"John Grossbohlin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> "JayPique" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:baec2a11-8b0a-45d4-90a8-03ce979340e1@eb6g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...
>>I think I'd rather go with just one blade type at work than have to
>> switch blades up every time someone wants to cut hardwood and there is
>> a softwood blade on there. Any downside to this? Speed is not an
>> issue, but blade wandering is for sure. Quality of cut not so much.
>> Any thoughts?
>> JP
>
> If straight cuts (rips and resawing) of both types of wood are the norm
> I'd go with as wide blade with 2-3 TPI as you can tension properly on the
> saw... Wider blades have better beam strength so they don't bow as badly
> as wood is pushed against them. Fewer teeth also allows more room to clear
> the saw dust than does a blade with more teeth. The blade will run cooler
> and not stretch from the heat which will help with the bowing problem.
> Between the beam strength and reduced bowing the cuts should be quite
> acceptable with pretty much any American woods. Hard imports may present
> other problems... I'd use this as a guideline while looking for blades
> that fit your machine.
>
> I had my 18" saw set up like that for years and fed it whatever needed
> cutting. It was only when I starting cutting curves that I put on a finer
> narrower blade and after that the larger blade went back on. The vast
> majority of my bandsaw work is ripping rough cut and resawing so this
> works for me...
>
> John
>
Just realized I forgot to mention the kerf... going to a wider vs narrower
set would be better if you mostly cut softwoods like pine, fir, hemlock....
This as those woods tend to gum up the works more than hardwoods like maple
or oak. Yes you'll loose more wood to kerf but unless you are cutting
veneers it's probably not a big deal.
John
On 2/23/2012 5:13 AM, JayPique wrote:
> I think I'd rather go with just one blade type at work than have to
> switch blades up every time someone wants to cut hardwood and there is
> a softwood blade on there. Any downside to this? Speed is not an
> issue, but blade wandering is for sure. Quality of cut not so much.
> Any thoughts?
> JP
I had no idea that there was a soft and a hard wood blade.
Anyway, call Timberwolf. They will answer every one of your questions.
"JayPique" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:baec2a11-8b0a-45d4-90a8-03ce979340e1@eb6g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...
>I think I'd rather go with just one blade type at work than have to
> switch blades up every time someone wants to cut hardwood and there is
> a softwood blade on there. Any downside to this? Speed is not an
> issue, but blade wandering is for sure. Quality of cut not so much.
> Any thoughts?
> JP
If straight cuts (rips and resawing) of both types of wood are the norm I'd
go with as wide blade with 2-3 TPI as you can tension properly on the saw...
Wider blades have better beam strength so they don't bow as badly as wood is
pushed against them. Fewer teeth also allows more room to clear the saw dust
than does a blade with more teeth. The blade will run cooler and not stretch
from the heat which will help with the bowing problem. Between the beam
strength and reduced bowing the cuts should be quite acceptable with pretty
much any American woods. Hard imports may present other problems... I'd use
this as a guideline while looking for blades that fit your machine.
I had my 18" saw set up like that for years and fed it whatever needed
cutting. It was only when I starting cutting curves that I put on a finer
narrower blade and after that the larger blade went back on. The vast
majority of my bandsaw work is ripping rough cut and resawing so this works
for me...
John