14" bandsaw

Welcome Mark2.

Much has been written about the subject. Opinions vary as does the equipment and materials that you work.

At minimum, your saw should be in proper working order. By this I mean your blade is tracking properly, your fence has been adjusted to account for drift and is square to the table . DAGS on “Band saw resaw” and you will get many opinions. Also checkout http://thewoodwhisperer.com , Marc did a video on his new band saw and gave very sound advice and tips (and entertaining – well done Marc.)

Your blade choice should determine how aggressive your feed rate should be. IMHO, a more aggressive feed requires more work to cleanup saw marks. I would think that speeding up or slowing down the blade will not have the effect you’re looking for. Blade choice will have the greatest influence; use the correct blade for the finish you’re looking for in the materials you’re trying cut. A warm blade is normal; you create friction during the cut. Blade life will be dependent upon many factors including your feed rate and materials.

Do more research. A lot of sites selling bandsaw blades offer charts and helpful information.

-- Nicky

Mark2… Blades being warm to the touch is normal, but can also indicate a dull blade. I think that 4 TPI is a little too fine for the cuts you described. Speeding the blade up will allow more teeth to pass during any given time, giving you a finer cut. In metal cutting, and with some very hard woods, there’s a limit. There’s a rule… 3 – 6- 12 – 24. Absolute minimum of 3 teeth in the material. 6-12 is optimum, and at 24 you’re probably getting very poor performance. For softer materials, I’d go with a lower tooth count (larger gullets). In a 2×6 board, you’ve got 22 teeth in the material. Using a 3 TPI blade would have 17 teeth in contact with the wood.

Pick a blade that suits the most different materials, realizing that you’re going to have to feed differently based on how many teeth are at work at any given moment.

Yes, there’s lots of stuff written on the subject, check out the Timberwolf blade people, Suffolk Machinery, they have some info on their page. Also, you may find that the 3/4” blade will not last long, as in break, as rolling that width over a 14” diameter wheel will cause it to flex too tight. Kind of like bending a wire so much that it breaks eventually. I have a 16” saw and I find that I can resaw just fine with a 1/2” blade, it really does get down to the teeth.

-- Jeff, West Linn, OR, http://www.dogwood-design.com

Advice from bandsaw blades manufacturers is to use the highest speed possible when bandsawing timber. If you are looking for further information to do with bandsaws etc where is a wealth of web sites which may assist ~ Bandsaws and Blades information sites

Tony Ward

-- Bandsaw Box Plans

Mark2, thanks for asking this question. I’ve learned something new. Thanks for the links and information everyone.

-- Jesus is Lord!

This has been a good read! Good question and good discussion. Thanks!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I just bought 3 blades from highland hardware
I bought the 1/8” 14 tpi for fine work…a 3/8” 4 tpi general purpose….and a 3/4 wood slicer. I haven’t used any of them yet.

I have a 3/8” 3 tpi in the saw now and have done some moderate resawing. I’ve done some 6” mahogany, 6” oak, and some 4” lyptus. No problems with any of them. Just adjust the feed rate to fit. If I plan on doing lots I’ll switch to the woodslicer.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

I had some nice figured 6/4 Mahogany for nearly a year before I finally tried my hand at re-sawing with my bandsaw. The best thing I did was call the people who make the “timberwolf” line of blades ( Suffolk Machinery ) I told them what I wnated to do and they set me up with a resaw and a general purpose blade for less than I could get them locally. Great customer service to boot! The blades cut like a dream!

-- Chris

I use a timberwolf blade as well and have had good luck.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I’ve been quite happy with the Timberwolf blades too. I seem to only use/need a 1/4” for curves, small stuff, etc. and a 1/2” for resawing.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA