"patrick conroy" wrote in message
...
I think it was FWW a few issues ago that expressed a preference for the
Woodslicer blade. This months issue will probably send a lot of traffic to
BC Saw (www.bcsaw.com). IIRC that same FWW article on the Woodslicer
thought highly of the bcsaw blades as well. The price difference between
the two brands is pretty large.

The author buys 1/2" 3TPI Starret blades welded/from BC Saw in bulk. His
advice is to keep a sharp blade in there all of the time - the lower cost
BC Saw blades make that more practical for shop owner. Says that that
blade stays in his saw almost all of the time. Interesting that he
undertensions his blade too.

As for drift - he attributes some (all/most?) of it to proper blade
tracking on the wheel. When I change blades on my 14"'er - I spend a lot
of time aligning the blade. And I haven't seen the drift issues that
others report. So, my personal (in)experience could support his. I think
he also downplays the whole "co-planar wheels" argument.

One other interesting tidbit is when he mentions that the bandsaws he used
in European shops lacked the lower thrust bearing entirely.

My next project will involve more resawing than I've ever done in the
past. Might be a good opportunity to try his approach and see what my
personal results are.

I somewhat disagree with him that more horsepower is not necessary (maybe
his wife told him to say that) g. When I upgraded from my 14" to my
minimax 16", there was a noticeable difference in rewsawing power. Also, it
is very nice using an inch and a quarter blade for resawing. Not much flex.
Infact, I pretty much keep the big blade on there for everything that
doesn't require curves.

Also, I'm surprised he didn't bring up rounding over the back of the blade.
It makes a big difference imho. I also like to use Pam to lube the blade.
Very noticeable also. My 2 cents.
SH