What blades do y'all suggest for mixed hard wood. And for soft wood?
Instead of trying to keep track of a lot of different blades I just stay with the 10 degree. Everybody has their own opinion. I sharpen my own and don't really want to keep changing cams and adjusting the sharpener.
In 12 years of sawing, I have done well with 10° blades. SYP, Cedar, and misc. hardwoods.
I did just get a box of 4° blades to carry with me on the "Goodwill" trip and also I have a job scheduled that will be all Hickory and White Oak.
I have only used 10° blades and got good results.
I adjusted my sharpener to grind a couple of bands to 8° a while back when I had some big Poplar that had a lot of stress in the base of the butt log. That worked quite well, but 10° is my mainstay! 8)
Thanks everyone. That's what I've been running and thought it was found a good job. But it's always good to hear what all of u think and use. I'm going to add some pics of a few jobs I've done in the last week or two.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/28233/image%7E7.jpg)
good looking wack o lumber there
I always used the 10 degree on my 40
Thanks. That is popular siding 10" & 2".
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/28233/image%7E8.jpg). This was a one of three loads of mostly Red oak sawed for a customer.
They're right Tim. The 10° is about the best all around blade.
The only time I like a 4° is when I'm sawing dry hardwood where the slabs are 10 inches or wider
I seem to get a much smoother cut with no wave going through knots.
The lumber looks pretty DanG good from what I can see. Pretty good whack on the truck too. :)
DanG, I guess I'm always a little different. I much prefer the 7° when sawing most of my hardwoods, especially if they have some knots. I use 055 4° When sawing hickory or pecan, and 045 9° for poplar and other soft hardwoods. My fastest and flattest cuts were with the 055 7° Turbo, but they are horsepower hogs. I can push them hard, but they make my diesel grunt. Most hardwood logs I saw are fairly decent sized, some dry, some fresh cut, 24 to 30 inches. I guess everybody has their preference.
YH
I also like the 7 degree blades. They work well on most hardwoods and I have found that they cut straighter in knotty pine. In my experience the 10 degree blades tend to make wavy cuts on knotty pine especially when they begin to get a little dull. I can also cut faster with the 7's.
Red Clay Hound, what width and thickness are the 7° bands you are using? I've been using 10° .055" x 1.25" in white pine. They usually work well when sharp, but if I the 7° are better in knotty wood, then I'm definitely going to try some soon.
I have sawed mostly knotty pine, spruce, hemlock and some hackmatack (larch). Used only 7s blades and have been very happy with the result. It really shines in pine and hackmatack, spruce knots sometimes take it for a "ride". It does not work well in frozen wood, I use 9s for that. As for sawing hardwood with it. I know it really does not like to saw knotty oak for sure.
I use 045,1.25 7deg on every thing. Very happy with it. Was told by Dave @ WM NE to push them hard and by many that you need the HP to push them.
We started out cutting dry mesquite, which has lots of curl, crotch and knots in it. At that time you had a choice from woodmizer of a 4° or a 10°. The 10's would cut, but got smoked pretty quick and would wander in the hard spots. I had the same experience in the midwest with bur oak, hackberry and elm. Later they added the 9°, an improvement over the 10 and not so slow as the 4. When they came out with 7's, I tried one right away. I find the 7's to be the very best blade I have tried for the harder hardwoods with a really good combination of speed and smooth cut. I still use a 10° when cutting softer hardwoods like cherry, walnut, or cottonwood, but my go to blade is hands down the 7°. ;D 8) 8) 8)
Quote from: Dave Shepard on November 08, 2013, 08:29:52 AM
Red Clay Hound, what width and thickness are the 7° bands you are using? I've been using 10° .055" x 1.25" in white pine. They usually work well when sharp, but if I the 7° are better in knotty wood, then I'm definitely going to try some soon.
Dave, I use the 1.25x.045" 7 deg. Wood-mizer blades. If I could only pick one blade, that would be my choice.
Thanks for the feed back guys. You guys, and gals have helped me out in so many ways that I couldn't repay y'all. The things I've learned from the members from y'all's post have made life and decision so much easyer for me because I've read about it from one of the members that had already been at that cross roads. So from the bottom of my heart thank you all.
I used to use 10deg and have switched to 7deg .045 1 1/2" for everything from heart pine to white oak.
Did you change your blade guide rollers?
I updated to the new high performance guide roller assembly when they came out. My mill is supposed to have the guide rollers that work with both width bands. Also I don't use 1 1/4" bands don't work well on my mill. Contrary to what WM tells you my mill hates narrow bands!