Bandsaw blade question

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Hi there.

I want to purchase a woodslicer bandsaw blade but I do not know how should I specify it. I mean; just giving the diameter of the wheel will be enough? or on top of that I have to specify the total length?

Any hint will be appreciated.

Best regards
 
Toni, the only way I have ever seen bandsaw blades specified is by total length. What bandsaw do you have and what blades have you been buying?
 
Toni, the only way I have ever seen bandsaw blades specified is by total length. What bandsaw do you have and what blades have you been buying?

Hi Bill.

I have a european brand (Metabo) bandsaw, and I always bought the blades from them. But their choice offer is rather limited. Some years ago I got some blades from US but I don't remember if I specifyied the diameter or the total length. I've just visited the web of Highland Woodworking and they ask for the total length which answers my question. I should have started that way I guess. So now I have to measure the ones I have and translate the measure into inches. No big deal...
 
If you need a custom length, they may not want to make it. Another source would be Iturra design. He sells the same blade under the name Blade Runner, (Highland Hardware copyrighted "woodslicer") Iturra used to make them to order, and he's a little cheaper besides having the blade stock in other widths. He's a little more neanderthal than some companies, no web site. Call (904) 642-2802
 
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The woodslicer is a fairly thin resawing blade that runs on medium tension, so works with lighter weight bandsaws. Metabo has a pretty good reputation, so I suspect you could use a carbide tip blade if you wanted to. Lenox is the gold standard in carbide; I like the Lenox Woodmaster CT but it's choice of widths is limited to 1, 2, and (rarely) 3 inches. The other common Lenox carbide blade is the TriMaster which comes in a wide variety of widths, but with larger carbides and more teeth (which presumably make the blade last longer) it cost twice as much. I run about 25,000 psi tension on my Lenox blades; the woodslicer works best with about 20,000 psi but with a thinner blade, that is a lot less force (the psi is pounds per square inch cross section area of the blade). For comparison, low tension blades tend to run about 8,000 psi.

The length of the blade is the circumference of the wheel (pi * diameter) plus twice the distance between the wheels.
 
Tony there is a good chance your bandsaw has the blade length printed on it somewhere. possibly inside one of the doors or on the side. Look around it. It should be there.
Would not be fun to forget to carry the 1 while finding the square root of the circumference of the wheel divided by the tire compression and maximum throat depth and be off by just enough for it not to fit......
mathproblems2.jpg
 
toni, just measure the one that is on it now or one of your extra ones.. ellis makes custom sizes as well and might still have the info we got for them years ago?
 
It seems we are not discussing the underlying issue...

Woodslicer is a very thin blade with a narrow kerf and lower tension and power requirement, so allows wimpy (okay, ordinary) bandsaws to do a good job resawing, but it doesn't have a very long life.

Carbide blades do a great job, and last a long time, but require a very good bandsaw for large enough wheels and adequate tension. Meber is a very good bandsaw, so probably is a candidate for carbide.

Steel blades (of various types). Although I haven't used Ellis, I know they are highly recommended by forum members here. You should expect them to last much longer than a woodslicer, but far less than a carbide blade. Generally don't expect more than 2-5 hours use from a steel blade.

Once we narrow the category desired, lets restart the discussion about where to buy etc.
 
well charlie i wasn't trying to say your choices weren't good, and as i understand it, Toni hadn't asked for carbide period? and as for the discussion on Ellis blades here with Toni, is because i am the one that got them for him and sent them to Spain because he couldn't buy anything over there reasonably. so i will stay quiet and no interfere.
 
The woodslicer is a great blade - especially on a smaller saw, as Charlie said.

My experience with it is that it's relatively short-lived. It works great right out of the box (as I've shown Larry in the past) but dulls after only a couple hundred feet.

For a 16" or larger saw (like my Laguna) I've been using a Lenox Tri-Master (at Charlie's suggestion a couple years back), and have had great results with it. It does cost about four times as much as a Woodslicer, but it's carbide, and is still cutting 'like new' after probably 500+ feet of resawing. I also have a Laguna "Resaw King" blade, but I've come to prefer the Lenox. YMMV...
 
I have a Delta 14" and a Lenox TriMaster for it. That blade also has the virtue of being able to be resharpened. Works very well, but it produces a bit of a rough surface.
 
I have a Delta 14" and a Lenox TriMaster for it. That blade also has the virtue of being able to be resharpened. Works very well, but it produces a bit of a rough surface.

A Delta 14 inch bandsaw cannot create enough blade tension to use a 1 inch TriMaster (and the 1 inch should not be used on wheels smaller than 16 inches). Therefore you are probably using a narrower TriMaster, which will not work as well for resawing.

I would be interested in the tension you can achieve on the Delta bandsaw (see www.solowoodworker.com/tools/resaw.html for how to measure tension with a cheap dial indicator instead of an expensive tension gauge). The tension is independent of the size of the blade - the TriMaster likes about 25,000 psi but note that it is pounds per square inch of blade cross section, so less force on a narrower blade. If you crank the tension up to max does the cut get better? (Ignore the tension gauge on your saw - it is useless in this case).
 
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