Blade Tension & Width

[fstedy]

I have been cutting a lot of Pitch Pine and Red Oak and was wondering what tension you folks are running with when cutting these woods. I'm running a TK B-20 and they reccomend 1200 psi with 1 1/4 X .042 blades. In an older post I read that someone was using 2,000 psi when cutting Pine. Also any reccomendations about using  a 1 1/2" blade my band wheels are 19" dia.

[D._Frederick]

fstedy,

The area of the hydrualic cylinder determines the force that is applied to the band wheel. Gauge pressure will be different on for different makes of mills. So to determine the force on your mill, you will need to know the diameter of the hydrualic cylinder.

[slowzuki]

D has a really good post on this with formulas and such about 6 month ago.

fstedy,

The area of the hydrualic cylinder determines the force that is applied to the band wheel. Gauge pressure will be different on for different makes of mills. So to determine the force on your mill, you will need to know the diameter of the hydrualic cylinder.

[KURT_STURZ]

Hi fstedy,
We cut alot of softwood on our mill. We run 1-1/2" blade on 27" wheels with 46 hp and 2000-2200 psi tension. The wider the blade you use, the more hp you need to turn it. I would suggest that you make sure your mill is tight, fast and sharp. I wouldn't advise you to go to the wider blade as that most likely will take away some of your hp and slow you down. Position your log so that most of the nots are 45 degrees to your cut and watch your feed rate. Slower is better. Make sure your run water on your blade to keep it cool. If it heats up, it will stretch and loose tension which will cause bad cuts as well. All kinds of things to watch for to keep up good quality. Good luck!

[fstedy]

 8)  Howdy Kurt
 
Thanks for the info. You say you cut a lot of Larch funny you mention that, yesterday I was talking to a close friend he is a prominent Wood Carver and asked me if I ever cut any Larch. He could be a possible customer for you if you sell what he needs. Let me know if you are interested.