Simonds red streak blade???

[badpenny]

   Just got a batch (10) of these blades 1 1/4" .035 3/4 pitch for my Oscar 18" mill. Does anyone have any comments good-bad-otherwise on these blades? I will be sawing aspen 4/4 and 8/4 for a small shed to begin with, and later on this fall and winter, red oak and ash 4/4 and 8/4. Remember , I'm a novice at milling lumber, still on the steep up side of the learning curve. Tks in advance,

[GF]

I currently use some of there 1 1/2" blades and have not had any problems with them, they seem to cut real well right up there like the Munkforsager blades do.

[Grawulf]

Badpenny,
A while back, they had a free trial of their blades. I was using Suffolks at the time (costing $20). Found that the red streaks cut pretty well for lots cheaper. I have had a few more fail from metal fatigue but for the price, I like them. Make sure that you invert them before you put them on the mill. The ones that I've been getting have the teeth pointed in the wrong direction! Guess they're made for mills on the other side of the mill shed.  :D Last ones I got from Menominee were between $14 - $15. What are people paying for Munksforsager's?

[dutchman]

I've been using red streak 1.5" 0.042  since I got my mill. Average 700 bdf of hardwood between sharpenings.
I just got a monkey blade to try.Cut spruce  today cut like butter. Good luck.

[Brad_S.]

I've tried a lot of brands but have found Red Streaks to give me the best balance of performance and VERY long blade life. Munkeys cut a little better but don't have the longevity.

[Sawing Logz]

Got to agree with dutchman, also with sawing ash, the Monkeys keep there set, being thicker. But for a good starter and all around blade I got about 700BF between resharpes.

Jeff

[badpenny]

   These were $12.51 ea in a lot of 10, blacksmith that makes them is 90 miles away, and will ship UPS to me for "about $10" per box. Seemed like a good deal, now if they hold up well, I just might be able to learn how to saw lumber instead of just making boards. Thanks all for your input

[Tom]

I've been using Simonds Red Streaks, 1 1/4" , on my woodmizer for years.  I like them. 

[WV_hillbilly]

  I run the Red Streaks   1 1/4"  's and I like them . I also run the 1  1/4 " Monkeys also . They both cut well for me  . It just depends on what I'm cutting as to which blade I use .

[D._Frederick]

Bad-,

I have used the Simond 0.035 blades, they cut fast for the HP you have. The main problem I have with them is if you are cutting logs with hard dry knots, they will loose set in the teeth and the board will be wavy. They work best on soft woods, if you are going to be sawing hardwoods, I would look at the 0.042 thick blades.  You will have longing blade life with the 0.035 inch blades with the small diameter bandwheels your mill has.

[GF]

I run some Red Streak and mostly monkey blades, I use the 1 1/2" at 18' in length, they average about $30.00 each give or take a dollar or two.  They (monkey, simonds) are cheaper than the Suffolk blades and in my opinion better quality.

[Kelvin]

I've had trouble with the red streaks and maybe its due to the nature of the manufacturer stating that they are disposbile.  I've called and talked with some people about this.  They say you can resharpen them, but thats not what they are for.  Its kinda weird.  Why even say this about a blade?  I find the teeth snap off pretty easy in my setter, compared to my woodmizer double hards which never do.  They don't handle any trash, a small nail seems to wipe out a blade, where the WM will cut through it, and require sharpening and setting, but survive.  I saw a lot of yard trees and this cuts into the per blade cost.  I've found the Red streaks to be about $13-$14 w/ shipping and the WM about $20ish.  Red streak doesn't seem to be very tough steel, maybe this is why the above post mentions using them on soft woods.  Might work out better.  When i cut wide 20" oak boards they don't last very long.
My 2 cents worth.
KP

[WH_Conley]

I use the Simmonds .42 Hardback, guy that sells them said only one sharpening, should go with flex back.

Personal preference, hardback have a faster feed rate than the flexback and WM doublehard. Couple or three sharpenings each, easy, sharpen and run til they break or lose all their set then throw them away or givem to a neighbor that makes knives.

Reasoning, Money,where I get them the company has a route to the large mills here, no shipping, cost $16.00 new, $5.00 to sharpen.

I have not done a real fine tuned study on a large number of blades because of the difference in species, thickness and how dirty the logs are but the best I can guess at this time is around 3000 ft for a blade and a couple or three sharpenings. I only recently started marking blades when taken off the mill. Just averaging footage, purchase and sharpening.

[Kirk_Allen]

Ditto Kelvin!

All the Red streak blades I had were not my favorite blade to set.  If you set to much forget taking any set out with the set tool. The second you try the tooth snaps off. 

[mike_van]

I've used the Red Streaks from Cooks for years, & send them back 2 or 3 times for sharpening.  I tried a lot of blades years ago, and settled on these. .042, 1 1/4  7/8" ts, 196"  They  handle all I saw well.  I found  Suffolk to be more money for about the same blade. 

[badpenny]

   What a difference a blade makes! I used one of the new Simonds blades this evening, I'm really impressed. These are 3/4 pitch, and the 2 that came with the mill are 7/8, my speed thru a cut is almost twice as fast with no wandering up and down, and little to no buildup on the blade. I also took my pressure washer to the logs to clean them, they looked ok to start, but a lot of dirt and old sawdust came off, so still learning new things. Sawed 2 aspen 8' into 2x4 and 2x6 for a chicken coop for Mom's chickens. Thanks for all the comments, and to all on this board for answering questions, even if some one else asked them as I am learning from others dilemmas(sp). Great bunch of people here!!!

[Minnesota_boy]

Badpenny,
I hope you stacked the aspen out of the sunlight.  If stacked in full sun, you're likely to have a bunch of the boards start to curl.

[badpenny]

   Mn boy, they are stacked and stickered in a quonset style building with open ends so the air can circulate, but get minimum sunlite in early am, late pm only.

[Dugsaws]

Red streak is about the only thing I use, ive tried the monkeys, and the suffolk, with not much difference in performance, I usually get 5 or 6 sharpenings per blade, and get more footage per blade.

As far as flipping the blades ask the company that you buy them from and they should change them, Iask 1 time and they said it wasnt a problem, then no more flipping inside out.

[Gipper]

Simonds .042 X 1 1/2 X 16'10"  is all I have used for past three years.  Very happy with them, so I say "why change?"  Have been getting 500 to 700 bd. ft. per sharpening with 5 to 6 sharpenings per blade, depending on the species.