band blades

jimmy · January 28, 2004, 09:11:09 AM

I have a timberking 1600 mill that i purchased 2 weeks ago and i need to get more band blades. Do i have to buy the timberking brand which are 25.00 a blade or can i use other blades like the simonds red streak blades that are around 16.00? Is there other good brands out there?

Minnesota_boy · January 28, 2004, 09:21:10 AM

Yes you can use other brands of blades on your Timberking. Most manufacturers of bands can make them to fit. Make sure that you oreder for the brand and model you have.

Swede · January 28, 2004, 09:49:30 AM

Jimmy;

The diameter and distance between centers of Your bandwheels ar important but perhaps the supplier knows what dimesions is for Your mill. Here You can get the blades I prefer (silicone steel)

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/scragg.html
There is a lot to read about blades too.

Munkfors is an other well-known manufacture. I don´t know where You can by them there.
Both are Swedish but very different

Swede..

ronwood · January 28, 2004, 10:32:04 AM

Jimmy,

I use Woodmizer Double Hard Blades. They are a sponsor of this website.

Kenne-Saw who also is a sponsor of the forum carries the MunkforsSagar. A number of the forum members are using them.

Woodmizer Resharp program for sharping their blades is pretty handy if you don't have a sharpener.

woodchip · January 28, 2004, 10:52:46 AM

Call Coleman Sawmill Supply@1-800-459-4626.

Jeff · January 28, 2004, 12:00:10 PM

I'd go with a forum sponsor.

Thanks for those remarks Ronwood!

slowzuki · January 28, 2004, 12:48:47 PM

Does monkey saver blades = MunkforsSagar blades?

QuoteJimmy,

Kenne-Saw who also is a sponsor of the forum carries the MunkforsSagar. A number of the forum members are using them.

DeepWoods · January 28, 2004, 01:57:41 PM

Jimmy,
I too have a new mill (Norwood) and am new to this forum. I took the advise give here by several other members and called Kenne-Saw. After talking to David, he recommended I use a 3/4 pitch blade for use in softwoods. I mentioned that I had heard of the Monkey Saver Blades on this forum and asked real nice if he could send me a complimentary blade for me to try out. I just received my free blade today, and will try it out as soon as I get the chance. From what I read here, I won't be dissapointed. Give Kenne-Saw a call, even the call is free.
It don't get any better than that.
Oh, find out the length of your band before you call them, they need to know as they cut to size for your mill.

jimmy · January 28, 2004, 02:21:25 PM

has anybody out there tried the simonds red streak band blades?

Tom · January 28, 2004, 04:22:36 PM

Yep, and I like them. I have used Simond Red streaks on my LT40 for about 7 years.

D._Frederick · January 28, 2004, 04:46:08 PM

Tom,

Give me a guess, how many hours run time do you get out of a blade before it breaks on the Lt 40? What about the blue machine, is there a longer life?

Tom · January 28, 2004, 07:03:10 PM

There is really not much comparison. The woodmizer blade is 13' 2" and the other is 17' 4" . The smaller blade is driven by 24 horses and the longer one by 38 horses.

I ran a test a couple of years ago and found that shorter blade was producing more wood in its life but the longer blade was producing more wood per sharpening. I got more sharpenings from the smaller blade than the larger one which told me that the smaller blade wasn't under as much stress. I did the test with the same blade manufacturer on each saw. I no longer have the numbers.

The smaller blade was producing 600 to 800 BF per sharpening with occasional 400 or 1000 BF instances.
I got 4 to 6 sharpenings before breakage. Usually toward the 6 range.sometimes many more but I figured that as an exceptional blade.

I sawed 1300 to 1500 BF per day with some days going as high as 2000 BF. 1300 was the most common. I did this on 2 and sometimes 3 blades a day.

The longer blade was producing 600 to 1000 ft per sharpening with occasional 400 and more frequent 1300 BF instances. I was getting 3 to 4 sharpenings before breakage and sometimes 2. Three was the most frequent.

I sawed 2000 Bf per day frequently with ranges of 1500 to 2500 BF on usually 2 blades per day with some days getting me into the third blade.

The smaller mill had hydraulics but no dragbacks .
The larger mill had faster hydraulics and dragbacks.

Log handling on the larger mill was much quicker.

It's a difficult thing to compare blade life and production on two different mills. It's not always the blades performance that produces the most wood.

Bro. Noble · January 28, 2004, 08:11:34 PM

I have used red streak blades on our wood mizer and resaw.

We use 3/4 pitch on the resaw and 7/8 on the WM. They are my first choice of the resaw and would be for the WM if they came in .45 thickness. I plan to try the Munksfors Sagar blades on each the next time I order.

The only objection I have to 3/4 pitch blades is that it seems like it takes forever to sharpen them. Our resaw uses 15'1" blades. I use our WM sharpener on them with only minor adjustments. I had been doing this for a couple of years before I found out you couldn't do that :D :D

Kirk_Allen · January 28, 2004, 08:50:31 PM

Tom,
I have been using the WM double hards and I am changing the blade approximatly every 500 BF even if it seems to be cutting good. This is based on what little information I have read regarding long term blade life.

I have 30 blades that I got with the mill that I have been tracking and they are now on their 6th resharp from WM.

My question is : Is it common for blades (any brand) to break after 5-6 sharpenings? How many sharpenings is common? I know it will vary with species etc., but if you had to pick an average what would you say?

I broke one blade last week. It was right out of the box from being resharpened and I didnt get 3' into the cut before BANG.

I have only had a total of 3 blades break so far. The first two were from letting the blade get hot.

Swede · January 29, 2004, 02:31:53 AM

Tom;

Very intresting! I have to think all day about this. I´m a so curious person so I even have to know why

Thank You!

Swede.

Kirk_Allen · January 30, 2004, 01:04:13 PM

Does anyone have a prefernce on where you send your blades for Re-sharp?

I am going to try the MonksforSager blades but since I dont have my own sharpening system I will need to have them sent out to be done.

WM will only sharpen their own blades so thats not an option.

Thanks

Fla._Deadheader · January 30, 2004, 05:51:17 PM

Kirk, I pay $18.00 each for Munks and they are 15' 8" long. I was going to use Jim (Solidwoods), but, haven't seen him on the forum and he hasn't answered my IM's?????? Anybody know anything about him?????

If I can't get in touch with him soon, I am going to buy a Cook's Sharpener and do my own. MIGHT do others too :

:

D._Frederick · January 30, 2004, 07:14:24 PM

Fla._,
Did you give up on the sharpener you build awhile back, I thought that you were all set to grind and set your bandsaw blades?

Kirk_Allen · January 30, 2004, 08:46:09 PM

I spoke with Keene Saw today and they told me to contact Coleman's Sawmill supply? Not sure why since they supply Coleman's with blades.

The MonksfordSager price I got from Coleman's was 13.75 and they have a re-sharp program of $6.00 per blade and they pay shipping them back to you.

Keene-saw quoted me $15 per blade with no re-sharp service.

I guess I am going to give these "Monkey Saver" blades a try.

Bigdogpc · January 31, 2004, 02:36:57 AM

FDH: I've got a box of blades coming back from Jim right now. Just from talking to him I figure I will be tickled with the results. I don't know about this IM stuff...I sent him an email.

I started with Timberking Ultra blades on my 1220. They cut everything I threw at them. I tried a free blade from Suffolk and wasn't too impressed. I am now pricing/looking at blades but if I don't find something that cuts as good or better than the Ultra's, I'll bite the bullet and pay the big bucks! :D

I toyed with the idea of building a sharpener from a chainsaw grinder. I won't do that as long as I can get my reharpening done right at a reasonable rate. I'd rather spend my time cutting wood...my two cents.

Fla._Deadheader · January 31, 2004, 03:50:10 AM

BigDog, ya got his e-mail address handy??? I got 20 blades to ship him.
NOW I remember what happened. :

:

My server won't allow the e-mail to be sent to him ?????????? JEFF!!!! HELP ????? How do I get this puter to let me do what I want to do ????????

BigDog, Check the Events Forum later today. I will post some stuff about the Gathering in April.

"D". That sharpener worked OK for the softer Suffolk blades. These Munks are harder and I would rather have someone with some "Sperense" do them for me. We have waaaaayyyy too much to do when we get home from camp.

Bigdogpc · January 31, 2004, 05:46:25 AM

FDH: I just sent Jim an email and told him to get hold of ya. Maybe things will work right from him to you.... I don't understand all this stuff I think I know about 'puters! ;D

Kirk_Allen · January 31, 2004, 06:41:58 AM

Bigdog,
Who is this "Jim" your referring to regarding getting blades sharpened? I read back through this post but couldn't figure it out.

In regards to sharpening, I did send WM a question that I'm not real clear on. On their web site it states the following:

"Take advantage of Wood-Mizer's Re-Sharp service. We specialize in thin-kerf, narrow band blade manufacturing and sharpening. No one can match our experience or attention to detail. And we'll sharpen your blades twice for what the competition charges you to sharpen your blades once."
.

Now I can say I have been very please with their service but they are not sharpening two blades to the cost of one, unless I'm really missing something. Any thoughts?

Fla._Deadheader · January 31, 2004, 06:59:34 AM

Kirk, I believe what WM is saying is, they will sharpen THEIR blades and get twice the life for you, compared to others re-sharp companies. They will NOT sharpen other brands of blades.

Check out "Solidwoods" in the member section. He has been sawing and sharpening for many years. I can't get my puter to send him an e-mail. I guess there is a "Blocker" on my puter that rejects his server. ??? I'm no puter genius either :

:

Thanks BigDog.

Bro. Noble · January 31, 2004, 07:34:42 AM

I've seen Coleman's advertisements in magazines. They appear to have excellent prices on the Monksford as well as Red Streak blades. I plan to try them.