My experience with Timberwolf involves my bandsaw sawmill (one of those sawyer-gets-behind-and-pushes-the-carriage models). I won't go into the mill, since if I had it to do over I'd buy someone else's, but in casting about to find ways to improve its performance I noticed a Timberwolf ad (this was maybe 7 or 8 years ago). I gave them a call, asked a couple of questions, and man this guy talked to me for over an hour. He really seemed to know his stuff about bandsaws and blades. At the end of the conversation I ordered a half dozen blades (figured if nothing else it was reasonable tuition for a worthwhile learning session). While I was waiting for the blades to be delivered I did a couple of things to the mill that he had suggested, and put a nice cherry log that I had gotten at my brother's place on the log deck. When the blades arrived I installed one, canted the log, and made some boards. All I could say to myself was Wow...that blade did a great job. And so did the other 5. And so have all the other blades that I've since bought from Timberwolf. I don't keep a lot of usage data since I think of the mill as one of my woodworking machines, and 3 or 4 sawlogs keeps me in cherry for a long time, but from a performance standpoint those blades made me stop looking. Someone mentioned green wood, and I definitely believe it's a factor in blade life. Because of the moisture content the fibers are softer, and the moisture actually acts as a lubricant. Wood dried to 10% MC or less is much harder on tools. Of course by that time it has shown its true character with regard to how it's going to behave as part of a piece (warp, twist, etc), which you need to know, and has shrunk to at least close to its resting size, so cutting everything green isn't an option. I think an appropriate phrase might be "live with it". All high speed steel is probably not created equal, but even the best (which it is my belief TW tries to acquire) is going to have more trouble staying sharp in dry wood than in green. And there's more to it than the lubrication factor of green wood...tpi (which determines gullet size) is a factor, because that determines how well sawdust is cleared from the cut. If it isn't cleared efficiently, heat builds up. Tooth set factors into that as well. The blades I've been using on my 16" bandsaw (Grizzly G1073) are from BC Saw and Tool. This is the result of happenstance rather than an exhaustive usage trial...awhile back FWW had an article about maximizing performance from your bandsaw (don't they all, and oh so often), and the author of that article mentioned that this company was now his only source of blades. So I phoned in an order for 5...I'm happy with them, and still have a couple of new ones hanging on the wall. Are they better than Timberwolf?...I doubt it, but they're probably as good. My take on it is that some companies bother to send you cutting tools that are sharp enough (or nearly so) to use out of the box (Lie-Nielsen and Lee Valley to name a couple). But even so, the best can still benefit from a honing before use...problem is, sharpening a bandsaw blade (particularly a sawmill blade) is no picnic (at my age I sometimes wonder if my warranty is going to expire before this job is finished). So the first-blush gee-whiz factor from bandsaw blade manufacturers who care is usually pretty high...and imo it's important, because nobody in his right mind spends half his life sharpening his bandsaw blades. If its performance out of the box is better than someone else's, it's a better deal...I seriously doubt that one guy's hss vs another guy's hss is the difference maker (carbon-tooth blades are another matter). How long will it stay sharp?...well, what species are you cutting, what is its moisture content, are you resawing or cutting stock that's 1" thick or less, have you matched tpi to the job at hand...to say that a bandsaw blade will only provide a maximum of two hour's use isn't saying enough...if you try to cut a 1/4" steel rod with it it will last about two microseconds.
Glenn, I'm seriously considering upgrading my bandsaw to the G0513X...do you have a thread about your original purchase?...I couldn't find one.
they didn't explain. Now, only 200 feet can be just about one afternoons worth of cutting. That's not much. For some folks it would mean buying a new blade daily. Let us know your experience. BTW, if I ever upgrade my G0555, it will probably be to one like yours. I like that resaw fence.
but the seem to be good.
