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When do you change blades?

Started by FactorySeconds, January 24, 2023, 11:34:43 AM

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FactorySeconds

Personally, I take a few queues from the cut to tell me when to change:

Wavy cut not caused by knots
The blade hops when coming out of the cut
Metal strike

I was curious what others do. A specific length of time maybe? I'm sawing 100% live edge through frozen logs in winter so I'm certain I'm not getting the same blade life as most but are there some 'secret' tells from the cut beyond what I'm looking for?

fluidpowerpro

I notice that it makes a different sound when cutting. It starts the be a higher pitch. As soon as I start to hear that I change the blade.
Change is hard....
Especially when a jar full of it falls off the top shelf and hits your head!

bushhog920

Wavy cut in a knot is the first sign the blade is getting dull. I have a sharpener I don't wait until I start cutting bad lumber. Every couple of logs while it's still cutting good I take a 10min break and touch it up on my cooks sharpener.

Magicman

Do not wait until you see indications that the blade is "getting dull".  A blade that is "not sharp" but still sawing straight is ready to be replaced.  Replace "not sharp" blades before they get "dull".

Generally, two hours of continuous sawing is enough to reduce the sharpness enough to justify replacement. 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

scsmith42

Years ago when I enquired about this I was told that blades will start to crack in the gullets, and after around 2.5 - 3 hours of rotation time they cracks will be deep enough that they might not be removed by sharpening.  Then the cracks grow and the blade breaks.

This is where some mills that stop band rotation except when the blade is in the log have an advantage over a mill such as a Baker.  On my Baker, unless the mill is idling the band is always turning, and  hence wearing the band in form of gullet cracks.

Thus, if I limit rotation time to 2 hours or so I'll have much longer band longevity than if I push it longer.  Sharpness is not as much of an issue here as rotations.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

beenthere

Also, review yellowhammer's video where he points out watching the sawdust stream exiting the cut.  

Watch the rooster tail coming from the cut.

Professional Sawmill Secret to Increase Your Sawmill Speed and Quality at Hobby hardwood - YouTube
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Chuck White

Watch your sawdust, it can tell a story too.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

OlJarhead

WM says 2hrs regardless of how many bf.
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

fluidpowerpro

YH, thats a great video. I learned a lot. I'm going to start watching the exiting sawdust more closely.
Change is hard....
Especially when a jar full of it falls off the top shelf and hits your head!

YellowHammer

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

FactorySeconds


ladylake


 I think I go by sound the most, or the 2 hour rule.  steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

FactorySeconds

Quote from: beenthere on January 24, 2023, 12:59:12 PM
Also, review yellowhammer's video where he points out watching the sawdust stream exiting the cut.  

Watch the rooster tail coming from the cut.

Professional Sawmill Secret to Increase Your Sawmill Speed and Quality at Hobby hardwood - YouTube
I've watched that video countless times at this point. It's great. The rooster tail really helped to dial in and understand the relationship between setup and milling.

Resonator

A good sharp blade will cut the wood fibers into tiny "chips", a dull blade will abrade the wood like a sander, and make a finer dust than a sharp blade.  If you saw the same type of wood regularly, you get a feel for what the sawdust should look like coming out of the shoot. Also from running a manual mill, I can feel the resistance pushing through each cut get harder as the blade dulls.
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

WV Sawmiller

   I walk beside my mill and can feel when it starts to strain even though it is still cutting good. Many times I have said "I'll change blades when I finish this cant then a couple boards later DING - a broken blade."
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Chuck White

Quote from: FactorySeconds on January 24, 2023, 04:04:06 PM
Quote from: Chuck White on January 24, 2023, 02:20:30 PM
Watch your sawdust, it can tell a story too.
care to elaborate?
Simply put, the sawdust will get finer as the blade dulls!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

SawyerTed

The sound of the blade and the sound of the engine lets me know when the blade begins to get "not sharp".  There's a tone to a sharp clean cutting blade and the tone changes the "less sharp" the blade gets.

The sound of the engine changes as well.  Along with the engine note, the feed dial has to be turned ever so slightly more to maintain feed rate.  

Before I started doing my own sharpening, I was guilty of pushing the blade to dull.  When I started sharpening my own blades, I tended to change "sooner than later."   Besides making blades easier to sharpen, production is better and blades last longer.  
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

fluidpowerpro

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on January 24, 2023, 05:56:35 PM
  I walk beside my mill and can feel when it starts to strain even though it is still cutting good. Many times I have said "I'll change blades when I finish this cant then a couple boards later DING - a broken blade."
I've done the exact same thing and then when it happens I kick myself because I knew it was coming. Now I swap blades as soon as I hear the pitch change.
Change is hard....
Especially when a jar full of it falls off the top shelf and hits your head!

barbender

I hate changing blades so I push them no matter what🤷‍♂️😊. 
Too many irons in the fire

Old Greenhorn

Quote from: barbender on January 24, 2023, 08:10:34 PM
I hate changing blades so I push them no matter what🤷‍♂️😊.
FINALLY! Somebody who has the courage to say out loud what I am always thinking. Just a couple more boards yet. :D ;D
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Southside

Your sawdust should look like grits, not flour.   :D
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

barbender

If it's sawing straight, I don't care😁

I run 1.5" bands, .045" up to .055" thick. I think when my mill was built 1.5"x.045" was the "heavy" blade the crazy guys ran, and 1.25"x.042" was the standard production blade. Well, add in a debarker in the way, and changing blades on my mill is a chore and I avoid it until I have to. Besides that, it seems like every time I pull a blade early, thinking I'm doing the right thing, I install a new one and turn around and saw right into a backstop or something🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
Too many irons in the fire

WV Sawmiller

   It must be a lot easier to change blades on mine then. With the hinged covers its a minute or so to replace them then back to sawing.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

kelLOGg

Quote from: Southside on January 24, 2023, 08:58:46 PM
Your sawdust should look like grits, not flour.   :D
If I'm running a 4° band (as I always do now) the sawdust always looks like flour. I go by the "hop" to determine when the band needs replacing.
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

Patrick NC

I'm also guilty of sawing with a dull blade as long as it cut straight. Especially since I switched to 1.5" blades. They cut straight much longer than 1.25. Now that I have a sharpener I plan to kick that habit.
Norwood HD36, Husky 372xp xtorq, 550xp mk2 , 460 rancher, Kubota l2501, Case 1845 skid steer,

barbender

WV, blade changes would be way easier on the single mast mills like the LT35 and LT70. The LT40 has the double mast, so one is in front of the drive wheel. Instead of hinged covers you get individual covers over each wheel that you actually have to remove from the machine, then a hinged cover for the area between the band wheels. 
Too many irons in the fire

kkcomp

Yellowhammer that's a great video thanks for the insight. I noticed you cut fast so I am guessing that you suggest cutting as fast as you can and changing blades often?
Why is there never time to do it right but always time to do it over?
Rework is the bane of my existence
Norwood HD38 Kubota B3300HSU Honda Rancher many Stihl and Echo saws, JCB 1400b Backhoe

YellowHammer

Cutting fast and cutting flat are the goals when I'm sawing.  Flatness speaks for itself, but cutting fast is important for several reasons besides basic production, as it also keeps the boards clean of sawdust and cools the band.  So even if I was only going to cut one log a day, I would still be trying to achieve the best balance of fast and flat, if nothing other than scraping sawdust off a board takes just as much time as to cut it, and more handling, and I don't "do" sawdust scraping.  So cut fast and there is almost no sawdust, but cut slow and there is lots of sawdust.  So why spend money on a nice fast mill, have it cut slow, and then spend as just as much time scraping sawdust as sawing?  

However, if I'm near the end of a run, or about have the pallet filled with lumber, I'll finish the quota by putting a smaller diameter log or two on the mill and complete the run.  A band the won't cut fast and flat in big logs will generally cut fast and flat in smaller logs for one or two more logs, so I'll saw them up instead to finish the batch.

Then I'll put in an empty pallet, some more logs, a new band and get back to it.

Don't forget that a band that cuts waves ruins two boards on every cut.   

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

boonesyard

The 2 hr. rule works when the planets are all lined up, but they seldom line up when sawing big burr oak or red and white pine that's froze. Much of the time during winter sawing, I can't get 2 hrs. out of a good blade, so we need to watch for the tell tail signs. Most of us have enough hrs on our mills that I think it's a number of things that tell us when to change. The blade sound/pitch, engine sound/load, tension gauge not holding, sawdust texture, wavy lumber.

With all of that said, I'm absolutely guilty of sawing toooo long with a dull blade. I just want to finish this, or I'm tired and I don't want to deal with the covers right now  ;). One thing is for certain though, it's a lot easier to sharpen a blade that's not been over-dulled and you get more sharpenings thumbs-up.   
LT50 wide
Riehl Steel Edger
iDRY Standard kiln
BMS 250/BMT 250
JD 4520 w/FEL
Cat TH255 Telehandler
lots of support equipment and not enough time

"I ain't here for a long time, I'm here for a good time"

Walnut Beast

Sawdust scraping by some might be considering a art 😂

Magicman

Quote from: boonesyard on January 25, 2023, 09:46:03 AMWith all of that said, I'm absolutely guilty of sawing toooo long
No question about it.  I have sawed several whole days and producing 2Mbf+ of framing lumber with one blade.  Maybe it would be something about the dryness/freshness of the log but it would keep sawing and I would let it. ??  I do regularly feel the blade and look at the teeth with my pocket magnifier to determine whether to keep sawing or replace it.  Depending upon the logs and cut list, I may extend or decrease the run time, so I do not abide by any set rules.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

FactorySeconds

Quote from: Southside on January 24, 2023, 08:58:46 PM
Your sawdust should look like grits, not flour.   :D
I'm never shy of asking a potentially dumb question so; I've heard of grits but being from Scotland I've never seen, tried or even know what they are...
What are grits?

barbender

Most guys from the northern parts of the U.S., and those from Canada, would just suggest taking your bandsaw sawdust, heating it up and putting butter on it, and then trying a bite. That is grits in essence 😂
Too many irons in the fire

Percy

Quote from: FactorySeconds on January 25, 2023, 11:45:31 AM
Quote from: Southside on January 24, 2023, 08:58:46 PM
Your sawdust should look like grits, not flour.   :D
I'm never shy of asking a potentially dumb question so; I've heard of grits but being from Scotland I've never seen, tried or even know what they are...
What are grits?
I've only eaten grits once. I was on a motorcycle trip alone waaaay back when and a nice elderly couple with a camper from South Carolina offered me some while we chatted back and forth at a rest stop. They set me a pretty decent amount on a plate seeing as I was a "young Feller".  When we got to eating, those kind old folks lapped that stuff up like candy. I, on the other hand found the taste to be similar to sawdust and warm 90 weight gear oil. I ate the whole plate so as not to offend....even said mmmmmmmmmm after chokin it down. They wanted to give me another plate of the runny mortar but I declined, said something about a tooth ache.....to be fair, I think there are many different recipies for grits, I may have drawn the "short straw" on this occasion... :D :D
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

barbender

Percy, that memory made me chuckle pretty darn hard😂😂 I actually like grits, but then I've never been accused of being anything close to a picky eater 😊
Too many irons in the fire

Southside

Roll your smelt in them and fry in butter with fiddleheads and ployes - I bet even a die hard, glaciated, northerner like @thecfarm would fall in love with them.

Now @YellowHammer is going to ask what smelt, fiddleheads, and ployes are.  :D  

Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

kelLOGg

Grits are a corn product and pretty bland until you put shrimp in it. 😁
Sorta like polenta. 
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

FactorySeconds

Who would have thought that I'd be getting a culinary education here too?

Thank you guys

barbender

 As it turns out, the Forestry Forum may provide more culinary education than anything else!😂 Though not intentional, that's the way it often ends up😊

 Southside, fiddleheads and smelt I know, ployes must be a Maine thing?

Too many irons in the fire

WV Sawmiller

   The proper way to prepare and eat grits is take 4 cups of lightly salted water, add one cup of grits and cook stirring frequently for about 5-6 minutes . Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes then serve with a pat of butter, salt to taste and some people add black pepper. They are traditionally served as a hot breakfast cereal. In many parts of the south they were served with fish at family and community fish fries.

   Confused members and others in the Glaciated north have been known to add milk and sugar which is a major social faux pas in the south.

   I had fried catfish, grits, baked beans and cole slaw for lunch today after another thread prompted me for a desire for fish. Yuumm!

    Oh yeah - the leftover grits are in the fridge and will be rolled out flat, sliced into strips, coated with flour and fried for an extra treat.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

rusticretreater

Seems the thread did a hard right turn.  Most folks overcook grits.  They should be cooked until they are just done and not until they turn to porridge.  Butter n salt.

@WV Sawmiller switch them baked beans to lima beans in ham gravy and you got yerself a top drawer southern meal.

My mother who grew up in the valley of Virginia would take leftover grits and fry them until crisp.  You put some maple syrup on them. 
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Kubota BX25
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Big Tex 17' trailer with Log Arch
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2,000,000th Forestry Forum Post

WV Sawmiller

  I started to mention the syrup as that is how my wife eats them but I did not know others did. I like them straight off the griddle. 

   I'm fine with the lima beans, especially dry green limas, and ham. Serve them with rice and cornbread and great big old glass of iced tea - you fill the glass to overflowing with ice then pour the tea in.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Southside

Ployes are a Acadian thing, St John Valley, New Brunswick, etc. The land where Franglais is spoken. Basically a buckwheat pancake that you put "Croton" onto which is a pork spread. 

You can hear your arteries hardening, but it's so good! 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

SawyerTed

People can eat that and still disparage grits?!?  :D  Croton sounds like potted meat.....
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

YellowHammer

Quote from: Southside on January 25, 2023, 02:18:46 PM
Now @YellowHammer is going to ask what smelt, fiddleheads, and ployes are.  :D  
I ain't sure what a ploys is, other than that's what we do to corn fields, we ploys and plant it.  Them fiddleheads are the guys at the bar who are as drunk as a fiddle, and sound twice as bad, and I for sure know what smelt is.  
It's typically used as  "Whoa, I'm glad he left, didn't that old boy smelt?!!"  To be answered "Shore he did, that fiddlehead was a drunk as skunk and ain't showered in a week."

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

chet

I think that ole boy probably smelt 'cause his flatulence had a hint of well digested grits  ;D

I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

Mooseherder

100 percent Acadian descent here.  My mom's ployes are world class. The best way to eat em.  Spread butter and steak drippings on them and roll them up. Serve with a side of thin steak and mashed taters.  :)
You're welcome. :D

TimW

Thanks for the video Yellowhammer.  I learned a couple of things.
hugs,  Brandi
Mahindra 6520 4WD with loader/backhoe and a Caterpiller E70 Excavator.  My mill is a Woodmizer LT40HD Wide 35hp Yanmar Diesel. An old Lull 644D-34 called Bull

Southside

You have to be a really fast runner, with great night vision, if you want to eat any quantity of smelt.   ;D
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Rhodemont

Great video by Yellowhammer.  I am guilty of everything your not supposed to do.  With that said I am going to try watch the bounce and dust to change the blade more often.  Couple things I noticed.  My LT35 will not saw anywhere thes peed YH is moving so my 2hr blade time is going to produce a lot fewer boards.  Also, kinda hard to track actual 2hrs of sawing time when more than half of my engine run time is handling the logs, boards, and scrap.
Woodmizer LT35HD    JD4720 with Norse350 winch
Stihl 362, 039, Echo CS-2511T,  CS-361P and now a CSA 300 C-O

YellowHammer

Quote from: Bindian on January 25, 2023, 10:18:42 PM
Thanks for the video Yellowhammer.  I learned a couple of things.
hugs,  Brandi
Glad it was useful.  Folks here read some of the stuff I try to describe as I'm sawing, but most times I don't think it makes much sense.  So as they say, a picture is worth thousand words, and I think a video helps even more.

In all honesty, there is little difference between sawing bad wood and sawing good wood.  It takes the little things, and a good dose of just "give a poop" which many sawyers just don't have.  They just saw and sell wood and the wood "is gonna do what the wood is gonna do....".  They are just happy to make boards and sell them.  At that point, the vast majority of sawyers, at least around here, stop caring and just keep producing the same garbage they did the first day they bought their mill.  We get their customers, once the customers pays them once or twice and gets ripped off.

I once visited an LT28 sawmill guy before I even owned a sawmill, who used to take his old dull blades off the mill and throw them on the ground in big piles. Rusty piles of "new" dull, "reused" dull, and "dull" dull. They would rust up badly, but when he got customers logs in (mine, once) he would go to the newly dull pile and put one of those only lightly rusted bands on and cut the wood.  Crossties got the extra dull and rusty bands, and so on.  He would brag that he bartered with other sawyers and got their bands and "recycled" and use them because they were still kind of sharp.  I thought he was a fluke, but when I visited the Resharp in Ga when I bought my first LT15, they had pegs on the wall filled with bands as rusty and nasty as those were.

Over the years, I've visited more than a few band mill operations and the first thing I look for is the condition of the band on the mill, as it will tell a lot about the operation and the kind of wood they produce.

Anyway, I try to put tips and trick in my videos, some pretty obvious, some more subtle so that the folks who are looking for them will find them.  I figure the folks on this Forum are the sawyers I respect and are trying to get better, as I do, every time I put a log in the mill.

Incidentally, in my opinion, a manufacturer putting a two hour time limit on a band is "nonsense" and I think it is targeted at the sawyers I described above.  I've dulled bands in the first few cuts, so should I just keep sawing with it for another hour and 50 minutes because the "manufacturer who sells bands tells me to"?  Of course not.  If I get to two hours and one minute, should I take the band off?  Of course not.  I can typically get 3 or 4 hours on a band, i.e. change it out at lunchtime, sometimes I can go all day.  Sometimes, not more than an hour.  

It's not rocket science - but it's the truth: "The time to take a band off is when it's time to take the band off."  Maybe a new Yellowhammerism?        
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Magicman

I agree Robert.  Here is a quote from my Reply #30.

Quote from: Magicman on January 25, 2023, 11:13:31 AMI do regularly feel the blade and look at the teeth with my pocket magnifier to determine whether to keep sawing or replace it. Depending upon the logs and cut list, I may extend or decrease the run time, so I do not abide by any set rules.

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

doc henderson

MM do you use a "loop" or just a magnifying glass?  any link or pics.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Magicman

 

 
Just a simple plastic folding magnifier that is certainly over 10 years old.  It's probably 5X but all of the markings are worn off.  

I have bought several replacements, some metal cased, but this one always finds it's way back into my pocket.  ;D

If the corner of the tooth is slightly rounded/reflective, the blade comes off.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

barbender

I always shy away from the "run time" advice for a blade. It could be 1 cut, it could be a thousand. It's sharp until it's not🤷‍♂️ (plus just 1 more cut, in my case😁)
Too many irons in the fire

FactorySeconds

Thank you for all the input. I'm a guy that likes to know the right answer, one for myself and so that I'm correct when passing things on. Things that are in some kind of grey zone frustrate me. I like the idea of a loupe to check the teeth for the 96" mill. Having the feed fully hydraulic and going through 5'+ size logs makes judging machine feedback difficult. Much less so on the LT40 thankfully. 

I never thought asking about sharpening frequency would make me so hungry.

Southside

Last year I had to resaw 6,000 BF of 6" green, Poplar cants. Just for kicks I put a new 1.75" Turbo 7 silver tip on my 70 and got to sawing. That band was still cutting flat when the order was done and went into the pile to be sharpened. 

It's all about the non wood fiber that really dulls bands.
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

kelLOGg

Quote from: barbender on January 26, 2023, 09:29:00 AM
I always shy away from the "run time" advice for a blade. It could be 1 cut, it could be a thousand. It's sharp until it's not🤷‍♂️ (plus just 1 more cut, in my case😁)
Those specifying a run time probably have a debarker. Without one, one cut could be the case.
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

Magicman

I have a Debarker but I still wire brush and clean a relative path on both the entry and exit sides of the log.  Many times I have uncovered a rock etc. embedded in the bark that the Debarker would not have removed. 

Take care of the blade and the blade will take care of you.  ;D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Larry

I usually change blades after one breaks.  Other times I take it as a sign that I need to go take a nap. :)


Quote
In all honesty, there is little difference between sawing bad wood and sawing good wood.  It takes the little things, and a good dose of just "give a poop" which many sawyers just don't have.  They just saw and sell wood and the wood "is gonna do what the wood is gonna do....".  They are just happy to make boards and sell them.  At that point, the vast majority of sawyers, at least around here, stop caring and just keep producing the same garbage they did the first day they bought their mill.  We get their customers, once the customers pays them once or twice and gets ripped off.

I think YH nailed the difference between a boardmaker and a true sawyer.  Lots of boardmakers out there and customers don't have enough knowledge to hold there feet to the fire.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

OlJarhead

YH WMs 2hr reference isn't just run it two hrs.  It what they say is the run time of a sharp band treated well with debarker etc.

It is reference to the time in the wood.  Basically they say many Sawyers push their bands too far resulting in less life of the band due to the need to grind more material off to get the profile right on an overused band.

For me, I watch the cut, listen, pay attention to the sound and more.  If I think a band isn't cutting right it comes off regardless of how long I've used it.  It then gets placed somewhere safe out of the weather until I'm done sawing a d then it goes into the resharp box and into the truck until I'm back at the shop.

One of my goals thus year (re: learning) is to change my mindset from producing to producing better.  

I am always learning and I try to share that with others in large part because what you all share with me 😉

2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

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