Thread: 032 thick blades on a Hammer bandsaw

Hi,
I have had the same question for some time, and I have found impossible fo find an unambiguous answer in the internetz. The Hammer 4400 has a Wheel size of 17.32 inches, which is not that far from the 18 inch rule. It is actually less than 4% difference. So I decided to take a chance and I have baught a Lenox Woodmaster CT in 1 inch width. I haven't yet fitted the blade to the saw yet. I also baught a 3/4"-inch Lenox trimaster 3tpi with the same thickness as the Woodmaster, i.e. 0.035". I'll report when there is something to report.

Mattias,
thanks for the reply as it is the first one. Look forward to your report. As an aside, I notice that the Laguna 16HD (Heavy Duty) has virtually an identical frame + wheels to the Hammer. I found this out when I cruised the videos on the Laguna website - I suspect they are from the same factory. I'll check out what Laguna say for their 16HD re blade thickness.
Cheers
Paul

Did some research on Laguna 16HD bandsaw discussions in various forums on the Internet. Found 1 person who was using both 0.032inch and 0.042inch thick blades on their Laguna 16HD.
It appears likely (but don't take this as truth) that the Hammer N4400 bandsaw can run with 0.032inch thick blades without problems. Still need someone to report back their actual experience!!!
Paul

Why do you need to run blades of that thickness?

I have now tested the Lenox Woodmaster CT 1 inch 1,3 tpi blade. Now that's a big and nasty blade! I mounted it in the Hammer and cranked the tension up to the 25 mm mark, tracked the blade and adjusted the guides using a 0,10 mm feeler gauge. I made a a few test cuts on a piece of european oak. The saw operates quietly and nice and the cut surfaces are incredibly smooth. They say that the trimaster gives an even better surface. Everything seems promising. Obviously I can't say anything about the service life of the blades. I'll chime in when they eventually break, but don't sit up and wait...
By the way, the Hammer, the Felders the bigger Laguna bandsaws are made by the company ACM in Italy.
/Mattias

I did some more testing with the 1 inch blade, and there were some complications with the blade tension spring. These complications were taken care of and the bandsaw Hammer bandsaw now works fine with the 1 inch blade. You can read about the complication and the solution here:

Upgrading the blade tension spring on the Hammer N4400 Bandsaw » Swedish Woodworking