I've got a sawing job coming up sawing old Western Cedar transmission line power poles. The wood is beautiful but I don't think it saws very well on my Woodmizer LT40. The reason I know is because I've sawn this stuff before. The body of the blade gets hot which makes me think the blades don't have enough set, ( I'm running standard grind 10 degree hook). Now some of the cuts are and will be 16"to18" wide but most in the 8"to 10" and smaller. The blades don't stay sharp very long either, but a new blade right out of the box shouldn't get hot after a ten foot cut. Adding water makes things worse. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Heya Toploader.
Ive cut old powerpoles before. They are treated with creosote and that stuff can make a fella sick.
Im thinkin what happens is that the poles ,througout their life, were subjected to alot of dust and it sticks to the creosote, hense the dull blades. Personally, I wont cut them anymore...BUT.... when I did, I always took a big first slab and then rotated the log so I was cutting into a clean face. Also,I set the mill up with the wind at my back to keep from eating the carcenogenic stuff. Also, the nails and test holes(filled with some kinda quick-dull stuff) can make life miserable. The wood will stink for years as well, but if its used outside on a fence, ...... ;D ;D
I've sawn many. I don't saw the "butts" that's where the creasote is. The poles in this area were only butt treated. I use Lenox Woodmaster "B" blades. They are bi-metal and more expensive, but they saw longer without getting to hot and dull.
These poles have been butt treated only and with penta not creosote. There's about 50 linal feet of natural wood in each pole. We had cut them off just a little above where all those little treatment marks are. Didn't saw the butts because my customer didn't want the smell of that wood preservative in his house. Didn't saw too many boards, mostly was after beams and posts, 6x8's 6x6's and such. I've used those Lenox blades, They are good! And expensive!
I saw alot of poles, use diesel fuel for lube slippery , water soaks in the cedar so fast.
I've sawn alot of poles also. Of the few that were western cedar I had the same problem. I asked the same question on another forum and was told that western cedar is very abrasive and that is why stellite was developed. When I do saw it, I go through alot of blades also .Try using more set .
You would think as soft as Western cedar is, it would saw easy. I still have my Woodmizer tooth setter, I'll check and see what the set is on my blades and add some set on one, see how that goes.
Green woods suck a lot of the heat out of a blade. Green WRC cuts real well (but the wood moves a lot when you release the tension when sawing).
Dry WRC can't absorb much heat from the blade (not very dense, no moisture). It's also abrasive so the blades dull quickly -- even more heat generated. Lots of water and slower cutting speed help, but the blades are gonna wear down fast.
I stay away from poles. Too much metal to find and remove, too much time changing and sharpening blades.