I am resawing "green" walnut that was felled last week on a 14”
Powermatic band-saw, with the riser option – a 105” blade. The
Powermatic has roller bearing on each side of the saw instead of guide
blocks. I obtained from Suffolk Machinery Corp, the manufacturer of
Timber Wolf™ band-saw blades, a special "rip" blade; this blade is
designed to cut into the end grain as one does cutting planks off a log.
The blade cuts very nicely; I first tried cutting some samples with a
carbide blade and the blade just accumulated the sawdust in its gullets
making further sawing useless. The problem I face is that there is a
white crusty buildup on the blade after sawing maybe 60" of 4" thick
branches. The buildup is mostly sawdust-like, it appears almost like a
white papery substance. I'm thinking it is a mixture of sawdust and
sap? I’ve only been doing some test sawing on 6” branches and making a
few cuts from chunks of the trunk. The buildup seems to be sticking to
blades causing the blade to not smoothly go through the band rollers.
At some points, the buildup seems almost like paper, but a paper that
sticks to the blade. Maybe the use of roller bearings is causing
increasing compression and build-up each time an affected portion of the
blade passes through the guide?

Does anyone have an opinion of what this buildup is? Sap and sawdust?
Wet sawdust that has been dried by heat buildup?

Does anyone have a solution to remove the buildup that would allow me to
avoid removing the blade from the band-saw? As I am writing this, I’m
wondering if I should try installing guideblocks and see if the blocks
act as a scraper. I’m wondering if there is an alternative substance I
might saw that will act as a cleaning agent. Sawing for several feet
and then having to clean the blade off the machine is not a practical
solution. Since this is my first experience cutting "green" wood, I
don't know if this is typical for all green wood, or something unique to
walnut, or something unique to my blade guide system when working with
wet wood.

My experience has only been sawing dried wood, so the problem is novel
to me. Duginske's book, Band Saw Handbook, does not offer any
suggestions for in place cleaning of a blade, nor has my search of the
newsgroup rec.woodworking produced anything on point.

A close-up photograph of the blade covered with the build-up can be
viewed at my website at:

http://www.editionspoole.com/john/wo...de_buildup.htm

I’m contacting Suffolk Machinery, too.


John Poole