4 degree vs. 10 degree blades ??????

[bikedude73]

I have lots of logs of different types and am sawing oak and cherry now and was wondering witch one to use 4 or 10 degree????? :P ??? 8)

[JV]

My personal preference is 4 degree.  I have quit using 10 degree altogether.  Most of my sawing is done with 4 and 7 degree blades and on rare occasion 9 degree.  Others may disagree, just my personal preference. 

[Don K]

Here in the south we saw a lot of pine and the 10 degree is a good all around blade. I have used it on pine,poplar,redand white oak, redcedar, pecan,and walnut it it was fine on all. I don't have to separate blades either.

Don

[Dave Shepard]

I run 10 on both the 24 HP LT40 manual and the 51 HP Super for most of my sawing. If I'm sawing black locust, white oak, or frozen logs, I use the 4 degree bands.

[Magicman]

Like Don, I run only 10^o blades.  I'm quite sure that sometimes a different blade would be better suited, but so far, I'm doing fine with what I'm using.

A great majority of my sawing is dimension SYP framing lumber.  Occasionally, it's red & white oak, poplar, hickory, and recently beech.  Other minor varieties also hit the mill.  Some are green and some may have been down for a couple of years.

[ladylake]

 4* here also, I buy them at 10* use them on easy to saw wood then sharpen at 4*. It might make a difference how much power your mill has, seems like 10* worked well for years on lower powered mils and now that a lot of us are getting more power were leaning towards less hook.   Steve

[Larry]

The more hook angle the faster you saw.  The more hook angle the faster the band dulls.  Dull bands cut waves when going through knots.  The effect is magnified with no debarker and on low horsepower mills.  The most positive way of telling if the band has to much hook is when the saw "chatters".  That would be typical on dried out white oak with a 10 degree band.

I can't think of ever needing a 4 degree band...the hardest I have cut was hedge that had spent the previous 40 years as corner posts...there was a couple of hidden staples that did present a little problem.

The only way to learn is to dry different bands and see what works for you.  It didn't embarrass me a bit to call up a manufacture and ask for a free band or two to try out.

[True North]

In previous posts, it sounded like a lot of people liked the 7 degree blades and were thinking of going that route. I am going back and forth between the 7's and the 10's....can't decide.

[P.A. RESHARP]

If you are going to go with the 7* we suggest that you have at least 28 to 30 horsepower. Most of out higher horsepower mill owners have gone to the 7*. In the wintertime when the loggs are frozen, some people cant seem to get the 10* to cut, and when they switch to the 4* that almost always fixes the problem. As a rule the 10* is for the softer wood up to red oak. White oak and hickory and the harder woods, a lot of people stick with the 4*. There are people that use 10* for everything, and they seem to work. And there are also some customers that use only 4*. For the lt 15, most of our customers will use the 9*. That will pretty much cut anything. Like the post above said, you will probably just have to see what works best for you. Hope this helped, Have fun, and good luck.

[bugdust]

bikedude,
I typically use the 10 degree for WV hardwood sawing, but Marty (WM) hooked me up with a 7 degree a while back and I've found it will cut white oak and hickory where the 10 degree won't budge. Don't worry about mix/matching if you use WM resharp, they are quick to separate and ship back as marked. I try to keep just a few 7's handy, but most of my milling is still with 10's. Good milling!