How much set?

[Carpenter]

     I know this subject has been discussed to death.  

     To make a long story short.  I own an EZ Boardwalk 40 and I used to run Timber Wolf Blades on it, I've also tried Cooks, and Woodmizer, and have stuck with the Woodmizer, frankly, the only type of blade I've tried more set in was the Timber Wolf blades.  But, when I was sawing pine, the increased set made a noticeable difference in the cut quality.  I had some blades with 30 thousandths set, they looked wickedly ugly but made a nice cut.  I did not notice any difference between them and the blades with 25 thousandths when cutting hardwood.  It didn't even seem to pull the motor down more.  But, at the time, I was milling mostly ERC and Ponderosa Pine.
     I have switched gears a little bit in my career but am still in the same industry.  So, today when I mill (which is at least 2 days/ week) I am running an LT 70 super wide with a diesel, and milling mostly white oak.  But, I've got some Norway Spruce in the yard to mill as well.  I've milled some of it, and have seen some of the same dips and rises that I used to see from milling Ponderosa Pine with the blades with the factory set.  So, when I sent blades in to Woodmizer Re-sharp I asked for 30 thousandths set.  It really helped when milling Pine with my other mill, and this mill probably has horse power to burn, so I don't think it will be a problem for it to pull it through the oak.  But, I got the distinct impression that the Woodmizer guy I was talking to thought I was nuts.  The factory set is 25 thousandths, I didn't think it was too much to ask for 30 thousandths.  But, maybe I'm wrong.  I just can't stand wavy cuts, I have to build something from this stuff.  
     If my experiment goes well, the LT 70 should still be able to handle the hardwoods, and cut the soft, knotty, pitchy woods without wavy cuts.  We'll see.
     I just wondered what you guys thought of this.

     Thanks,
     Jeff Carpenter

[terrifictimbersllc]

For me & white oak, 4/32 woodmizer double hard  bands 25 thousandths are a perfect match.  I don't know about white oak with other blade styles. No reason to try others the 4 degree are so good. 

With pine, 7/34, 7/39, or 10/30 double hards are all very good at 25-26 thousandths, 30 thousandths too.  I think more set 30-35 makes it foolproof but not necessary.  30-35 only needed for spruce.

I run 42HP, 1-1/4 .045 blades. 

[Peter Drouin]

I set out to 30 ,, 32  with a reg 7s 55x1-1/4  On Hardwood,  Pine, Hemlock.

[SeaPickle]

If it helps: the set of the saw teeth is to provide side clearance for the band (or round). If you are experiencing snake (within board deviation) you are likely overheating the blade. If the set is recommended for the type of wood you are cutting from the manufacturer, maybe try reducing your feed speed, or increasing your lubrication.
How wide are your bands? Vertical or horizontal? What guides, lead, wheel rotation speed, gullet capacity, and tooth style are you running?

[kelLOGg]

I am sawing small (~10") rapid growth pine (ring spacing almost 3/4") and am using 0.020" set and getting very good results on 1x6 fencing lumber - smooth cut and almost no impacted sawdust on the board. If I was sawing pitchy pine I generally use 0.025" to 0.030" set. Do others find set requirements vary not only among species but among these other characteristics, too.
Bob

[PA_Walnut]

I have a decent amount of 7° Turbos that I very much dislike. (wavy gravy, especially on wide stuff. I have 40 wide).
Messing around with the set help? I recently got a WoodMizer sharpener and setter, but haven't messed with it much.Thx

[SeaPickle]

Kellogg:
Maybe try running a solvent such as diesel when cutting pine with a lot of pitch. The pitch build up on the body of the blade may be causing deflection, which will require excess set to allow proper tooth clearance. Also, pitch build up creates unpredictable hot spots in the body of the blade from friction which will create unequal tension through the cut...
Just a thought 

[kelLOGg]

Seapickle, Thx for the advice but I already do. I have had my share of pitchy pine problems so I did this: Anatomy of my double 2-sided blade oiler in Sawmills and Milling

Bob

[Chuck White]

Anyone put a diesel wick on an LT40?

Any pics to show how and where it was mounted?

[LeeB]

There were quite a lot of pics in the past from folks that did it. Can't remember the threads now. CRS

[Carpenter]

Ok guys,

I got my blades back from woodmizer with the 30 thousandths set.  I had some spruce to saw, but I had just put a sharp blade on with the standard 25 thousandths, so I used that blade until I started to get some off cuts, then I switched to a new blade with 30 thousandths.  The first log turned out beautiful, and i pushed the blade a little faster than I had been with the 25 thousandths blade.  Nice course saw dust, and a good straight cut.
     The next log on the mill was not such a nice story.  On the opening cut with it, there were a lot of humps and dips.  So, I took off another half inch at a very slow feed speed, with the same results.  Then, I noticed that I really wasn't getting any lube to the blade, my lube nozzles were clogged, so I cleared them.  That did make a huge improvement.  But, I still wasn't where I wanted to be.  At this point I had to turn the log in order to box the heart to make a timber.  The second face cut much better than the first.  Eventually I got back around to the first face again and it cut much truer.  I was able to make a good timber.  
     After cutting several more spruce timbers with the same blade, I found that even if I did everything "right" the opening cut and the opening cut on the second face could have waves.  After I made the log into a cant and started to whittle that down, there were fewer waves.  I was running the de-barker when I was cutting through bark.  Also, the spruce logs move a lot on the mill.  Oak logs move too, but with the spruce inparticular it seemed benificial to just box the heart with the first two faces, then turn, and not try to cut down to my finished cut until I'd canted it up.  I really don't know how to explain this so that the average person would understand, I'm not sure that I'm explaining it in a way that you sawyers will understand either.  But, it seemed benificial just to cant it up and whittle it down turning often as needed.  I'm sure the extra set did help along with the blade lube system working properly, also when dealing with spruce expect it to move a lot during the milling process while being milled, so the extra turning helped in my opinion.  In the end I was able to make some really nice spruce timbers.  I'm still undecided if the extra set really made the difference.
     But, after I milled the spruce I re-sawed some hardwood timbers for braces using the same 30 thousandths blade.  It performed the same as a 25 thousandths blade would have.  

[terrifictimbersllc]

My "spruce" blades are mostly "setting accidents" where some of the teeth get 30-35 thousandths set so I just give that to all of them. That being said, using an overset blade is only part of a strategy for cutting spruce.

You may have hit on another part, that is breaking a log down to smaller parts, where the subsequent cuts aren't so wide.  

Breaking down to oversize parts is a third arm of the strategy, for example if 10" thickness is wanted that part gets cut to 10-1/4 or so so there is something to be trimmed off to get the smaller part flat.   Breaking down oversize is also good insurance in dealing with stress movement whenever deep cuts are made. 

This way of thinking isn't just for spruce, the thinking is part of sawing, where the goal is to get bigger dirtier wood down to cleaner smaller wood while keeping the blade as sharp as possible.  Obviously a wide deep cut that is flat is best for productivity, but so is ending up with flat lumber.