woodmizer blades

[dyrt]

hey all....just wondering what everyone runs for blades with there woodmizer(or any simular mill)...also do u change up in cold weather(run in lots of - degree weather this year)



also would like to find someone in my area who can sharpen blades....


www.rockymountainventures.piczo.com

 

[johncinco]

http://www.cookssaw.com/bandsaw/bandsaw-blades.php

They can make em any length you need. I also use some WM blades. They all seem to be about the same.

 

[carhartt]

I use the 9 deg. in oak and 10 deg. in pines or similar. I am curious about the new 4 deg.

 

[Backwoods]

I run 184” x 1 ½ x .055 bands. I have tried a few different brands, the ones with softer metal last longer but need sharpened more often and tend to loose there set easier, to hard of a band and you get into cracking issues. I am happy with the woodmizer bands, as they are not too soft or too hard and have both good run time and can be sharpened several times before the band wears out. (I get 10-12 sharpenings on a set) I run a 42 hp diesel so I can handle a more aggressive hook angle with out any problem. I prefer the 13* hook angle for most softwoods and some hardwoods if they are still green. I drop back to a 10* hook angle for Doug-fir and most hardwoods.
I have sent bands out to be sharpened with far less then desirable results. I now sharpen all my own saws and find that the extra attention to detail when sharpening pays off big time when sawing. As well as in the pocket, book.
There is an outfit up in north Idaho that sells a variation of the Timberwolf bands, and dose a good job of sharpening them as well, they are a bit softer metal then what I like but do hold up well over all. If you are interested PM me and I will send you there contact info. A softer band will hold up better to metal fatigue in colder weather, however the winter weather is on it’s way out.

 

[johncinco]

BW, how much do you have into equipment to resharpen them yourself? I am just a weekend sawyer, dont think I could ever recover the cost of the equipment, but there are times when I prefer to do things like that myself. I like to spend the attention time to my stuff, where you dont really know what somebody 1000 miles away is gonna do.

 

[Backwoods]

I bought the tooth setter new from woodmizer, I can’t remember the price but it seems like it was around $300. I got the saw sharpener thrown in with the sawmill, is was all in pieces and some of them were not there or just not useable. I put another $300 into getting the sharpener up and running. It did not take long to pay for it’s self, as I keep about 50 saws in stock and get between 10-12 sharpenings each. The other sawyers that I have talked with locally that run an LT-70 and LT 300 say they get 1 and maybe 2 sharpening when they send there saws off to woodmizer to be sharpened. They also run there saws a lot longer and harder because they want to get as much life out of there saws as they can. I have bought there used saws for $2.00 each and can get 3-4 sharpening out of them, but they are pretty far gone.

http://www.woodmizer.com/us/sawmills/options/blademaintenance.aspx

Woodmizer sharpening equipment is pretty basic, If you can get a good deal on a used cook sharpener it would be a much better buy.