Blade width on No Name Mill

[shadowdev]

Hi Everyone,
I have a No Name mill that came with a 1" blade of which I'm having trouble finding replacement blades. Most manufacturers deal only with 1-1/4" blades.

How would I know if this mill will accept a 1-1/4" blade?

Below are a couple of pictures of the wheel and blade guide assembly.

Thank you very much,
SD



 



 

[SawyerTed]

I'd try to see if a blade supplier would send a pack of 3 to 5 1.25" blades and see how they work.  You might have to adjust tracking a bit but finding blades you can use would be worth it

[btulloh]

Member @cutting_edge will sell a small number of blades. Don't know where you're located, so he may be in your region - or not. (Probably a good idea to fill in your profile so we can provide better answers. )

Looks to me like that machine will handle 1.25" blades though. If not, you can always get any blade stock made to any length. 

[moodnacreek]

Hi Everyone,
I have a No Name mill that came with a 1" blade of which I'm having trouble finding replacement blades. Most manufacturers deal only with 1-1/4" blades.

How would I know if this mill will accept a 1-1/4" blade?

Below are a couple of pictures of the wheel and blade guide assembly.

Thank you very much,
SD



 

Bandsaw bands are made in almost any width and cut and welded to any length you ask for.

[Southside]

Looks like it would be fine with a 1 1/4.  Just make sure you have enough clearance between the covers and the wheels to get the band on and off.  

[RAYAR]

It looks to me like that mill may have "B" type belts. If so, they usually run 1-1/4" blades on them. If the shaft size those pulleys are mounted on are at least 1-3/8" diameter, then they will take the tension required by 1-1/4" blades.

[shadowdev]

Thank you everyone,

To reiterate, the blade that came on the saw is 161x1x.35 and I've called Cooks who can make replacement blades but they also need to know the Minimum & Maximum spread. At the moment it's pouring outside and so that measurement will have to wait.

Figure that I'll order a 5 pack with at least 1 of a 1-1/4 blade and see if it works.

It'll be a week or two before I have blade but will keep ya'll posted.

Thank you again,
SD

[trimguy]

When you check your minimum, if 158" will work , it's a common size and they won't have to be custom made. Probably will lose a little on your cut width though. If you fill in where your from , maybe someone would have one you could try on before ordering. I'm in Augusta ga.

[Iwawoodwork]

Also you have to look at your blade guides if you change widths and where the guide rollers run on the blade, can't be to far out on the tips. so when you get your new blade aligned on your band wheel be sure to check your guides.

[Cutting Edge]

Your guides (bearings) would work better, if the surface area they contact were wider, especially for 1-1/4" wide blades.  

Pay attention to the bearings that run behind the blade... Tracking should keep the blade forward 1/8" of that surface.  Running the back edge against those is a quick way to break a blade.

1-1/4" wide blades will serve you best.  Blade thickness is best determined by bandwheel diameter for longevity vs. cut quality.

[shadowdev]

When you check your minimum, if 158" will work , it's a common size and they won't have to be custom made. Probably will lose a little on your cut width though. If you fill in where your from , maybe someone would have one you could try on before ordering. I'm in Augusta ga.

Hi Trimguy,
After measuring carefully the Minimum blade size is 160.5" and the Max is 161.5", so it looks like a custom order is the way to go.
SD

[shadowdev]

Your guides (bearings) would work better, if the surface area they contact were wider, especially for 1-1/4" wide blades.  

Pay attention to the bearings that run behind the blade... Tracking should keep the blade forward 1/8" of that surface.  Running the back edge against those is a quick way to break a blade.

1-1/4" wide blades will serve you best.  Blade thickness is best determined by bandwheel diameter for longevity vs. cut quality.

Hi Iwawoodwork & Cutting Edge,
I'm reinstalling the original blade today (had it off for measuring) and will look to get the alignment as you've instructed. I took the entire wheel assembly apart to figure out exactly how it works and am now much more confident in ensuring the alignment.
Thank you,
SD

[shadowdev]

Hi Everyone,
Purchased Cooks 5 blades (1x160.5+) and a 1.25 to try.
Haven't installed yet but reasonably confident in the measurements.

Thank you to all,
SD

[shadowdev]

Hi Everyone,
Purchased Cooks 5 blades (1x160.5+) and a 1.25 to try.
Haven't installed yet but reasonably confident in the measurements.

Thank you to all,
SD

Update:
Have used the Cooks blades (1" Turbo Tooth) & (1.25" Dura Tooth) and am very happy with their performance overall.
A new blade is really like a whole new saw. They cut fast and last quite a while. Cost & Shipping was reasonable too.

The mill came with a 1" blade and so the majority of the Cooks were that size. A 1.25" Dura Tooth was ordered and tried on the mill which seemed to work very well until a metal strike.

Two logs in the lot of 30+ had embedded metal (so far); one with a couple of nails which the the blade (1" Turbo) cut through and did reduce the blade life but was still able to make reasonable rough cuts for another couple of hours.

The second log had deeply embedded 'Dry wall screws' which Immediately rendered the blades completely unusable, three blades actually (2 Turbo, 1 Dura) as I thought to have removed them all only to find another, and another, and another... Doh!

Consequently, placed another Cooks order for 6 more blades; (4) 1.25" Dura & (2) 1" Turbo.
Will send used blade in for sharpening. Not sure if damaged blades can be re-sharpened.

The silver lining is that I'm almost done with cutting of the main posts & beams for the barn project so there's only so much more milling that needs to be done to start the actual building.

Was considering a metal detector but I'm more confident in the rest of the logs as being clear of metal; famous last words  ;)

Figured ya'll might want to know how the Cooks blades worked out in the long run
Cheers,
SD

[trimguy]

Glad it's working out for you.