A bandsaw blade question

jpscroller · Sep 13, 2006

I have been turning now for about 8 months, and have been loving it. I am learning more about every weekend. My question stems from a little frustration in preparing blanks for bowls. I have a 14" bandsaw, the Grizzly GO55 with the 6 inch risor block, giving me clearance of 12 inches. I have been trying to cut some walnut about 5-8 inches thick to make some bowls and vases, but the saw has trouble cutting it. I have a 3/4" inch blade which tends to bind up as well. I thought about trying a thinner blade, but felt it would not go through the thick walnut. I think the current blade has 3-4 teeth per inch. I may need a new blade, but I have always struggled with this, so I don't know if it is the blade or something I am doing wrong. I do thing my current blade was made for resawing. What kind of blade should I be using? Is this a common problem? It seems that every video I watch, the guys are just buzzing right through their blanks making a nice circle. I have gotten to where I just try to cut the corners off with a chain saw, and do the rest on the lathe. Any help would be appreciated. By the way, I don't offer any advice yet, but I do want to thank everyone for all the help with my questions over the last several months. It is a great help.

Thanks,

Jeff

Sean Troy · Sep 13, 2006

You should be using a 3/8" or 1/2" 3tpi Hook blade.

Bernie Weishapl · Sep 13, 2006

I use the Timberwolf 3/8" X 3tpi PC or the 1/2" X 3tpi PC. Both these blades are designed to cut thick wood. I have used them for a couple of years now and no trouble.

Bernie

Dumb Adze · Sep 13, 2006

Hi Jeff, This is my first post in this forum so please forgive me if this reply looks terrible.
My best suggestion is to call the nice folks at Suffolk Machinery as I did. They will walk you through the entire process such as, what saw, cutting what, how often etc, etc,,, then suggest what blades will work best for you. They are Top Shelf folks and they are running a buy 3 get one free promotion to boot. Hard to beat for sure. Good luck in your choices.

jwitnberg · Sep 13, 2006

Jeff,
Over the years I have tried out a fair assortment of bandsaw blades on my 14 inch Powermatic saw and have settled on 3/8 inch three or four tooth blades for general cutting and bandsawing out turning blanks. A 3/4 inch blade is best for cutting straight cuts or cutting long slow curves. The width of the blade makes it bind on the radius curves that you cut bandsawing out blanks. The 3/8 wide blade is narrow enough to cut a 5 or 6 inch circle in 6 inch thick blocks. A blade with three teeth per inch has plenty of gullet space to clear sawdust from a thick cut. I usually go for the hook tooth configuration. When I am cutting out furniture parts that will need the cut edge cleaned up I switch over to a 6 tooth blade.
Jan

laymarcrafts · Sep 13, 2006

Jeff what you do not mention is the Radius you are attempting to Cut, this will dictate the Width of the Blade you should use.

Small Radius = Narrow Blade

Look at the Links Page on my Web Site under Bandsaws their are links to Sites giving the relevent limits for Blade Width and Radius.

Richard
http://www.laymar-crafts.co.uk

DeanGThomas · Sep 13, 2006

The hook tooth thing seems to be crucial for green wood prep. You might want to put a brush on the blade below the cut or above it, to help knock the gullets clean. Or compressed air might help, too. If you have a choice on the width of the kerf, go for WIDE.

Treating the blade with some form of coating (Olson's available at Woodcraft; maybe Dri-Kote or similar?)) might help. If you are NOT using a Timberwolf blade, you might want to take a hone to the trailing corners of your blade and "tune it up".

A quick browse of Google indicates that LOTS of folks recommend 3 tpi, 3/8 to 1/2" for green wood prep like this.

Hope it helps.

KenN · Sep 13, 2006

Jeff,

For what it may be worth: I've settled on a .032 X 1/2" X 3 TPI Hook for my 14" bandsaw and find it adequate for both resawing and prepping bowl blanks. I did, however, finally get a 10" Rikon saw with a 1/4" X 4 TPI for all those small radius cuts which required changing blades at inoportune times. All are Timberwolf.

MichaelMouse · Sep 14, 2006

Ken mentions something as important in choosing a blade as width, which determines radius of cut per chart in many woodworking books. That's blade thickness, which operates with blade tension in giving you resistance to deflection and squirm. I'd guess you've noticed that feeding too fast can cause the blade to bind and bow, starting your bowl for you like this ( ). Cranking tension may help, but slowing the feed rate is better. Problem then is the blade's in the work longer, which retains the heat of sawing which generates steam and swells the crushed fibers, which bind the blade .... Which is why I think set in the teeth is more important than the form of the gullet. Taking a wider kerf reduces friction on the blade, which reduces heat, which ... well, you get the idea. Also gives you a bit tighter radius of cut if you care to use it.

The folks at Suffolk, with their "Joisy" accents will point you in the right direction on tooth pattern. You pick the width based on the radius your average size work.

jpscroller · Sep 14, 2006

Thanks for all the help. The folks at Suffolk were indeed very helpful with their questions and we settled on a Timberwolf 1/2" X 3tpi. They said it will make a BIG difference from what I was using. Thanks again.

Sean Troy · Sep 14, 2006

Thats the same blade I use and couldn't be happier. You'll love the difference.On a safety note, it is much safer standing at the side of the bandsaw as if it was the front. Your hands will allways be to the side or back of the blade that way. I learned that the hard way a couple of years ago.

George Guadiane · Sep 14, 2006

Dumb Adze said:
Hi Jeff, This is my first post in this forum so please forgive me if this reply looks terrible.
My best suggestion is to call the nice folks at Suffolk Machinery as I did. They will walk you through the entire process such as, what saw, cutting what, how often etc, etc,,, then suggest what blades will work best for you. They are Top Shelf folks and they are running a buy 3 get one free promotion to boot. Hard to beat for sure. Good luck in your choices.

Suffolk Machine sells the Timberwolf blades. Their product is better than anything I have ever used, and I cut bowl blanks for resale.
I order their blades 12 at a time, to save a little, and if you have not used their products before, they have a special discount.
Their staff is REALLY knowledgable and will help you make the proper selection.

My only question is about the power of your saw motor... Is it powerful enough? :

John Abt · Sep 15, 2006

Jeff,

I've used a Grizzly bandsaw for several years. It's a really cheap version that's not sold anymore.

I also have a riser block and have been using it to rough out blanks. I had all sorts of problems until I switched to the 3/16" 4 tpi skip tooh blade (It's also from Grizzly). This made all the difference. The blade can do a pretty good radius (but I've never measured how low I can go). The only other advice I would have is to use circle templates (ala Bill Grumbine) and free hand a blank. If it begins to bog down, back off slightly and straighten out the cut for a short distance.

Hope this helps

dkulze · Sep 15, 2006

Saw Power!!!!!

Cutting 6-8" walnut with the little motor on the saw makes for mucho slow cutting. Mine's beefed up with an old 2hp motor and still will bind.

The other thing that really helps is to build a plywood extention table that slides onto your table. The extra support when cutting larger blanks is wonderful and will actually help prevent binds, as you can work slower and truer.

Dietrich

Frank Kobilsek · Sep 15, 2006

I have the same saw and my lack of experience created the same problems. First it was learning to adjust the guides, after freezing up the rollers twice I finally learned. Then I added the extension. I ended up with the 3/8 Woodcraft 3 tpi hook blade for roughing round regardless of radius or thickness. The Timberwolf blades get great reveiws but until I master the bandsaw I don't want to invest that much. Another good company to work with on bandsaw stuff is Carter Products. The 3/4 blade was struggle as descibed and the 3/8 is more forgiving. I use a template nailed to the top and that seems to give best results. I have just come to accept that the saw is a pooch and if I intend to rough out 8 to 10" thick rounds I am going to have to be nice to it.

Frank