OK who is cutting HARD !wood . Ipe , Greenheart , Camaru , Mora ...

[zombie woods]

.. Jara , African blackwood , Mopaie and the like on 1.25 / 1.5 inch thin kerf ban mills ,
Care to share your experiences ?

Giant splinter suggested this more direct approach to my quest
Sheer genius
perhaps my attempt to re engineer the wheel was a bit premature .
lets see

And I am talking logs 14 to 22 inch diameter milled reasonably flat .

TIA ,ZW

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Wow....I read all these species and the first thing that went through this Rednecks head was ZOMBIE.  :D

No experience here.

[drobertson]

No doubt Zoombie,  I might suggest questioning bandmill manufactures, and get some high tech advice. It has to be possible, there are those in the jungle that do it for sure, 

[hackberry jake]

I have no idea what kind of woods those one you mentioned are, but I looked them up here http://ejmas.com/tin/2009tin/tinart_goldstein_0904.html and Osage orange is harder on the janka scale than those three. I have cut quite a bit of Osage and its not too bad. My go to blade has been blades that stopped cutting other woods because of lack of set. Usually a timberwolf with 3/4 tooth spacing sharpened to 6*. It cuts as flat as one can imagine! It doesn't have hard and soft spots mixed together like pine so you don't have blades trying to wonder on you.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hey ZW,

Another approach to this question.  I will wager that there will be more swing blades that band mills tackling wood like that.  Maybe I'm incorrect but it will be interesting to read what you learn. I am really enjoying the more global views of the different subjects we all discus here on the FF.

Regards,  jay

[qbilder]

I don't mill those logs, but resaw them on my shop band saw. They cut just fine with a bandsaw. I do mill desert ironwood, mesquite, etc. with my band mill & other than dulling blades a wee bit faster, it's not different than any other hardwoods. I regularly work with African blackwood, ebony, all rosewoods, etc., as well as most domestic hardwoods. In my experience, African blackwood is a dream wood, cuts waxy smooth and is very stable. Being a rosewood it has an oily character to it that kind of self lubricates in the cut. Seasoned white oak, hickory, mulberry, mesquite, etc. is harder on my tooling than most of the oily exotics. All that said, I haven't milled a large log of anything except domestics.

[zombie woods]

Thats a consideration qbuilder the lumber does cut ok'ish   on my verticle band saw .
more tpi and more controll over feed ?
Jake ,maybe less is more  its been mentioned before
Perhaps the 3/4 tooth on a lennox bimetal may be a step in right direction ,
I was headed in the other direction .
Carbide tips seemed to stand up to the material
I think problem was no ajustability on set, blade just wasnt clearing enough dust .
The wm stelite just seemed a bit too thin and  flimzy .
Yep WC swing blades zing through em all day long , I just cant justify owning one for the relatively small percent of these I mill
and honestly I have a tough time getting over the 1/4 inch kerf .
I have cut smallish osage dont remember it being too bad big mesquite logs probably most comperable north american species .

[NMFP]

A few years ago, we ran alot of camaru, green heart and ipe through our moulders.  You can use high speed steel but the overall run time was about 1200-1500 lf before honing or at worst, sharpening.  If we ran stellite or carbide, we could have production runs of 5000 lf without a problem.

I never ran anything like this on a band mill however, i would venture to guess if you could get stellite or carbide tipped bands, heavy gauge and 4 degree,,, you should cut like a hot knife through butter.  What mill are you running and what diameter are your band wheels?  The smaller the wheels, the quicker a heavier band will be work hardened.  The cost of carbide and stellite bands are extremely expensive, especially if you hit metal within a pass or two. 

Carbide bands take hp to run and you need the hp especially cutting difficult species.

what are you making from this product and is there a facility close to you doing the same thing?  If so, watch them for a little bit and see what tricks they have up their sleeves.

[redbeard]

Had customer this last weekend wanting to slice a 1-1/8 x 6"x 4' Ebony board that he ordered from local lumber yard. So I searched the forum and found this thread and decided to go for it. I clamped it to a plank using my pointed anchors made from conduit clamps and secured it really good and put a carbide blade on and it sawed like butter. Customer was pleased after planning the two halves one ended up 7/16 the other 3/8". It had a slight twist so I had some taper to plane out. I get all done and asked him what that 2 bf plank cost he said 140.00 . Whoa! He said they charge by the lb.    Sorry no pics. But saw dust was like charcoal. Thanks for all the knowledge in this thread.

[Nomad]

     A contractor called me a week or so ago wanting me to resaw some 8/4, random width wood into 1/4x3" flooring.  He had 500 bf and was hoping for 3000 sq ft yield; if less than that he needed every possible square inch.  And he needed it ready within about 3 days.  It was Zebrawood.  That 500' cost him $10,000. 
     I told him I wouldn't touch it and suggested he call a cabinet shop.  With a lot of care they might get him 2000 square feet. 
     I saw a sample he had as finished flooring.  I didn't like it.

[Jemclimber]

I get all done and asked him what that 2 bf plank cost he said 140.00 . Whoa! He said they charge by the lb.    Sorry no pics. But saw dust was like charcoal. Thanks for all the knowledge in this thread.

Did you save the sawdust? You might be able to sell it by the pound?

[5quarter]

Redbeard...I wonder if it wasn't Gaboon you were cutting. Ebony is rarely all black.

Nomad...I agree. not really crazy about Zebrawood either.

[redbeard]

I believe it was Ebony knowing the source where customer bought it. They are very top notch. You could see the grain when planning it. I was not impressed with the quality of board it had end checking and partial pith line or sap line in it. Customer plans on scroll sawing a detailed logo in it and I recommended epoxy or glue in those areas on back side of his project. He also mentioned Ebony is rare.

[5quarter]

I'm sorry Redbeard...I should have been more clear. Gaboon is an Ebony. the king of Ebonies as it were. Most people (including me) think of Madagasscar Ebony whenever ebony is mentioned. Madagasscar Ebony is usually Black interlaced with cream tones. Gaboon ebony (Diospyros crassiflora) is pure black and now prohibitively expensive (I had to look up the latin name in my book...was not exactly rolling off my tongue :D). That's why I said it was Gaboon, which would have been sold as an ebony. BTW...Have your customer clean the back of those pieces with acetone to destroy the oils on the surface and apply super glue (cyanoacetate) to the checks and splits. that should hold them at bay. What blade did you use to cut it? That wood is HARD.

[redbeard]

5quarter  I used 3 tpi carbide blade. I like to use these blades on resawing  jobs. Leaves a real smooth surface makes planning easier. The ebony wood was almost brittle hard. I believe a regular band blade would have cut it just fine. But remember it was just a 2 bf cut. You would be a lottery winner if  you milled and sold a couple thousand bf of that wood.

[5quarter]

Yeah...no kidding. Dried ebony is a pain to work with. very, very brittle when dry. I asked about the blade because a standard blade probably would have torn it up. I was resawing Gaboon ebony for inlay strips on the shop resaw using a 2 tpi blade and was blowing out cuts. I switched to a 4tpi which cut real nice and left a fairly smooth finish.