Bandmill blades

[bulldozerjoe]

After two years of researching what sawmill to buy, I've made my decision. Woodland mills hm126..
I'm going to order in next week.. what are your guys thoughts on blades... I'll be milling mostly eastern white pine.. hard maple, cherry, beech, ash once in a while.. do I just order the blades from woodland mills or do you guys suggest some place else.. thanks

[farmfromkansas]

Not familiar with Woodland mills, but Cooks sells a ton of blades, and the other mill companies sell blades, and Kasco seems to sell a lot of blades, and no mills, you might check with those companies on prices and the proper blade for the HP of your mill.  Cooks will set you up an account and file the length of your blades so if you order more they will get the right length.  I have a Cooks mill and get my blades from them, happy customer.

[Patrick NC]

I bought a box of Norwood blades when I bought my mill and later found out they were a kasco profile. Started buying directly from kasco and saved $5 a blade. 

[Gere Flewelling]

I use Cook's bands on my Cook's mill.  Tried some Timber Wolf bands once, but have had better luck with Cook's.  Great company to work with.  Good luck!

[Magicman]

Another very important part of the blade question is resharpening.  Buying them once is simple, but you will be resharpening them 6-8+ times. 

[dogbo2013]

I originally bought the Lenox 10 degree blades from Woodland Mills when I purchased my HM130. They worked great while cutting, but every blade change required tracking readjustment. I started trying different blades (Timbery, Rippers, Simonds, Kasco, etc.) to see if there was a difference. All of them seem to cut fine, but the Kasco blades required little to no tracking readjustment at blade change. I also went with a 4 degree .045 blade and have been very happy. The cut is smoother and less wavy. On a side note, I bought a sharpener to try and stretch my blade life a little and save some money. The thicker Kasco blades only seem to be good for 1-2 sharpening before breaking. Not sure if om doing something wrong, but I have wondered if a thinner, more flexible blade would survive more resharps?  

[Southside]

A number of us who ran Wood Mizer Doublehard bands have switched to Wood Mizer Silver Tip bands. They stay sharp just as long and have much better flex life. I have yet to break one. 

[hopm]

I usually get 8 to 10 sharpenings on a blade but I'm quick to pull.

[barbender]

I've always been a fan of WM Silvertips, for a blade that WM markets as a budget or throwaway blade, I think they are equal or better than anything else on the market. 

[scsmith42]

One thing that I would suggest is to determine who will do your resharpening, and find out what blade profiles that they can sharpen.

The Kasco rep, Cutting-edge, is a member on this forum and I highly recommend him. He can sell you the bands and resharpened them. He is based in W. VA.