Looking for bandsaw resawing blade suggestions

[Steve N]

I have a Rikon 10-325 bandsaw (111” blades) and am planning to buy a 3/4” blade for resawing hardwood up to 4” thick to make 1/8” thick pieces for inlay. I am looking for suggestions for a good quality blade for this type of work, Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

This is the manual for your Rikon Page 4 shows it's specs. Note it calls for blade widths of 1/8" through 3/4"

I have your saws Big Brother, and it calls for up to 1 1/2" IIRC. However in the real world you (on  your saw) will find much better performance using a 1/2" wide blade max. Any bandsaw has wheels, and mounted on them are "tires" those tires have something of a dome shape, and using the full width blades your blades would have to curl around that dome, thus distorting your cut. You could purchase the 3/4" blade with the most votes from users of it around the globe, and your cut quality will be better if you stepped down to a 1/2" blade. That is what people are suggesting 1/2" blades for.

I believe "woodslicer blades" come premade on a blister card. I do not buy them, it is someone else deciding what kind of work you are going to do. My suggestion would be to call a company that makes custom blades they use your brand of saw, and the work you want to do to assist you in making this choice. Some of these folks may get good results from a woodslicer from Highland, or maybe they really don't yet know what a really good cut is? My take is if it is pre made, pre determined, I ain't buying.

[jteneyck]

I have a Rikon 10-325 bandsaw (111” blades) and am planning to buy a 3/4” blade for resawing hardwood up to 4” thick to make 1/8” thick pieces for inlay. I am looking for suggestions for a good quality blade for this type of work, Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I used to regularly cut 10"+ veneer 0.090" thick with a my 14" Delta with riser with a 1/2" x 3 tpi blade.  That saw cannot tension a 3/4" blade even though the owner's manual says you can use one.  I'd be very surprised if your saw could put enough tension on a 3/4" blade to cut straight.  Most manufacturers over state the max blade size that can be used.  Well, maybe they fit and can be used, but they don't perform well, certainly not nearly as well as a narrower blade. 

I, too, had poor life from a Woodslicer blade.  It cut great for a few feet in maple, then it was junk.  I used Olson MVP bi-metal blades for quite some time and they cut well and lasted a long time.  Currently, I'm using Starrett blades because I got a reel of it for free and they cut very well and last a long time, too.  For 4" thick stock you don't need to over think this, that just isn't that thick and any blade in the 3/8 - 1/2", 3 or 4 tpi should work well.  With an Iturra spring I can get about 12K psi on a 1/2", 0.024" thick blade.  That's well below the 18K+ psi recommended by most blade manufacturers, but it's enough tension for the blade to cut straight as long as you don't over feed it. 

John

[Johnbro]

Probably noticed by now you'll get as many opinions as answers. I've used both the Woodslicer (2x) and two carbide blades--most recently a Trimaster. I have to say the Trimaster cuts slowly but gives a terrific finish. My saw is a Grizzly 0513 17" and the blade is 1" wide. I just crank the tension to the max and it works fine.


Why do blades come in different widths? For radius in curves or for stability in cutting straight. If a 1/8" blade would cut as straight as a 1" no one would use the 1" blade. But it doesn't. The wider the band, the less drift and more parallel your resawn slices will be. 

The Woodslicer in 3/4" will work well on your saw. Rikon makes a good solid saw. They're cheap and you can just buy a new one when the old one goes south. A GOOD carbide blade, will cost more up front, but theoretically can be sharpened several times so you might save overall. 

Good luck!

[ez-duzit]

I've been using the same 3/4" carbide blade (bought from Eagle Tools) for many years without resharpening.

[BB-BOB]

sorry to get off your subject but what is the difference between the rikon 10-325 and the 10-326? wood craft has the 326 on sale now for $900 with free mobile base.

[CARYinWA]

I have used the Woodsaver and Woodsaver Plus from Super cuts.  I loved the surface it left but they broke too easily.  I now have a Lenox bi metal blade.  The cut is not as good but the blade has not broken.  I have had good luck with a Super Cuts  bimetal on my metal horizontal  bandsaw.

[Tapper]

I used to regularly cut 10"+ veneer 0.090" thick with a my 14" Delta with riser with a 1/2" x 3 tpi blade.  That saw cannot tension a 3/4" blade even though the owner's manual says you can use one.  I'd be very surprised if your saw could put enough tension on a 3/4" blade to cut straight.  Most manufacturers over state the max blade size that can be used.  Well, maybe they fit and can be used, but they don't perform well, certainly not nearly as well as a narrower blade. 

I, too, had poor life from a Woodslicer blade.  It cut great for a few feet in maple, then it was junk.  I used Olson MVP bi-metal blades for quite some time and they cut well and lasted a long time.  Currently, I'm using Starrett blades because I got a reel of it for free and they cut very well and last a long time, too.  For 4" thick stock you don't need to over think this, that just isn't that thick and any blade in the 3/8 - 1/2", 3 or 4 tpi should work well.  With an Iturra spring I can get about 12K psi on a 1/2", 0.024" thick blade.  That's well below the 18K+ psi recommended by most blade manufacturers, but it's enough tension for the blade to cut straight as long as you don't over feed it. 

John

John,

Didn't you at one time use a 1" carbide blade on your new Grizzly brute?

Thanks,

Doug

[jteneyck]

John,

Didn't you at one time use a 1" carbide blade on your new Grizzly brute?

Thanks,

Doug

Hi Doug,

Yes, I have a Lennox Woodmaster CT 1" x 1.3 tpi on by 17" Grizzly G0636X.  I love them both.  That blade recommendation came from Dave Diaman and he was spot on in how well and smoothly it cuts.  However, they are not made for "little" 14" saws nor would I recommend one even if they did.  The Woodmaster CT is 0.035" thick IIRC; way too thick to go around a 14" wheel without early fatigue failure. 

The OP's needs can easily be met w/o going to carbide.  Nearly any 1/2" x 3 or 4 tpi blade should cut 4" hardwood into nice consistent slices if the saw is set up properly.  I would only consider carbide if he intends to cut a lot of difficult woods that quickly dull mere mortal blades.   If he is cutting nasty wood then the Laguna Resaw King is probably the best option if he needs to cut a lot of it.  For small amounts I'd use a cheap blade and replace as needed. 

John

[Tapper]

Hi Doug,

Yes, I have a Lennox Woodmaster CT 1" x 1.3 tpi on by 17" Grizzly G0636X.  I love them both.  That blade recommendation came from Dave Diaman and he was spot on in how well and smoothly it cuts.  However, they are not made for "little" 14" saws nor would I recommend one even if they did.  The Woodmaster CT is 0.035" thick IIRC; way too thick to go around a 14" wheel without early fatigue failure. 

The OP's needs can easily be met w/o going to carbide.  Nearly any 1/2" x 3 or 4 tpi blade should cut 4" hardwood into nice consistent slices if the saw is set up properly.  I would only consider carbide if he intends to cut a lot of difficult woods that quickly dull mere mortal blades.   If he is cutting nasty wood then the Laguna Resaw King is probably the best option if he needs to cut a lot of it.  For small amounts I'd use a cheap blade and replace as needed. 

John

Hi John,

Thanks for the clarification - makes sense. I plan to put a 1" carbide blade on my 2 HP, 18" Rikon 340 and use it exclusively for resawing and heavy tasks. I'm in the process of reassembling my Walker Turner 16" old classic to use for "regular stuff." 

Do you think my Rikon has enough juice to do serious resawing?

Thanks,

Doug

[jteneyck]

Hi John,

Thanks for the clarification - makes sense. I plan to put a 1" carbide blade on my 2 HP, 18" Rikon 340 and use it exclusively for resawing and heavy tasks. I'm in the process of reassembling my Walker Turner 16" old classic to use for "regular stuff." 

Do you think my Rikon has enough juice to do serious resawing?

Thanks,

Doug

Depends on what you mean by serious, Doug.  If you mean can it cut something 12" thick, sure, with a low tooth count blade.  But if you mean will it cut fast enough that I won't hate doing the job, then the answer might have some qualifiers.  For efficient resawing general consensus is that you need about 1 HP for every 4" of resaw height, and that seems about right to me.  You also need high blade speed in order to clear the swarf.  My Grizzly has 5 HP for 16" of resaw height and runs at 4500 fpm.  It has the chops to do serous work and it certainly does.  I don't know what the speed of your machine is but with 2 HP I think serious work will be limited to a max. of 8".  As for the blade, whatever Rikon says is the max. blade width you can run on it, I would go one size narrower.  So if they say 1", I wouldn't go any wider than 3/4".   Tension is more important than width to cutting straight.  This is especially true with carbide tipped blades that need to run at least 25K psi, with 30K psi being better for best performance and life. 

Carbide doesn't really cut any better than non carbide blades; however, some will cut a lot smoother, and I think all of them will last many times over non carbide blades.  If you are looking at carbide I would strongly consider the Lennox Woodmaster CT or Trimaster, or Leguna Resaw King as they will all cut very smoothly with the Trimaster probably being the smoothest and the CT cutting the fastest.  

Hope that helps.

John