The Forestry Forum

I have had my 618 for 3 years now and have had to retip several of my blades.  I have had a random problem that  one or two teeth chip when going through knots in large red and white oak. I try to slow down when I come to the knots and not force the blade trough them. Sometime its just a corner sometimes the the whole tip of the tooth is gone. The tips are supposed to be from Bailey's the guy I bought my mill from had about 30 tips in a baggy. Are there different grades of tips for different purposes? Thanks for any help! Tod

Never chipped a tooth in big red or white oak, that is mainly what I cut with my 618.  Mill some Pecan, even that has not chipped a tooth. 

There are different grades of carbide. Harder types keep an edge longer, but are more brittle, and likely to shatter under rough use, like hitting a hard knot. So it's a trade off. The harder ones like that last longer in easy to cut wood. "Softer" (soft is a relative term for any carbide) will dull sooner, but is less likely to shatter.

May be that you the more brittle ones?

A saw doc that specialises in carbide tip blades can probably help you out with the different grades.

Ian

I wonder if a tooth or two was slightly out of whack from the others if it would be more likely to chip or break?
Guess that may cause some blade vibration from being out of balance.  Not sure if its feasible, saw shop retips my blades.

the tips we provide are grade C2.