Bandsawing Old Electricity Poles

[Chris Parks]

Me and my mate Pat have got a few bits of old electricity pole to slab tomorrow. It is iron bark and having never done this I don't know the rights and wrongs of it. Is there a preferred way to cut it and will it be dry enough to use straight away. I am using my bandsaw which is going to get its first major workout. Is there anything else I should know?

[joe greiner]

Go over it with a metal detector first. Or get some spare blades.

Joe

[frog's wife]

I remember my dad cutting one once. He said it was like cutting steel!

[BobL]

If its iron bark you might me more than a few spare blades.

[woodbe]

My dad used some on his house a few years ago. They were from the Harvey Bay jetty, and when it came time to cut them, they landed up using tungsten carbide tipped chainsaws. Hope your's is softer than that!

What blade have you got?

woodbe.

[Chris Parks]

I rang Henry Bros and they supplied a 11/4 Balde with about 1 tooth per foot. Should we be cutting them to aim for 1/4 sawn etc? Does this stuff split if sawn in any particular way?

[slabber]

almost blew up my thicker trying to dress the stuff, hard as the hobs of hell, good luck:~

[Chris Parks]

Well we did it. I now know the limits of a Jet 18'' bandsaw. We slabbed them roughly and then put them through the tablesaw which didn't even slow down cutting 100mm thick. The bandsaw had to have a rest as the motor overheated and it kept tripping the circuit breaker, which was no big deal as it is right next to the bandsaw, we had to give it a rest on the last one. 3 phase table saws are gooood. :2tsup: