Thread: Bandsaw Information

We do nothing here thats different than over there. Gregs question was for a 1" carbide blade and doc said "The blade you speak of is great for softwood but i wouldn't use it for hardwood & yes we do have it" and "yanks nor the euro's don't have what we call hardwood !! they don't even no the meaning of real hardwood". Thats fine but an explanation why wouldnt go astray. my understanding is carbide blades excell with dense abrasive hardwoods. so arnt i allowed to question this

Yep.

Originally Posted by The Saw Doctor

Hi Kev
The blades which came with the machine are proberly the originals,
they would have been made by portamill in Queensland who also made
the Dynasaw machine some years ago. The blades are morethen likely
20g or 0.9 in thickness which would give a kerf size of around 2.0 to 2.1mm there ok for softwood but not so crash hot on hardwood generally because they dont have the beam strenght in the body also they proberly
have a 25 to 35mm pitch which again is great for softwood not so good on hardwood unless there skip tooth ( tipped every seacond tooth ) . We use either 1.0 or 1.07 thickness depending on who's sharpening the blade & what type of equipment its been sharpened on to what steel thickness we
use. I now this sound confusing but its proberly a subject handled better over the phone. Most Dynasaws now just run 2" Bi-metals or HSS tipped
blades which will cut just about anything, however they need alot of strain. For more info your better to give me a call

Brad !!!

Thanks, will do.

Kev M

Originally Posted by Saw Doc

2) Depends on your guide system, Snap NO, Holding it straight needs
a special guide system.

What type of guides? Currently has bearings, like the carter type I think?

Straight edges start at $40 is that a 300mm? Whats a 1000mm worth $130ish?

BTW the last Bsaw blades I brought from you are brilliant!(1-1/2" 1tpi stellite tipped/6mm 5~6tpi)

Hey Harry...

Carter sells a guide for very small blades-it is a roller with a groove for blade support-I think only one is used and the lower guides are retracted.

Greg

Hi Brad,
I am currently using a fish-slicing blade that is 3/4 inches wide but only 0.018 inches thick instead of 0.025 inches.
I like it because it cuts fast and the extra width makes for a very straight cut when ripping.
What tension should I set it to? It seems to tension up just fine on the 1/2 inch setting of my Carbatec 14" cast iron frame bandsaw and I have not tried the 3/4 inch setting.
Is this because tension is related to the cross-section of the blade and not the width? Or is this just another myth?
Thanks
Paul

Originally Posted by The Saw Doctor

Hi all
My names Brad from Henry Bros Saws, I'm here to help in any way i can
regarding bandsaws, circularsaws, knives & routers. Just ask & i'll do my
best to help you....

Henry Bros Saws

Hi Brad,

A couple of Qs for you as you've so kindly volunteered - thank you!

1: I have an Electra Beckum 14" bandsaw, and have been doing a fair amount of resawing, principally of red gum, but also some blackwood, and I have some 20m of jarrah that I also need to resaw.

All of the boards are +/-150mm wide, and I'm resawing from 32 or so mm (after jointing adjacent sides) to around 14 ~ 15mm. The question is this: I have been using a reputable (set of) blades from a Melbourne supplier, 3tpi hooked tooth, 1/2" wide blades - and they barely seem to last more than 3 or 4 boards of maybe 2m length before dulling substantially, even to the point where the timber is getting quite warm.

I'm using a feed rate of less than 60cm/minute - else the saw starts to bog down.

Should I be using a different blade configuration? If so, what would you suggest?

2: The saw makes a loud and high-pitched screech when sawing in this manner. Is this common?

Thanks!

The experience after 2 years with my bandsaw is it the quality of the blade that counts.
At the moment my saw is cutting perfectly, the blade has been in around three months and the blade bearing set up would make you weep if you gave them the once over. The clearance tolerance could be in the region of one whole mm. but I am not touching anything when it cuts a perfectly straight line (the fence angle is also most probably laying at around 10 degrees)

I overheard an engineer speaking at a tool show saying that some bandsaw blades blanks are being produced in a 3rd world Asian country, so therein could be the reason why results can vary.

Hi Alf,

I'd agree with that, which is why I've been going to a well respected supplier who imports (from the UK I believe) raw stock, and cuts and welds B/S blades to order.

They seem to be very knowledgeable, and are helpful and provide good service (I'm not going to mention names here), but I must say that I'm disappointed with the durability of the blades.

Of course, it may well be something that I'm doing (wrong), but if so, I'm stuffed if I know what...

Broadly, the end results are ok. With the red gum, I do find that I need to use a point reference and guide by eye over a pre-marked line, as the density of the stock does tend to vary, so a flat fence doesn't seem the best way to go.

With the upcoming task of resawing the Jarrah, I really don't want to wreck several hundred dollars' worth of timber, so need to put this issue to bed.

Comments from any and all are thus welcome - and no, I'm not going to handsaw 20+m of 150mm wide Jarrah

In the past when my bandsaw wouldn't play ball I have used my tablesaw to resaw, cut at its maximum without the blade guard and then turned over, maintain the same side to the fence and got to around 16omm resaw depth.

Originally Posted by jow104

In the past when my bandsaw wouldn't play ball I have used my tablesaw to resaw, cut at its maximum without the blade guard and then turned over, maintain the same side to the fence and got to around 16omm resaw depth.

jow, I don't recommend this - having tried it myself and had the timber close-up on the blade. Things got really awkward and I had to find the kill switch with my knee. I'd only try it again if someone I didn't like could be convinced to feed it in. If you've got a nut-safe way to do this I'd be interested in reading it.

cheers.

Only English guys have got the coureage of are dumb enough to do this

Seriously tho' I have a push stick which is L shaped and around 18" long on each arm with an heel and it holds down the timber (if you grit your teeth and close your eyes ) but I suppose you never know.

Originally Posted by jow104

Only English guys have got the coureage of are dumb enough to do this

Seriously tho' I have a push stick which is L shaped and around 18" long on each arm with an heel and it holds down the timber (if you grit your teeth and close your eyes ) but I suppose you never know.

You've got big brass cahone's fella :eek:. I find the pucker factor too much on a 12" 3hp machine. I don't fancy a through and through splinter.

Originally Posted by jow104

In the past when my bandsaw wouldn't play ball I have used my tablesaw to resaw, cut at its maximum without the blade guard and then turned over, maintain the same side to the fence and got to around 16omm resaw depth.

Nothing wrong with that. as long as you dont go full height the first go. i start at 20mm in height flip over, do that side , lift the blade another 30 - 40mm do that then progress until its cut through. if its to thick i just slice the remainder on the bandsaw