Just wondering if anybody has any experience with these blades. Harold
Ive never used any other kind of blade. I like them. I use them on a WM. Ive never broken one.
What makes them so sharp? and can you maintain the sharpness with their catclaw?
Bob
i tried them a time or 2 and they worked ok and they were actually a little cheaper than some of the bands i have used. pc
the tooth is tall and skinny that is what makes it agressive.
I've used them some for the past yr and a half on my WM lt40shdd51.
They cut good and i used one all day yesterday on Ash, about 500bf (I am kind of slow).
The only problem I have had is that several broke at the weld.
Cook's gave me credit for the broken ones, and i now reduce the tension to just below the yellow part of the tension gauge.
cypresskayaks, what tension do you use and what species do you saw?
The tooth configuration is a bit thinner, which is one reason they penatrate well.
I dont use them any longer,, I have broke the teeth off of them,, and sharpening times are limited because of the narrow tooth.
Im not sure how accurate the tension indicator is but I put mine a little past the red on my lt40. Ive never hit metal and got away with it. Even a smaller nail will take 10 teeth off. Im cutting pine, oak and lately a lot of rotten wood.
They do have an agressive tooth shape and cut fast. I've never broken a tip going through nails, but I hit several things that have destroyed the blade. a buried insulator comes to mind... :-\
I gave up trying to figure out why a blade cuts and why it doesn't. I know all the conventional wisdom and what and how a blade is supposed to cut. But I can't possibly explain why going to an .045 blade made by Kasco 2" wide on our other mill cuts far better than a .055 or .045 Woodmizer blade. We tried a Kasco 1 1/2 inch .045 blade on the Woodmizer. It was useless compared to the .055 Woodmizers we run on it.
We regularly test different blades now. Give them and others a try. Most blade companies will send out a few free blades. We didn't have much luck with the Cook blades. That doesn't mean you won't.
There are so few actual manufacturers of bands/blades that the only thing one can derive from testing those from a company is the handling and care. Most companies are just distributors of bulk bands that are cut to length and welded.
I'm a firm believer that most of the dissatisfaction of a company's bands is due to the handling of the bulk material, the welding accuracy of the joint and protection of the tip of the tooth in shipping. Nothing cuts like a sharp tooth.
I'm sure that the company gets the blame for the mishandling of the band by the customer too.
We just started sawing few months ago and we are happy with them today we cut three 18 foot pine logs with lot of knots got threw all three with out the waves to me that is a cost of $7.00 a log plus gas and water Im happy
I haven't tried cooks super sharp yet. But I have tried alot of the others. Iam tired of buying blades and pushing them to far and they usually break on the 1-2 nd. Sharpen. I plan on getting a setter sharpener this year and change blades alot and not put so much stress on them. Currently Iam back with timberking ultra max. Also Iam looking at there new dual setter that will be available in a couple months.
Hal,call Cooks and tell them you want to try a couple of their bands.Theirs no one band thats perfect for everyone,if one band was "the best" the outhers would not be in business. Frank C.
One thing that I insist on is that the welded joint is placed so that the set stays in "time".I can run a Woodmiser blade two or three laps around my dual tooth setter and it never gets out of time.Most other brands require that you start and stop at the weld.Does anyone know of another manufactures blade that stays in time?I have used cheaper blades that performed O.K. but was too frustrated with setting them to buy them again.
cooks supersharp stay in time for me.
Quote from: SAW MILLER on May 08, 2011, 07:15:43 PM
One thing that I insist on is that the welded joint is placed so that the set stays in "time".I can run a Woodmiser blade two or three laps around my dual tooth setter and it never gets out of time.Most other brands require that you start and stop at the weld.Does anyone know of another manufactures blade that stays in time?I have used cheaper blades that performed O.K. but was too frustrated with setting them to buy them again.
Why do you need to run the blade through the dual tooth setter two or three times? ??? Seems to me the length of the blade would play a part in wheither the setter hit the same tooth or not after a rotation...also wheither its 7/8 or 1 inch would come into play...It would have to be in multiples of three....a left , a right , and a drag....The mill manufacturer would be the one that would determine the length....Tim
i read that wrong. the Cooks Supersharp are not in time as far as the set (for my lt40). Like Banjo Picker says that would depend on the length. I thought you were talking about sharpening, which could be a disaster.
I've had good success with the supersharps on my homemade bandmill.