I've always been trying to get the top production out of my bandsaw, and i've just reached a new level. I've always been mad that i don't get near the amount of bd ft per sharpening that others say they get. I've been pulling mine about 200 bd ft when they start to wander. I've been monkeying with types of blades, hook, angle, set, width, and finally i've come across some big improvements.
The first biggie, that is talked about a bit, but not until i just tried it did i realize how big an improvement would it make. Diesel and bar oil for lube! You guys have to try this. Regardless of what people say about smell, finish, and the enviroment, all these people have never tried this themselves! I've always used water, and had the folks at Suffolk saw recommend the diesel, but recently did i try it. Just a simple, drip... drip.... drip.... about every 1/2 second. The blade runs soundlessly in comparision, no gumming of sap in any species, and no more rust! It sure makes setting blades a lot nicer to not have your blades all messed up. I think the only reason mill manufactures don't push this with their mills is the EPA and what not, but i can tell you the lumber is not getting a spec on it, and the amount of water i was using before caused the sawdust to gum up and stick to everything.
I would assume that less noise would mean less friction, and less friction means longer sharpness. You have to try this to believe it. Even when the blade is in the log, there is a lot less noise. What you do is install another valve inline on your old water tank to adjust the flow and use the old valve to turn off and on so once its set you don't have to monkey with it. 5 gals of diesel and one of bar oil lasts a long time!
The other biggie is paying real close attention to the tooth corners. Not just the sharpness of the face. I've had people say "check for sharpness with the face of your thumb, if it grabs the skin its sharp, if it slides over its still dull" Well the dull part is true, but not the "sharp" part. I realized that i wasn't letting the bands stay on the sharpener long enough by a long shot. People say once around, and then a light pass. I don't know what they have been sawing, but this doesn't cut it for me. Keep the stone cleaned with a dressing tool, and watch the outside corners of the teeth. These have to be back to perfect. I guess i've been using them before they ever got back to square so i hadn't been getting good life out of the sharpening. Now, what a difference. This in combination to my last new discovery. The Dino set setter!
I do believe my old hand operated WM setter was not allowing me to get them all as close in width as this new machine. Its the one you crank and it sets them up and down all in one pass. Takes a min or two per band. Wow. I've heard stories of people who say that when their bands enter the cant they don't notice much of a difference in engine speed or vibrations. Now i can say i understand. For some reason they didn't even perform this good out of the box. Now i allow the band to go around the sharpener about 4x's to get the teeth points square, and then a light pass to clean up any jagged surfaces due to the heavier grinding. About 15-20 mins (When sharpening hand planes, a mirror type polish will help hold the edge longer, so the same should be true with band blades that are merely a bunch of little chisels in a row!)
So, Diesel, square tips (magnifing glass) and semi-auto setter have brought my band sharpenss out of the stone age and into respectable results. If your machine really dogs down (especially you 25 hp gas guys like me) or vibrates when cutting, you can do better with the sharpness, set and friction from your lube.
Give some or all of them a try!
How many BF are you getting between sharpenings?
I went many many years mastering chainsaw sharpening.Now in my 50s im dumb enough to start all over with band saw stuff.Sometimes every boards perfect, just like store bought. Sometimes i have waves like the ocean, sometimes ive even thrown boards in the slab pile in frustration.Is it the blade, the log, did i get the gullet to deep, not deep enough, is my tension t right, log still froze to hard???????I literally lay awake nights.Sometimes a blade seems to cut great forever, sometimes 2 logs its not cutting.Yesterday a brand new blade dove like it was looking for pearls.Anyway,diesel huh,ill give it a try.
Kelvin,
What sharpener are you running? I have been looking at the dinosetter for a while.
Farmerdoug
Guys, try kerosene, instead of diesel,doesn't smell as bad, and not as messy. I've just started sharpening my blabes at 12&1/2 degrees instead of 10 for pine,and soft hardwoods. What a difference. Now if I can just get this rising blade thing under control.
Check with your sawmill manual before switching to diesel. I ruined the tires on a hudson sawmill with diesel fuel. I've replaced the tires with sulfolks urethane tires but had my band wheels machined for the tires to fit. I still use soap and water for some woods, but the diesel works better. Don't freeze in the winter either !!
You can usually buy unscented varsol pretty reasonable at hardware stores...
We were just discussing this a while back HERE (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=23377.0), so maybe I won't start again :D. (hope I linked that right... anyone?)
Quote from: snowman on February 10, 2007, 08:11:49 PM
I went many many years mastering chainsaw sharpening... Is it the blade, the log, did i get the gullet to deep, not deep enough, is my tension t right, log still froze to hard???????I literally lay awake nights.Sometimes a blade seems to cut great forever, sometimes 2 logs its not cutting.Yesterday a brand new blade dove like it was looking for pearls...
Any one of those things can cause the blade to cut poorly, plus a loose drive belt (lets the blade slow down while motor is still revving), blade guides out of whack, poor quality blades, etc... Don't know what you have for guides (not familiar with yer mill) but the blade needs to be aligned parallel to the bed to work properly. Gullets too deep prob wont bother you, but not deep enough will. No room for the sawdust to go until the tooth exits the cut.
Your chainsaw is actually a lot like a bandsaw blade. You know what happens if you put a different angle on one side than the other (cuts crooked). Same as the set in your bands, it will pull to the side with higher set. Gullet depth and hook angle is like filing the teeth deep enough. If you let the file rise up over time, the teeth become less aggressive and have nowhere to hold the chips.
Are your logs nice and clean? Just one nice patch of dirt or sand can really take the edge off a sharp blade... :o
If your blades arent working right out of the box (and they are good quality blades) I would be looking at the mill for a problem... Frozen logs, by the way, seem to magnify any small problems that aren't that bad under ideal conditions... :(
Hope some of that helps... :)
I also just discovered the Diesel/Bar chain oil combo. I agree, it works great. One thing I did to avoid the mess is attach a green scrubby pad to a long oak stick. I just reach out(very carefully) and touch it to the top and bottom of the blade with it running. I do this after each pass. It works and eliminates the mess. I don't how it'll work in the summer, but it sure helped my winter cutting.
Whats the cost of one of those Dyna setters? I looked them up but the manufacture has no pricing info on their website.
Not sure how much they cost new, mine i got off ebay for $5-600, can't quite remember. Sure makes life easier, and the set is alot more within tolerances so far.
Do you need to go through a set up procedure for each blade once you have the set "set" for a certain "set". Jeez, didnt know a better way of asking dat. :D Say yer setting for 16 thousandths., can you just keep slapping blades in it that you want to have that set without goingthrough adjustments for each individual blade? Just put it in there and crank?
I think Bailey's sell the setter.
http://www.baileysonline.com/
Hey Jeff, maybe i can answer your Q. The variables that I run into on the Dino are blade thickness and hardness/brand/type. Definitely the blade thickness has an impact because the setter indexes on one side and the clamp presses the band to that fixed point. So if that changes then the set will change only on the opposite side. Also the heavier the band and harder it is the more you have to move it to take the same set. So if you stay in the same brand, type, and thickness you will get consistent results. Another factor is damage to the blade that throws a few teeth off set. Those teeth will usually take less set than the others. I try to find and set those manually to the same as the others before I set the whole blade. All in all the Dino works very fast and with experience does a good job. The emphasis is on fast. Expect several thousandths of difference from tooth to tooth. On the order of around 4 or 5. One other drawback and then I will sit down. With the WM saw you have to invert the blade to set. I don't see anyway to run blade in opposite direction. Joe
Kelvin Tried diesel and bar oil today (10* F) works great. I have a Dino setter that bought from Timberking when I got my mill, it was around $600 4 years ago. I find for most blades you don't have to adjust. If you hit some thing and really take the set out you'll need to turn the screw in a little to get to the same set. Also as the blades get sharpened more and have less hieght you need to adjust the hieght. Thanks Steve
Lt40h post about frozen wood amplifying problems got me thinking.Defying docs orders to lay off a few days I went out yesterday and did some looking around. Sure enough my belt was loose.Cut up a few logs and every board was picture perfect. You guys keep giving me good advice like this, you'll never get rid of me. ;D
Quote from: snowman on February 13, 2007, 07:08:25 AM
You guys keep giving me good advice like this, you'll never get rid of me. ;D
As you get more expeerienced, you'll be expected to give advice too. ;D 8) 8)
For those who inquired about price on the Dino setter I see today that they're for sale at Western Woodlot for $525.00. Normal price is $595.00.
LOGDOG