Carbide Blades on a Bandsaw Mill
Sawyers discuss whether it's worth the extra cost to use carbide blades. February 4, 2011
Question
I'm going to be doing a lot of re-sawing of kiln dry domestic woods on my Wood-Mizer. Does anyone know if I can run a Lenox Carbide tipped blade on it? I think Lenox calls it the Tri-master. I'm wondering if the wheels are too small in diameter, and I'll start cracking the back (beam) of the blade.
Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor J:
I ran carbide tipped blades from a company in California a few years back, at $175.00 each they lasted for four hours and cracked or broke. I send all five; I bought, back for a refund after running all of them. I can buy more than 11 blades for the price of one of these blades. I do sharpen my own blades too, which would have meant that I could not sharpen these blades.
My resaw is a Morgan single cut. It cuts just like both of my sawmills. You just have to change blades about every hour. That would be cutting 1500 LF of 8” wide boards.
From the original questioner:
Well, I do believe that Lenox has always stated that their carbide tipped Tri-master should mount on a 24" wheel minimum. That's probably why yours cracked. That does not mean they were faulty or poor blades. That means improper use.
I also think I've heard, that as of a year or so ago, Lenox changed how they make the Tri-Master, and it can now be recommended on smaller wheels like what are on the Wood-Mizer. However I do not know that for sure.
From contributor A:
Wood-Mizer has a carbide blade now. I tried one and it was tough and cut well. The cost is a bit high. For what you are wanting to do I would try a four degree blade. They saw the hard stuff better and give a good smooth cut. If you run the Lenox blade back off your pressure some. They always stretched on me till I could not hold pressure. They do well at around 1800 psi on my LT40.
From the original questioner:
I know you do re-sawing on your Mizer, too. I plan on locking my head in place, build up a flat bed, and then feed my boards thru the blade using a small stock feeder with variable speed. I really want a smooth finish (as much as possible) to save on waste with planing. I've used the Tri-Master on my MM24 vertical bandsaw, and loved the cut. Maybe I'll be happy with the four degree too. It should work, right?
From contributor G:
I ran some Lenox blades that had 3 or 4 tpi. They gave a smoother finish, blade was about fifty bucks. I did not think it was worth it. If smooth is need then planing is a must, messing with the saw is not going to take care of that; the difference is about 1/32".
From the original questioner:
I think I'll give the Wood-Mizer Silver Tip blade a shot. Seven degree is the smallest degree they have for my LT10.
From contributor K:
I have been running Lenox tri-masters on my LT40 super hyd. for over 15 years. They do extremely well on exotic woods (teak, ebony, Brazilan cherry) or when I don't want to sand large timbers in Doug fir or pine. Kind of speedy so make sure there is no bark or hardware present.
From the original questioner:
My understanding is the Tri-Master is made to cut metal. So, if that's a fact, then dirty bark will do no harm or even an occasional nail. What's the diameter of the wheels of the LT40? I'm considering putting it on an LT10.
From contributor K:
The tri-master was developed to cut titanium at twice the cutting speed of a Wood-Mizer with oil based lubricant. Yes you can cut metal with it, however a nick or some sort of tooth distortion, while still cutting metal fine, will leave score marks on wood negating the extra cost to have a finishing cutting blade. Anytime abrasive material (bark or hardware) is introduced to a cutting edge, regardless of the tool it will dull to some degree faster than if it was not present.
