band saw blade lifespan

[bob]

I have a new 18" Jet bandsaw wired for 110V that I bought expressly for resawing. My current project has me resawing white mahogany that is 8" wide. With the original 3/4" blade, it was cutting very easily. After a half dozen boards 3 feet long, it started bogging down and was harder to push the boards through. I figured the original blade was a POS so I replaced it with a 3/4" 3tpi Timberwolf. I wanted a 1" or 1.5", but Woodcraft did not have those in stock. So, off and running again - cuts easily. After a dozen or so boards, it started bogging down again and became harder to push the boards through. I was not aggressively feeding the board. I tripped a 30amp breaker three times. I could smell something hot - the extension cord (very hot to touch, but didn't smell), motor or blade? The wood did not look burned. The Timberwolf blade looks like it has tiny black marks, like burn marks, on the very outer edge of the cutting tips and the tips don't feel as sharp as they did when new.

So, what's going on? A $40 blade every dozen boards is pretty expensive. Am I doing something wrong with my technique? This saw should be capable of handling 8" stock easily. White mahogany is harder than genuine mahogany, but much softer than oak or maple. Is white mahogany especially hard on blades? Should I be using a 1" or 1.5" blade? I'm looking into a Lenox ceramic tipped blade, but don't want to spend that kind of money if it isn't going to last. I really need some help figuring this out. Thanks in advance.

[George]

Perhaps "white mahogany" (eucalyptus?) features a lot of silica, as, for instance teak. Harder teeth would go dull slower.

At any rate, you're dulling faster than the average blade. Are you giving the blade a bit of lube now and then to cut down on heat? Some spray PAM or similar, I wipe olive oil on with a paper towel while rotating the blade in reverse. Since I clean my blades with WD-40, I suppose you might even use that, for the little lube you would get. The black marks on the teeth are probably dust,resin which has accumulated downhill of the set of the tooth and burned. WD-40 will clean it, blade will cut a bit better for a short time if that's the only problem.

Oh yes, the life of the blade can also be reduced by corrosion, so a cleaning after use on damp woods is highly recommended.

If you want short blade life, try cutting burls with overgrown sand pockets.

[Mark Wells]

I don't know anything about white mahogany, but your experience is not that dissimilar from my own with several species of wood. Lonnie Bird talks about this problem in his bandsaw book and suggests using bi-metal blades. I tried one and it made a HUGE difference. You can buy Lenox bi-metal blades from carbide.com. I would try a bi-metal blade before trying a carbide tipped blade.

Mark

[nospambob]

[Steve Knight]

bi metal is the way to go.

[George]

Outside of SF too?

[bob]

Thanks for the link. I found all kinds of Lenox blades at carbide.com.

White mahogany is just what it sounds like - it is a mahogany tree wood that has no color. It has the same grain pattern as genuine mahogany, but can be stained any color you want - no dealing with the reddish tint typical of genuine mahogany. I haven't seen any oily residue or grainy/sandy texture that could chew up a blade. And the best part is I buy this stuff for $2BF in 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, widths to12 inches and 8 foot lengths. It's cheaper than crappy pine.

[mike]

"bob" wrote in message news:...

I am not familiar with white mahogany. I do regularly resaw maple, bubinga and purple heart. All hard and dense woods.I use carbon steel Grizzly blades with no problems. I do sharpen the blades myself. Before you toss the blade , sharpen it. It is not difficult to sharpen resaw blades. Put a chainsaw grinding wheel in a Dremel tool, leave blade in saw but clean sawdust out of machine first. The Dremel showers sparks, I even put masking tape over the insert to minimize sparks going down into lower wheel housing. You are grinding level and square to the blade . I hold the dremel level while resting my hands on the saw table, start with the wheel in the forward postion and pull back towards you for the first stroke. Then push forward, then pull back and out of the gullet. This makes three strokes, usually enough to fully sharpen one tooth. Move up to next tooth and repeat. When needed move wheel down a bit for several more teeth, all the time you are resting your hands on the table for control.The wheel rides in the gullet and along the side of the teeth. I usually can do a 133" 3tooth per inch blade in about 15 minutes. The blade is sharper than new. I have only recently left the blade in the saw, I used to remove the blade and grind in a saw vice. I do just as good a job leaving the blade in the saw. Why your blades are dulling quickly, I have no idea. Do you resaw other woods with the same blades? If the white mahogany is the only species you have problems with I would think the wood is the problem.

mike

[GerryG]

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 19:41:31 -0500, "bob" calmly ranted:

Could I interest you in some Florida real estate?

I haven't seen any oily residue or grainy/sandy texture

In that case, anything better/cheaper than pineywood is good stuff.

----- = Dain Bramaged...but having lots of fun! =

Comprehensive Website Development

[Charlie Self]

Larry Jaques responds:

Could be sapele. Moderate price, same family-Meliaceae--though it is not really white. Dark reddish brown, so why it is also called white mahogany is anyone's guess. Moderate price. I think I'll see if I can find some, as it sounds interesting. Tends to take the edge off tools fairly quickly, it is said.

There are about a dozen other "mahoganies" that might or might not qualify as white, including primavera (which is not going to be found for 2 bucks a foot very often).

Charlie Self "When you appeal to force, there's one thing you must never do - lose." Dwight D. Eisenhower