newbie questions

[craigc90]

  went over my brothers house and picked up his portable band mill with a box of new blades and all the goodies. I brought the mill to my place and set it up and cut wood all day. I have a pile of logs I cut off my property for a powerline rite of way. There are 12 Hard Maple logs in the 16  to 25 inch range 2 Red Oak and 2 Ash. Getting to my Question I cut 6 logs and the blade is still cutting good.But the wood is not as smooth as when I started . When do most of you guys change your blade. The mill has never cut green lumber
because my brother used it for resawing first growth barn beams and he usualy hits nails and debris shortening the life of the blades. He was shocked the blade lasted so long.
I am going to cut after work tomorrow and keep using the blade till it looks like its burning the wood or I have to use more effort to push it through the log.

[J Beyer]

since I have not run a band mill, I'll say that your band is dull based on past posts.  It may seem to cut fine, but you could be greatly stressing the band itself.  I know that with a chainsaw mill, the finish does not worsen with a dull chain, but milling speed changes dramatically.

There have been posts where board foot per band has been discussed, but let's start another.

JB

[Bro. Noble]

Craig,

Where your blade is cutting well but has started leaving a rougher appearence, there are two possibilities that I can think of:  1) your blade is beginning to dull and tearing fibers rather that cutting clean.   If this is the case, the blade will be warm or hot to the touch.  2) You have hit a gravel or something that has put too much set in one or more teeth.  This will leave heavy saw marks at regular intervals on the board.  People have done this on purpose to give the board more of a rough-sawn appearance for a specific project.

Jeff is right,  if the blade is beginning to dull it will lengthen the life of the blade, save you time, and make better boards if you sharpen it. Best not to wait till it smokes or maskes major miscuts.

Noble

[Tom]

Craig,
I generally use 2 blades a day, cutting production in SYP.  Sometimes I use 3.  Don't try to make a blade last too long or it will work harden and not be worth sharpening.   A 13'2" band like you find on Woodmizers can be used up in as little as 300 board feet or last as long as 1000 bf but, 600 or 700 is the most common.

The Back (stock) of the blade is almost as important as the tooth.  If you have to really start pushing the saw then you've waited too long.

[craigc90]

 Did not get to cut any wood tonight. We got some much needed rain. I am grateful for the replies.I have been hanging around here for  quite awhile and this is a great board . I hope to learn more. I am considering buying the mill off of my brother.

[ARKANSAWYER]

Craigc90,
   When the cut is not smooth or flat I change blades.  On average I get 800 bdft in hard woods but I have a de-barker which adds alot to blade life.  Now what are you going to do with the dull blades?
ARKANSAWYER

[craigc90]

Well I am new at this and need to learn how to sharpen and set the blades. My brother has been sending them back to the guy he bought the mill from for sharpening. We also found a place about 15 miles from us that sharpens band blades.  Using the mill to cut salvage wood my brother uses bimetal band blades. To be honest you cant tell much difference than regular wood blades. I have watched the regular wood blades cut through several nails without a broken tooth.