Resaw blades

[Jack01]

I am looking to buy a resaw blade for Rikon 14" bandsaw

Did some search and found some info

Highland woodworking  Woodslicer  it has 2/3 variable-skip teeth - Thickness 0.025 issue is it dulls quickly
Timberwolves                                    it has 2/3 variable-skip teeth - Thickness 0.025   I have not seen any issues yet, I am sure there are issue
Wood craft  sell  Starret blades   I could not find any specifications yet
Itura Design   He suppose to have blade comparable to   wood slicer,  he has responded to my message yet.


I am trying to get some feedback from users on which blades they use? results, is variable -teeth and advantage?

[MarkWells]

I am looking to buy a resaw blade for Rikon 14" bandsaw

How wide a board are you trying to resaw?

Mark

[fredhargis]

The Woodslicer is a very good blade, though some say it dulls quickly. Iturra's comparable blade is made from the same blade stock, but I think he calls his Bladerunner. He is somewhat cheaper and has a wider selection of widths and tooth pitch. At least he did some years ago...don't expect him to a message, it's not a high tech business. Give him a call.

[Jack01]

How wide a board are you trying to resaw?

Mark

Mark
Probably 10 inch wide board.
Thanks

[nodima]

Been quite happy with Timberwolf blades on my Walker Turner 16.   Get good life out of them, and they sharpen pretty nicely with a dremel.  I've tried some others but keep coming back to the Timberwolf blades.

[jteneyck]

Mark
Probably 10 inch wide board.
Thanks

If your saw can adequately tension a 3/4" blade then I'd go with that in 2/3 or 3 tpi.  If it can't then a 1/2" x 3 tpi will do fine.  Brand?  I like Starrett's bimetal blades.  They last a really long time and cut great.  My opinion of the Woodslicer in thick wood is that it cuts great for a brief, fleeting moment in history, then is dull and worthless.  I didn't get 30 ft in 10" hard maple with the one I tried.  Timberwolf is fine except the 1/4" ones I tried broke, and not at the weld, after only a short period of use.  I have a friend, however, yep, I really do have friends, who has had great service from 1" Timberwolf blades on his 17" saw.  My greatest beef with Timberwolf is their marketing nonsense about low tension.  Tension is your friend, the more the better as long as your saw can muster it.  It's what gives the blade its beam strength and allows it to cut straight.  20 - 25 ksi cuts so much better than a blade at half those values.  Whatever blade you buy, build yourself a tension meter and use it to put 20 - 25 ksi on it.  You'll be a believer.  

John

[Don_M]

They are expensive - but for my money I would go with a Laguna Re-Saw King which is carbide tipped band and can be re-shapend up to 5 times (I have one and have resharpened it 3 times already). On that basis the average cost comes down to something reasonable (which includes dealing with Laguna which can be a pain sometimes!)


https://www.rockler.com/laguna-tools-res...bide-blade

[MarkWells]

Probably 10 inch wide board.

I have a Lenox tension gauge and it gave me a lot of information about the blades on my saw.  It's definitely very expensive for the number of uses, but I found it useful.  You might look for a local woodworking club to see if somebody has one you can borrow.  You said you have a 14" Rikon, but there are several different models, so it's hard to tell how still the saw is.  I used to have a 14" Jet and now have a Grizzly G0513X2BF 17". 

If you are resawing a 10" wide board, that will generate a lot of heat and heat can kill a blade quickly.

Woodslicer / KerfMaster / BladeRunner are very thin so they are easier to tension and leave a very narrow kerf.  My Jet could easily tension it.  The downside is  they dull quickly.

Timberwolf I gave up on a long time ago because I think they are overpriced hype.

Lenox 1/2" x 4 tpi bimetal I have had a lot of luck with on both saws.  It stays sharp a long time.  Down side is that 4 tpi is a little high for resawing a 10" board.  That means a slower cut.

SuperCut 1/2", 3 Hook Premium Gold Carbide Bandsaw Blade I never tried on the Jet, but it did pretty well on the Grizzly.  The blade stays sharp about as long as the Lenox bimetal.  It has 3 tpi, which is about right.  I  ordered directly from them and I had a little trouble getting them to deliver the right length blade.  Grizzly specifies 131.5" for the blade and if it is just a little too long, the my saw won't tension it.  The surface left by this is rougher than Lenox, but cut is faster.

Right now I am using a 3/4" Resaw King.  My saw can just barely tension it, where  all the other blades could easily be tensioned.   I think they make a 1/2" model, which would be more appropriate for a 14" saw.  It does produce a pretty good surface and cuts relatively quickly, but considering it costs several times more than the SuperCut, I'm not sure it is worth it.  Also, the kerf is wider, so you need more horsepower to drive it.

Mark

[jteneyck]

You can make a tension meter for your saw for the cost of a dial gage and an hour of your time.  Here's the one I made and used to correlate the factory tension indicator with actual tension.  


Tension meter


John

[camp10]

They are expensive - but for my money I would go with a Laguna Re-Saw King which is carbide tipped band and can be re-shapend up to 5 times (I have one and have resharpened it 3 times already). On that basis the average cost comes down to something reasonable (which includes dealing with Laguna which can be a pain sometimes!)


https://www.rockler.com/laguna-tools-res...bide-blade

I was just going to ask what folks thought about a carbide tipped blade.    I need a resaw blade for my Harvey C14 and was wondering if I should 'buy once cry once' for a resaw blade.

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