How many bands

[Inwoodsman]

This may have been discussed in another post so don't be too hard on me.
You guys with bandsaw mills that are doing a lot of sawing, how many bandsaw blades do you keep on hand?  Just wondering how many a guy wood need when purchasing a mill and using it. Thanks

[pine]

I think it would vary depending upon your circumstances.

1.  It would be based on how much sawing that you do.
2.  Do you sharpen your own blades or do you send out. 
3.  If you send out is it local or long distance (what is expected turnaround time from shipping to receiving back and how much sawing is done in that period. See note 1)
4.  Do you saw for others where running out of blades would be very unprofessional when working on a job; or just for yourself and if you run out and are down for a week or two no big deal?

I am sure there are other factors that would play into it but without knowing answers to any of the above, minimum in my mind would be 10. I have many, many more.

[golddredger]

I bought a box of 10 from Cooks to get started. Hammered through those in 2 weeks. Cooks now says 3 to 4 week turn around for resharpen.  I thought 10 blades would be more than enough but not even close. I wiped out 2 blades seting up the mill due to tracking out and hitting the blade guards. I lost 2 within 10 minutes to nails in two different logs. I then cut for 5 hours on one blade.....eveything went great but it was getting dull so swapped it out. Then I knocked the set out of a few on a very sap filled log nothing but troubles. Long story short I blasted 10 blades in a flash. I would suggest 15 to 20 at least. Then when ten are dull you send those off while you still have ten to work with. 20 would be best at least in my eyes 60 would be a great amount in the end or a sharpener and setter of my own. Currently building both.

[Magicman]

I have about 45.  I normally travel with 10, and there are 10 in the Resharp loop.  If/when I will be on a road trip job, at least 20 goes with me.

[bandmiller2]

Being an old "puttermiller" I usally cut for three or four hours then take the band off and sharpen it. There are times I will use one band until its worn out, other time two or three in rotation. Most times I have about 20 bands in various shape kicking around. Frank C.

[Dave Shepard]

I've got about 40 10°, 10 4°, and 3 13° 1.5" that I've never used. I like to have about 40 or 50 each of 4 and 10. I don't like having logs to saw and no sharp bands, although it would take a three day weekend, a tornado and a blizzard in August for ReSharp to have a box of bands longer than a week. :D

[woodyone.john]

I like to have 6 blades per day for sawing. I change at each break, so saw for around 2 hrs then change out. I set and sharpen my own and like to sharpen weekly so that the pile in front of me is not too daunting.so for me having about 40 in the rotation gives me a bit of come and go depending on where I'm up to. Like Magic if I,m travelling the I take 10 per day
cheers john

[YellowHammer]

Somewhere between 40 and 50 seems to be the sweet spot for me.
YH

[Peter Drouin]

100 ;D

[Chuck White]

I usually have anywhere from 15 to 30 on hand depending on the time of year!

I will usually order a box of 15 in January and then get another 15 at the Woodsmens Days in Tupper Lake or Boonville!

I'm 100% mobile!

I take 6 with me every day I saw, and usually use 2!

I usually average 500-800 board feet before I pull the blade and then I will sharpen the dull blades after I get done sawing for the day!

[Napoleon1]

100 is about right for me also

[BBTom]

I buy 60 blades at a time from WM as they give you free shipping and a discount if you do.  I probably have close to 100 on hand, and order more when I get down under 50 on hand.

[Magicman]

Since I use WM Resharp and am on the blade replacement program, my blade inventory stays the same.

[Delawhere Jack]

I mill exclusively mobile and sharpen and set my own bands. For a one day job I take a minimum 12 bands, but usually only go through 3-4 in a day. When I get down to 20 or so bands, I order another box of 15. I use only 9 deg bands, might not get absolute optimal cutting speed in all situations, but it's a good general purpose band.

When I was using WM Resharp, the turn around from sending bands off until I got them back was about 2 weeks. The bands came back in like new condition.

[Tom the Sawyer]

I am mostly mobile, do my own setting and sharpening.  Fresh blade plus 6 spares go to each mobile job.  Normally 40-50 in rotation, re-order when I get down to 35 or so. 

I engrave a generated serial number on each blade and track uses, footage, condition, etc. in a database.  Usually wait for a rainy day or slow time to catch up with cleaning/setting/sharpening and then do whatever I have waiting, maybe 20 or so at a time.

[customsawyer]

My situation is a bit different. I keep between 300-500 on hand at most times. Sometimes the demands for sawing is so great that there isn't time to sharpen so I like to have enough on hand to last till I have time to sharpen. I have been known to still not have time to sharpen so I will hire someone to come in and sharpen on my equipment. ;D There is more income generated sawing then sharpening so I don't park the sawmill just to sharpen.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I'm 100% portable and sharpen myself. I usually have about 75-100 in use and whatever unopened boxes I have from my last order of 60 blades a time.  Of the 75-100 up to about half might be accumulating for sharpening.  I carry 5-15 of each style (flat packs like they come from WM), usually 4°, 7° set at 26-30, and 7° set at 35.   Multiple day trips I make sure I have at least a dozen or more regular set 7's.   I also have some 9's and 10's which I tend to use more in the winter.

[Peter Drouin]

My situation is a bit different. I keep between 300-500 on hand at most times. Sometimes the demands for sawing is so great that there isn't time to sharpen so I like to have enough on hand to last till I have time to sharpen. I have been known to still not have time to sharpen so I will hire someone to come in and sharpen on my equipment. ;D There is more income generated sawing then sharpening so I don't park the sawmill just to sharpen.

I would think you had all of that cutting for the commercial mill you work for. Do they buy them for you? I think for me it would be part of the deal.

[WDH]

I would say that you need at least two boxes of 10 each, or 20 blades total at a minimum.  You work from one box while the other is being re-sharpened. 

[WoodenHead]

I presently have 180 blades - minus a few that have broke or hit serious metal.  I too buy them in sets of 60 to get the discount.  About 45 are new, 45 need re-sharp and the balance have been sharpened once by WM.  Since I drive them a ways to get them sharpened (courier is too costly), I save up about 5 or 6 boxes (75-90 blades) to make it worthwhile.

[SawyerBrown]

I'm 100% custom sawing, so I make sure I have at least 10 appropriate blades in the 15-blade flat box which tucks nicely in a compartment I built into my equipment box.  I've already hit 4 nails in a single log, and as was mentioned earlier, it would be very unprofessional to not have enough blades to finish a job.  Whatever number is appropriate to have on hand, you'll need to make sure you can get blades sharpened to maintain at least that number at all times.  I usually have 2 of the 15-blade boxes of each of 9- and 10-deg blades (plus a few spares) in circulation at all times (either in use or being sharpened).

And, by the way, welcome to the fray!

[backwoods sawyer]

20 new 40-60 resharpened and a few hundred in the scrap pile. I always keep a box of new saws in the truck along with a box of resharp, use out of the resharp box unless the logs dictate other wise.
Had two back to back saw jobs that chewed thru the saws and was on my last saw when I finished them. These mills will go thru the saws in those matilic fill logs, keep plenty on hand as sharpening day comes between sawing days and can be hard to squeez in during the buisy work season.

[customsawyer]

My situation is a bit different. I keep between 300-500 on hand at most times. Sometimes the demands for sawing is so great that there isn't time to sharpen so I like to have enough on hand to last till I have time to sharpen. I have been known to still not have time to sharpen so I will hire someone to come in and sharpen on my equipment. ;D There is more income generated sawing then sharpening so I don't park the sawmill just to sharpen.

I would think you had all of that cutting for the commercial mill you work for. Do they buy them for you? I think for me it would be part of the deal.

I charge by the BF so this makes all of the expenses on me. Some of the blades are for when I am sawing at the commercial mill and some are for the mill at the house. Since they run the same size blade the only difference is what you are cutting. Basically what I am doing at the commercial mill is portable sawing, the only difference is that I don't have to move that mill since they keep me busy 5 days a week.  ;) 

[Peter Drouin]

[quote author=customsawyer

I charge by the BF so this makes all of the expenses on me. Some of the blades are for when I am sawing at the commercial mill and some are for the mill at the house. Since they run the same size blade the only difference is what you are cutting. Basically what I am doing at the commercial mill is portable sawing, the only difference is that I don't have to move that mill since they keep me busy 5 days a week.  ;) 
[/quote]




Good deal. 

[Inwoodsman]

Thanks guys, I love this forum. You all are a wealth of information. Thanks again.

[scully]

I try and get as many as I can ! I think I have about 40 now . Keep in mind certain bands for differant types of wood etc. It's like drill bits better to have a pile of em ! If you get a new mill start off with a new box of bands .....

[gimpy]

Do any of you use a metal detector on your logs as a normal procedure?

I'm a new owner (used LT40) and haven't made any sawdust yet.

For those like myself, I will be sawing mostly pine. How long are my blades likely to last? I'm not going to be a member of the million BF club anytime soon but I will be trying to cut all my lumber for building my home, outbuildings, fences and such on my pine filled property.

Just got back from Woodmizer getting my mill checked out and will not be able to fire her up for about a week. But I have 2 boxes of (15) blades (actually 30 + 3 blades) and now I'm wondering if when I get going if I should have a few more boxes. Re-Sharp (with replacement) for me is about a week turn around.

How much pine can a woodmizer blade cut if a woodmizer can cut pine? (If you catch the reference)

[WDH]

I expect 500 to 600 BF from a blade on my manual LT15.  You can get more BF per blade on a hydraulic mill with more HP.  The key is to only saw clean logs or run the debarker on the LT40 if it has one. 

[Chuck White]

In White Pine, I usually saw around 800 bf before blade change, but consider anything over 500 bf satisfactory.

[gimpy]

If I understand this correctly, what we're talking about is as an example, a 14" small end by 14' length is 100bf.

So a blade will cut from 5 to 8 of this size logs. Now that is something I can understand.

[backwoods sawyer]

One or two saw per day
average twenty logs that size
or 2,000 bft a day
seems to be more when Little Jo is sawing as she puts me to log and lumber handling while she keeps the sawdust flowing ;)

[gimpy]

So you might go through 2-4 blades a day?

Just trying to be able to estimate me needs.

I appreciate the help. I'd love to meet Little Jo someday. I'd bet she and my bride would have some fun.

Thanks

[terrifictimbersllc]

Trim off a half inch from the front end of a log when it looks dirty.  The gritty end of a dirty pine log (think "sandpaper")  can dull the blade before it ever enters the log. Debarker doesn't help with this.

[YellowHammer]

Gimpy,
Congrats on the new mill. 8)  Your burn rate on bands will be slightly higher in the beginning as you go up the learning curve and get a feel for the saw and sharp blades. Also, the inclination will be to run sweet cutting bands too long and get the most out of them, but that is very hard on them and really shortens their life.  On the other hand, every now and then a new or reshapened band will not perform well out of the box and the inclination will be to force and push it.  Other things like feeding too slow, pitch buildup, best blade lube/cleaner for the species you are milling will also take a little time to get dialed in. 
YH

[NCForester]

I do portable custom sawing for people in Western NC.  I currently have about 300, with about 50-60 dull ones that will get sharpened when the weather turns bad.

[backwoods sawyer]

Thirty saws is a good number to start with and will cut a few piles of wood. Can alway add another box if you seem to be short on saws.
When you signed up for resharp did you opt for the keep full plan?

We will have to take you up on that cup of coffee next time we are in the area. Right now we are piling up the sawdust all around the willamette valley ;D

[gimpy]

Thank you for the help. Yes I opted for the keep full option. Will be getting my first delivery with one replacement in a few days.

Keep your blades moving.