Issues with 10 degree blades

[redneckman]

I have dulled all my Turbo 7 blades and have sent them off for sharpening.  I have about 7 or 8 10's that are still sharp.  I was trying to saw some white oak today.  With a new 0.45 10 degree blade, and going slow, I noticed the tension would drop really fast (like 1000 psi in a couple of seconds) on my mill and I began to get a wavy cut.  So, I stopped and increased the tension back to 3000 psi, and it did it again.  This happened 3 times till I just gave up.  The lumber that came off the mill was thick and thin.  Good thing it was for me and not a customer.  Has anyone had this to happen before?  What would cause this?  Are 10 degree blades just not intended to cut hardwood like white oak?  I never had this problem with the turbo 7's.

PS, my mill has 40 hrs on it.  I just did the drive belt adjustment today before I tried sawing.  It was really loose before I adjusted it.

[Chuck White]

I use Wood-Mizer .045x1.25 10° Double-Hard blades exclusively!

I've never had any issues like you describe!

I saw mostly White Pine and Hemlock, but I also do quite a lot of Red Oak, Maple & Ash, I've only sawn a few White Oak!

[dgdrls]

Perhaps a heating issue?  how much tooth set?

D

[terrifictimbersllc]

I think your blade is getting hot. I'd up the water flow and see if the tension rises back when that happens. Also wo will give buildup on blade, must keep it clean. That being said 10 degree blades aren't the best match for wo. 4 are best in my experience.

[Dave Shepard]

WO and 10° don't go well together. You may be able to cool them enough to keep tension, but they still won't give an ideal cut. 

[Larry]

White oak can be strange. If the logs lay around for a while, the ends will dry out and they can really get hard to cut. Years ago I would cut 6" off to avoid the dried out portion. Now days I just put on a 4 or 7 and have at em.

If the band chatters any at all that means you have too much hook and need to go down.

[Skipper11A]

I mill mostly White Oak and 10°blades only made wavy boards for me.  I resharpened my 10° blades to 4° and the problem was solved....mostly.  White Oak leaves a build up on the blade which causes alot of friction (heat) so I switched to a diesel (with bar and chain oil) lube and I added a felt wiper to evenly spread the diesel lube across the entire blade, rather than just splash off. Adjust the diesel lube so you only get one drop every 3 or 4 seconds. I also added an automotive windshield washer to spray the outside of the blade when I push a button.
The white reservoir is the windshield washer reservoir and the clear tube carries the lube up to a spray nozzle which sprays the back of the blade when I push the button.  This set up has eliminated all build up on my blades and my blades are always coated with a shiny coat of oil. No, it doesn't stain the wood.

Also, if the White Oaks you are milling were standing dead they will be extremely difficult to cut with any blade due to loss of moisture, they are "seasoned".  

[Brucer]

I've rarely had a problem sawing softwoods with 10° blades (close to 500,000 BF), but ...

I  had a customer ask me to resaw some 12 x 12 x 16 white oak. Well, that's not something you run into in my neck of the woods but I said I would try. And how, I wondered, was he going to get the timbers to me? "In my pickup," he said . Turns out he meant 16" long. They were used as blocking on a dam turbine.

Once we figured out how to deal with them (screw them all to a 2x12, with 4" between them) I gave it a try. Total disaster. The blade overheated and went slack (even with the lubricant valve wide open), the cut looked like a roller coaster, and the blade was dull before we finished the first piece.

We eventually managed to saw them with a 7° blade and the customer augmenting the blade lubricant/coolant using my backpack forestry water pump. I wish we'd taken a picture but everyone was way to busy to bother. The cuts were still wavy and I wasn't going to charge him, but he was happy that he'd got something he could handle with his thickness planer and insisted on paying me.

[bandmiller2]

I remember when ten's were all we had, I believe other factors are at play here. I have always used diesel/oil through a wick on my bands and very few problems. Wish I knew the answer but it usually boils down to sharp and set. Frank C.

[tylerltr450]

All I run is 10s and I dont have a problem with any wood. However I was cutting pine and a took a sharpened blade with no set in it and ran the blade and it was diving all over the place in pine. I gave up and put a blade on I set and sharpened and it cut like butter at any speed. Like what bandmiller2 said 

it usually boils down to sharp and set.

[redneckman]

Update:

First, thanks to everyone who posted.  For those of you who mentioned heat buildup, I think you are spot on.  The blade was very hot, and I could tell where it had discolored the wood.  I was running water-dawn-pine sol mixture and my mill has a lubemizer on it.  I would really like to convert to a felt pad, so if any of you knows how to do that, I would appreciate the assistance.  I think wiping the coolant on both the top and the bottom of the blade is better than just spraying it on the top.

I grew up around old circular mills, so this is my first band mill. I was watching some You Tube videos and came across the one from Woodmizer on how to align the adjustable roller guide arm.  The guy that did the video said to try to wiggle the arm, and if it has play in it, it will need to be adjusted.  So, I went out and checked mine out.  Sure enough, it is loose.  I remembered when I was first trying to learn the Accuset 2, that I would try to zero out the bade against the top of the log or cant.  I did not realize that I had it in auto down.  When I pulled the leaver, the mill head went down, down, down, lower than the top of the log, bowing the blade up and putting a ton of pressure on the adjustable arm.  I am sure that is what knocked it out.  I call that a rookie mistake.  Since then, when I am zeroing out the blade, I always make sure that I push manual first.

So, I think with the guide arm being out of whack, and the fact that the 10 degrees do not like WO, that is what is causing my problem.  The logs have been down for a while, but they are full of moisture.  I think that was adding to the trouble by causing the dust not to exit, heating up the blade.

Funny thing is that I just milled some SYP this past week with a turbo 7 and even with the adjustable arm out of alignment, my mill still cut beautiful lumber.  It just goes to say that the right blade makes all the difference.