So.... what blades are you using ?

[Kbeitz]

I'm now ready to buy my first set of new blades.

This is what I'm ordering.

5-150"x1.25x0.042 1.3TPI hook angle 7
5-150"x1.25x0.042 1.3TPI hook angle 10

What I have on my saw now is 150"x1.25x0.042 1.3TPI hook angle unknown. Best guess is 12 using my Protractor.
Thought I would try Kasco but I see there blades are sold in 1.1 TPI not 1.3.
Will I see a big difference in performance between the two?

I will report back how much difference I get from my normal dremel sharpened junkyard blades.

[york]

Well what do you know,this is good,the band that you want to try,i hear that it is a very good band and this forum has a sponsor that can fix you up...

http://www.kascosharptech.com/wood-pallet-band-saw-blades.html

I like 7° But that is just me.....

[Kbeitz]

I wanted to try both. Lots of people like the 7 deg blades but I hear that 10 deg works great
with low HP mills. I'm running a 13HP Honda engine

[york]

The guy down rt 42 from you,talked me into 7° and i see no difference in power loss-By the way he takes care of my Bands,he has thousands tied up in sharping eqp. and knows what he is doing.....

[Ox]

I've been sharpening to 7° lately.  I like it.  Used to run 10°.  The few millers I sharpen for seem to like me sharpening as well, at 7°.  I'll be trying a lot more of the 4° here this season.  I also run 13hp.  I don't notice much difference in power loss.  I guess the 4° seems to use a little more power but I didn't mind.  My blades for now are from Cook's Saw.  Another 10 blades ordered from them and I get another cam for the sharpener for free.  Right now I have a Lenox cam and a Woodmizer cam.  I honestly can't tell any difference between the two!  I've used Lenox, Woodmizer and Cooks blades and I actually prefer the Lenox blades on my mill.  The Cooks (Silvachrome - long flex life) cut like mad, but don't seem to be as tough as Lenox.  The Woodmizer blades are a very, very close second.  I've heard nothing but good about Kasco and will probably try them sometime in the future.

[Kbeitz]

Question about set....

The reading I have been doing I see a lot of people set there blades around .024.
When i tried that it was awful.  My mill works great when I set my teeth to .012.
But.... I might be checking the measurement all wrong. When I measure I do one
tooth at a time. Should I be measuring both teeth to get a measurement ?
It would come out to 024 if checking across both teeth at the same time.



 

[gww]

K
I am running the cheapest blades cook makes.  I have tried the black and the silver.  It is about $18 per blade but you have to buy ten.  The black are harder and might stay sharp a small amount longer but seem to break more.

I heard the 7 and 4 stay sharp longer then the ten degree.  I run the ten.

I have never tried the more expensive blades and don't know if you do or don't get your moneys worth with them. 

I will be waiting with abated breath for your report on your experiances with your new blades.
Cheers
gww

[4x4American]

No, when you check set it's how far the tooth is bent from the middle.  On my cooks setter I zero the caliper on a few rakers to make sure and that becomes my benchmark. 

[dustyhat]

I have seen someone on here go in to showing checking your set with calipers, sorry i cant get you there or tell you where its at . maybe somebody can direct you there.

[etroup10]

Kbeitz, you might want to check out D.W. Bands. They are down in Liverpool, probably about an hour for you. I usually get all my bands sharpened there, the bands are pretty inexpensive, I think it was somewhere around $16/band for my bands(174"). I can get you their number if you're interested!

[Ox]

Well, let's see.  If you measure from the outside of the blade to the tooth bent going the same way and you're getting .012, add on .021 for half of the thickness of your blade (assuming a .042 thick blade), you have .033, times 2 equals .066 total kerf for your .042 blade.  Sounds about right.

Maybe it's simpler to do this:  .012 x 2 = .024
.024 = total amount of tooth set, right and left.
blade thickness = .042
.042 + .024 = .066 total kerf.

That being said, I just got back from the shop.  I measured a brand new Cook's blade just to be sure I didn't give wrong info from poor memory.  They come at .045 thick with .025 set.  The .025 set is not measuring from the middle of the blade, this is measured from the outside of the blade out to the tooth that's bent the same direction.  That's a grand total of .095 kerf!  For a .045 blade!  Seems way excessive, but they cut flawlessly when new, like most of them do I suppose.  I've been setting at .025 then sharpening and the teeth end up somewhere between .024 and .020.  I've never measured a sharpened blade to see that the set ends up at.  I'm thinking I'm gonna try your method and set way down to see if I can gain a little HP and lose less wood from less kerf.  Bottom line is, if what you're doing works for you and you're happy with it, keep on keeping on!  This is my philosophy and it works well for me and my family.

[4x4American]

Yea not from the middle but the side...you know what I meant!  Not like we're dealing with microns over here lol

[york]

Don`t ask me,when i am done for the day,i want a cold beer.

[Kbeitz]

What I was doing was to measureing the thickness of the blade away from the tooth.
Then measureing again with the dial caliper across the blade with the tooth.
Guess I'll just keep my .012

[paul case]

Simonds red streak .042 x 1 1/4 x 7/8 x 158''.

PC

[Kbeitz]

I don't think Kascos quote thing at there home page is working...
This is the second time I ask for a quoite and never got one.
Guess I'll gust keep useing my junkyard blades.

[squidboy51]

I believe the 0.042" dimension is the total width of the band when new. When measuring the set, my take on this is the distance from the flat part of the band to the offset on the outside of the tooth is added to band thickness. So the offset from the flat for both sides plus band thickness should be close to the original 0.042" to maintain original performance of the band.

For example say the flat band thickness is 0.018" this would allow 0.012" tooth offset for each side to maintain the original 0.042" (0.018" band dimension + 0.012" right tooth offset + 0.012" left tooth offset = 042" total band width). I hope I am not confusing anyone but this is my understanding. So when we make adjustments to our bands we should try to stay within a few thousandths of the new band 0.042" measurement.

squid

[barbender]

     Squid, your understanding is incorrect. The body of an .042" band is .042" thick, the set is in addition to that.  If you are running an .042" blade, with .018" set for instance, it would measure .060" from the one side of the blade to the set tooth on the other side. Total measurement (kerf)  would be .078" (body of band plus set on both sides). I find that the actual kerf in the wood is a bit more than that. Hope this helps.

[squidboy51]

Yes, thank you it does.

squid

[NMFP]

I might have some in stock that length.  I will need to check when I get home.  Either way, I can provide bands to you as I order fairly regularly in numerous sizes and thicknesses.

Let me check tonight as that's an odd length.

Thanks,

Erich

[Kbeitz]

I might have some in stock that length.  I will need to check when I get home.  Either way, I can provide bands to you as I order fairly regularly in numerous sizes and thicknesses.

Let me check tonight as that's an odd length.

Thanks,

Erich

That would be great...

[Kbeitz]

I got my quote back from Kasco. They only sell in bundles of 15 blades and all got to be the same degree.
I wanted to buy a few 4's and a few 7's to see what I really want.
Now I'm not sure what to do. Kinda hate to pay $260.00 for something I can't use.

[Ox]

Hopefully NMFP can set you up with a blade of each so you can try out the different hook angles to see what you like best.  Is he within a comfortable driving distance of you?  That might be another big benefit.

[Kbeitz]

Hopefully NMFP can set you up with a blade of each so you can try out the different hook angles to see what you like best.  Is he within a comfortable driving distance of you?  That might be another big benefit.

Yea... Muncy Valley is only about 12 miles from me.
That would be great...

[Ox]

This sounds like it could be a mutually beneficial business relationship!  Geez, that don't happen very often.  I hope it works out for yas.