HP/sharpness

[hopm]

Bear with me if this is a stupid question....but does more hp give a bit more tolerance for a blade that may not be at its sharpest? The mill I was running was less hp than what I run now and it seemed as soon as it lost any edge I had to adjust speed or the cut became wavy. With the new mill I can hear a difference. I can push with a bit more effort and maintain speed of the cut and keep a straight cut. Just curious...thank you in advance for your response!!

[Southside]

Not a stupid question at all. Sort of the bigger hammer effect. Could you drive a band a bit further with more grunt behind it? Likely. But you will cause more friction and heat resulting in more stress on the band which will lead to earlier failure of the band, so no real advantage to doing so. 

[farmfromkansas]

I have been thinking of getting a sharpener, because it is so tempting to keep cutting with a band that is still cutting.  It may be past it's prime, but still cuts, and if you keep going, probably the band will not be much good. So thought maybe I could just stop, take off the band, let it go around the sharpener once, and put it back on. 

[alan gage]

I have been thinking of getting a sharpener, because it is so tempting to keep cutting with a band that is still cutting.  It may be past it's prime, but still cuts, and if you keep going, probably the band will not be much good. So thought maybe I could just stop, take off the band, let it go around the sharpener once, and put it back on.

I have a sharpener. I'm glad I do. But I never do as you describe. When I'm sawing I want to be sawing, not sharpening. I find it much easier to accumulate used bands and then sharpen them in batches. This always leaves me with fresh blades so when one dulls when sawing I take it off, put it in the "to be sharpened" pile, put on a fresh blade, and go back to sawing.
Sometimes I'll suck it up and do a dozen blades all in one go but I'm more likely to do just a few blades when I have a little time. I don't find it all that enjoyable of a process and it's less painful when I'm not doing it for hours on end. Sometimes I sharpen and then set back to back but often I'll sharpen a large batch of blades and then set them aside to be sharpened a few at a time later.
Alan

[Magicman]

Regardless of the HP, there is nothing to gain and blade life to loose if you saw with a "not sharp" blade.  Notice that I did not say dull blade.  A dull blade is an abused blade and the sawyer is being careless by ignoring the blade as it gradually looses it's sharpness.

A sawmill with a larger engine is probably sawing faster and more lumber so being attentive to the blade's sharpness is paramount.