OK tried my first 4 degree blades.

[derhntr]

I have been sawing Red and White oaks up to 24 inches the last couple weeks. I have been using WM 42 thousandths  10 degree blades. As that is what I have had on hand. Been QS as much as I could so some wide opening faces. Everything is with in spect's for adjustments, logs are pretty clean and I use the debarker. I still was getting dips and dives on the cants. I figured I was only getting 400-450 BFT to a blade.
Today I received my new blades a box of 5 of 45 thousandths 4 degrees and 10 42 thousandths 10 degrees. I was really impressed with the 4 degree blades was able to push saw harder and faster than I ever have before. The dips and dives were gone. Was able to do 450 bft in a hour and blade was still cutting clean and fast.  I do like the flat box you get when you buy 15 blades. Today was the first time I have gotten coiled blades, not impresses with the packing. I can see having several blades with teeth out of set by the way they were packed. I will be keeping some 4 degree blades in stock from now on. Need to try the 7 degrees next.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I keep an assortment of 10, 7, 7 turbo and 4 I take to the job site and I keep finding myself going to the 4 as an all purpose blade. I'll try the others based on the profile of the wood but if I'm not satisfied I'll install a 4.

   If I could only take one blade to a job site it would be the 4 degree.

[ladylake]

 I've been running 4° blades for over 10 years now, with a 4 I can push hard and cut straight, with a 10 I don't trust it to cut straight when pushing it when sawing tough wood.  Steve

[bkaimwood]

I have never used anything but a 7/39 turbo, .045". Wondering what I may be missing out on?

[Percy]

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I use wm's 13 degree blades almost for everything. They are similar to a turbo 7 but with a way more aggressive tooth angle. I've tried the  7 turbo and it cut great but much slower than the 13. 

[WV Sawmiller]

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I use wm's 13 degree blades almost for everything. They are similar to a turbo 7 but with a way more aggressive tooth angle. I've tried the  7 turbo and it cut great but much slower than the 13. 

Percy,

   Are you cutting an assortment of woods or do you consistently cut the same kind of wood? What kind of mill are you using?

[Percy]

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I use wm's 13 degree blades almost for everything. They are similar to a turbo 7 but wiytgth a way more aggressive tooth angle. I've tried the  7 turbo and it cut great but much slower than the 13. 

Percy,

   Are you cutting an assortment of woods or do you consistently cut the same kind of wood? What kind of mill are you using?

I cut mainly western red cedar and Sitka  spruce but have done several truckloads of birch as well. Some cottonwood too. I have an early lt70 with a kubota 42.

[alanh]

I'm a newbie but I switched to 4 degree based on recommendations on this site, since I got them Ive been cutting red oak, ash and a lot of knotty pine and havent had any waving and I believe good life.

[4x4American]

Percy are you the one with the lt70 or the 40?  I always get you and Brucer confused..and maybe also Igneroid?  or is that just a YT handle :D
So how did you like the 13's in birch?

[Percy]

Percy are you the one with the lt70 or the 40?  I always get you and Brucer confused..and maybe also Igneroid?  or is that just a YT handle :D
So how did you like the 13's in birch?

Im the one with the LT70. Alias Igneroid. I join up here in 2003 when I didnt relize it wasnt prudent to use your real name on the internet.

The 13s are great in most anything but sharpening pretty much requires a CBN type rig as they are very unforgiving with burrs and poor sharpening. AND misaligned mills. Birch is a consistant density type wood compared to sitka spruce with the glass hard knots. The feed rates were incredible in the birch. I had to relearn spruce and cedar when I switched back. I run alot of set when cutting spruce and cedar  but with the birch and cottonwood, it wasnt as necessary. The turbo 7 was nice but to get the same rate as the 13, you have to turn the feed knob way up higher. And on my mill, both will wiggle when you hit those glass hard knotts at maximum feed rates. Im actually surprised more folks dont use the 13s.  My competition up the road from me uses them on an old lt40 that has had several different engines including a 28hp kohler. He likes them with any engine

[customsawyer]

I have tried the 13° blades before. They did fine in SYP but they didn't like hardwood at all. This is just my experience.

[Dave Shepard]

I would use 13s, but they only come in 1.5 inch widths. They cut pine much better than a Turbo.

[customsawyer]

It's been awhile but I think mine were 1¾". That might be the wrong direction that you were wanting to go.  ;)

[Percy]

It's been awhile but I think mine were 1¾". That might be the wrong direction that you were wanting to go.  ;)

The ones(13 degree) I get from WM are 1.5s...

DESCRIPTION
(Thickness X Width)    Hook Angle        TOOTH SPACING
.035 x 1-1/4"                       10°          7/8"
.042 x 1-1/4"                 9°, 10°           7/8"
.045 x 1-1/4"     4°,7°, T7°, 9°,10°          7/8"
.045 x 1-1/2"     4°,7°, T7°, 9°,10°, 13°    7/8"
.050 x 1-1/2"                     10°, 13°         7/8"
.055 x 1-1/4"   4°,7°, T7°, 9°,10°            7/8"
.055 x 1-1/2"   4°,7°, T7°, 10°, 13°         7/8"
.055 x 1-1/2"                     10°          1 1/8"

[OlJarhead]

Interesting thread. 

With my SMLT10 running a 10hp motor I only had a choice of 10° bands but with my new LT40HDG26 I have many choices.

So far I've run 10° Double Hards -- my standard that seems to work well as long as the drive belt is tight, 10° Bi-Metals which cut the same but last longer from what I can tell and a pair of 7° Turbo's which seemed to cut Fir and Pine smoothly but didn't last as long as the Bi-Metals and at the time I had a loose drive belt so they got hot and dulled faster than they should have.

Fighting the wavy cut seemed to be mostly eliminated if not totally by cranking up the drive belt to 15lbs (Figured 14 is recommended and I last checked it was 15 so I left it there -- figured tight was better than not).

My wonder is:  why would 13° bands cut smoother or faster than 4° bands?

[Percy]

Interesting thread. 



My wonder is:  why would 13° bands cut smoother or faster than 4° bands?

I don't think they cut any smoother than the others. Most say they are mainly for softwood but I've had great results with some hardwoods I've cut. We don't have oak or hickory up here which I've heard can be miserable. I don't think it's do all blade like a 10 but when they are sharpened properly and your mill is in good condition alignment wise,they cut fast.

[barbender]

Jarhead- be careful not to overtension your drive belt. More than one WM owner has been rewarded with a busted crankshaft by overtensioning their drive belt. A pound over shouldn't hurt, but don't err on the side of tighter with you're drive belt.

[OffGrid973]

Just tried my new WM 4 degree blades on the black locust 6x6 to finish my order this evening. 

Started with a  WM 10 degree today and the waves showed up quickly.  The way the 4 degree slid through the massive 20" cant to create a bunch of posts was fantastic.

I have a few 9' blades also that I ordered but not sure I will need anything but 4' moving forward.  Do you guys really switch up blades based on wood type or time of year (cold vs. hot)?

[4x4American]

For your application I would say just stick with 4 degree blades it's all you'll ever need.  Those 9 degree blades dont impress me much they are too old school for this new school buck

[ncsawyer]

My go to blade is a 4°.  They stay sharper longer and cut straighter in most applications.  I have 7° bands on hand as well.  When I am cutting poplar, clear pine, cedar or cypress, I will use a 7° band, simply because these species are easier to cut and more forgiving than knotty pine and more extreme hard woods.  These "easy" species give me an outlet to use my 7° bands, plus I get a little faster feed rate. I have also run into situations in 36+ inch pine where a 7° worked better than the 4° bands.  The 7's allowed me to achieve a faster feed rate and cleared the sawdust out of the cut better than the 4's. 

I will even use 7° bands on hickory, when resawing cants.   If I am breaking down hickory logs I go back to a 4°.  It handles the wide cuts much better. 

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
   Wow, it is amazing to see so many different hook angles, thickness, widths and the list goes on blades. Even Bi Metal on mills. We have LT10 with 10 hp and up to LT70 with 62hp running another hook angle. There are so many variables to this sawing business. You also talked about drive belt tension and can also effect how the blade cuts in the wood. We can also talk about width of cut and species of wood.
My point being if you feel you are missing something because it works better for another sawyer compare more than just what blade they are using.

Hope this helps.

Marty

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Need to try the 7 degrees next.

I have the same mill you do. No need to try the 7°......skip them and go strictly 4°.
I've done been down the road you're going down now with blades.

4° is all I use.

[Ga Mtn Man]

Just bear in mind that PostonLT40 is sawing watermelons with those 4° blades, so...

[grouch]

Just bear in mind that PostonLT40 is sawing watermelons with those 4° blades, so...

He also saws flower pots. Man ain't right.

[barbender]

 :D :D :D Truer words were never spoken :D