is to keep cutting with it even after it
gets too dull to work really well since you probably
only can afford one or two of the high price spread
blade(s).)
And you don't need a 1" or 1 1/2" wide blade either.
Wider just means more friction which means mre
potential for burning/scortching AND more horse
power. Mr. Fortune slices and dices with a 1/2"
blade on a 1 hp bandsaw - a little Delta -without
the riser block - if I reall correctly.
The tooth type and spacing is also important. He
goes with 3 teeth per inch and a "hook tooth",
the latter has more gullet space for sawdust to
be in and removed from the cut.
And the table and fence that comes with most
bandsaws or carryovers from metal cutting
bandsaws. You can make a better table AND
fence. This one;s from an American Woodworker
article on resawing.
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...leDetails.html
More details of what you want to do with the blade
you're searching for.
charlie b