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so what your saying is, they are more likely to break than dull? I mean if I needed one that bad I would make the investment, sound advice its good to know what options are out there
@@AubreyMobley I have one of them too. It is the "Guide PRO Bandsaw Guide," made by BOW Products. It is 6" tall, and there is an optional 4" extension to give you a 10" total height for the feather. They work very nicely.
The inventor of carbide tipped tools, Fred Clas, passed away 12/11/21 at the age of 99. I know this because he was my Grandfather and this was just one of his inventions -or in this case perfections from failed attempts just before he figured it out as a machinist apprentice just before WWII. I've been watching your for years but I still come across material I've missed like this one today. Anyway... just a neat thing to share. He was quite the guy as you may imagine.
I know others have mentioned this before, but it's very refreshing hearing someone who is well spoken and clearly puts some preparation into their presentation/what they are going to say. It's crazy how much more useful information can be squeezed in when superfluous language like "um" is not utilized. It's also much smoother and more flowing making it easier to understand. Seems like a small difference, but I think it's key especially in an educational setting.
I was attempting to resaw a piece of Gorgeous mystery hardwood I'd purchased from my exotic hardwood dealer (he couldn't identify it, and neither could any other hardwood dealers in my area). All we knew is that it was ungodly heavy for the dimensions, and it "rang" like a frigging bell when we rapped on it with a big wrench. I had just purchased a new bandsaw, and the new blade it came with might have gotten about 10" of cut in a board no more than 5" tall on edge, before it was hopelessly smoked. That's no big deal... nobody ships a new unit with a Good blade on it, so I spent a lot of money for a good, steel, 3/4" wide resaw blade from a very reputable company that sells these things via catalog and online (I may have seen one of their catalogs in hand, on this video...). That blade lasted about another 15" worth of cutting before it too was dulled beyond belief! So far, I've accomplished just a smidgen over 2' of cut, and my board is 8' long X 3" thick X 5" wide, and I had planned on getting at least 4 planks out of it... Long story short, I bit the bullet and ordered a carbide tipped resaw blade. It cut all 4 planks, with no discernible wear, and I've been using it for 6 years now without any need for a resharpening! I too, will never Waste my money on a steel blade!!!
If you do much cutting of valuable exotic tropical hardwoods carbide is the way to go. On my horizontal band resaw I cut 1/8" Cocobolo veneer and start to sand with 120 grit sandpaper.
Thanks for posting and also to James for this video. I have a fair amount of exotic wood that I have just started to resaw into 1/8” veneer and am struggling with the saw blade getting dull quickly. This is the answer. Thanks!
I thought my expensive band saw was junk. Then I watched this video and purchased a carbide tip saw blade. Suddenly my band saw became a great asset. Thank you
I have a Laguna 14" SUV and purchased a 125" Carbide Resaw King blade for it. I cut several samples to test the blade and quality of cuts. My best cut was 2" x 12" by .015" thick. My woodworking friends would not believe I cut the veneer with a bandsaw blade. What you need to know is, a carbide blade is ground on 3 surfaces and the kerf is created by the thickness of the carbide brazed to the steel blade. Because of the side grinds on the carbide teeth, the blade cuts very smooth with no teeth marks in my samples. Because the Laguna blade guides touch 8 lines of contact on the blade, the blade is held very straight. The saw and blade cost a lot, but you get what you pay for. As a side note, James has two Harvey bandsaws in his shop and speaks highly of them. Harvey is the maker of my Laguna 14" SUV bandsaw equipped with the Laguna ceramic 8 line contact blade guides. I agree with everything James points out about carbide tipped resawing bandsaw blades.
Straight, carbide-tipped, talk. I expect that in this channel (even when it IS sponsored). Over several years now, I have NEVER been disappointed. There is no channel that is more valuable to me and the activities in my little shop.
Another point on safety to consider is that as they dull people tend to apply more pressure into the cut. This increases the chance of an uncontrolled jump at the end of a cut and your hand could lunge toward the blade. It only takes a split second for an amputation. There is an old saying that you are more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife than a sharp one. Thumbs up for safety! :) Love your videos, keep em coming! :)
I use a carbide Re-saw King on my Laguna 14/12 mainly for cutting bowl blanks. I was slicing a 12" thick Cherry log in half and only after I finished the cut and opened the piece up did I realize that I hit 3 old 16d nails. I inspected the blade and found 1 tooth missing. I'm still using that same blade 9 months later, and it is still doing great!
I taught my daughters to resaw when they were 14 as part of fabrication and woodworking for something to do in between modeling and dance and softball and school. They have scratch built go karts mini bikes and lots of shop tools. They really liked resawing and when '19 hit they were resawing veneers and stuff for projects at home from reclaimed wood. Then 2020 lumber prices happened and they started volunteering to do demo work and being paid in old lumber. Started selling wood to grey hairs at reasonable prices and selling old growth stuff and exotic veneers (they now have a "lumber guy" I'm so proud) at OUTLANDISH prices to hipster makers and woodworkers for tables and beard holders or whatever they make. Now they are around 17 and both own 2019 model year very nice cars and they have a 2020 pick they split the cost of for work. They have I think 6 bandsaws now they use daily and they switched to carbide and they haven't had to replace or sharpen one yet. Having a really good metal detector helps here I would hate to see what a nail would do to a carbide blade but that's why they keep HSS blades on hand as well I guess (their knowledge of resaw is so far past me now it's beautiful). Anyway short story long they swear by carbide and they resaw literally for a living. I'm so proud of my girls, who have 0 reason to work and were basically spoiled rotten their whole life material goods wise at least, decided to take up a hobby and make a damn fine living from it all before they graduated high school. I always made them do chores around the property, hell it's 6,000acres if you want to play on it kids ya gotta help it's too much for me, and taught them "work has value" but always just bought them what they wanted game consoles clothing all that and was going to do the same with a car and they were aware but took it upon themselves to change their trajectory in life. I guess they didn't want to travel the world running construction jobs like dad and with mom not in the picture wanted to "help out". But hell they keep my household lol when I'm gone they feed the animals or pay help to have it done out of their pocket. Sorry I'm just rambling away, the holidays are rough when I think about their mother and how grown these girls have gotten
@@JDeWittDIY Cheers! My kids bought me a freaking jet ski for Christmas! They wanted it to be a surprise but it got delivered while they were out scouting a couple trees they are interested in dropping and well someone had to sign!
@@leoleoleonor hard not to be proud! Raised my little darling assholes not to be my friend but to be people I would respect when they are in their 20's ya know. If more people felt that way about raising their churdlens I feel the world would end up better for it
I picked up one of these king blades when I bought my Laguna bandsaw and haven’t looked back. I general get a smooth face after resawing. Dude knows what he’s talking about.
Perfect timing for this video, I am looking at upgrading my bandsaw as I have gotten into making flag cases and only use rough cut lumber. The extra cost of a carbide blade will actually save me money in the increased yield from the wood saved.
Today my new 160” Laguna blade arrived and immediately got put into service. My concerns were allayed in the first cut! My bandsaw is now back to “favorite power tool”, a place it had been forced to yield to my Robland combination a year ago. Some thirty years ago an article in Fine Woodworking convinced me that the bandsaw was all I really needed and until the Robland showed up a year ago, I got along fine. I hate the loss of floor space necessary to use a table saw properly! So, even though I had made peace with a more crowded shop with a nice table saw, I’m very pleased with the increased utility of my bandsaw with the carbide tipped blade. Thanks James for your logical discussion. I owe you, buddy.
Two years later after I attempted my first 13" resaw on a 40" long piece of sapelle on my Harvey C14, I remembered this video. Luckily, I'll be able to salvage the two mangled pieces after a design change, but a Resaw King is on order. Thanks again for the great advice, James!
Thank you, good explanation. I am a professional machinist cutting stainless steel every day. The shop generally supplies high speed steel end mills, but I request carbide end mills and these cut two to four times faster, running at a higher RPM in the machine, while also lasting much longer, a year or more in daily use and basically never wear out with occasional use. I do have to be careful because a part that vibrates during cutting can break the carbide cutter while high speed steel is more resistant to vibration. The band saw should not have this problem since the carbide is just the little cutting teeth, most of the blade is still steel.
Here I thought maybe I was doing something wrong. I had just bought a used Delta 16" band saw a few weeks ago and been busy playing with resawing a whole slew of different woods. The used blade that came with it broke after just a few slices, the second one I ordered new cut like butter for maybe 7 or 8 cuts before I found myself really trying to steer my board straight and snapped the blade. I'm on my third now and already it wanders all over. Thanks for all the great info and giving me something to look into. Take care and stay warm.
I have HSS blades that I have used for re-sawing hardwoods (not oaks). I can typically get about 200 linear feet through 8" wide boards before I notice degradation in cutting. Either something is very wrong with how you set up the saw, or you are buying really crappy blade (or both). See if you can find a copy of The Bandsaw Book from Taunton Press. Most of the advice you will get online is bad.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve got some excellent cheap tools, and some hideously expensive tools that are still worth the expense. Finding out whether or not to spring for the expensive option… always better to let someone else figure that out on their dime, as long as you trust their judgment.
Based on your video I ordered a carbide tooth blade. It took over ten weeks to arrive but it is now in my bandsaw. Wow, I Cut a 1/8thx6x20 piece off of a 1x6x20 pine board. Fast, straight, beautiful. Your information is much appreciated.
An additional benefit is the finer surface finish that you will get from a carbide tipped bandsawblade. Some furniture makers will use a non-set style carbide tipped blade to eliminate the sanding needed after using a set style bimetal HSS blade.
Been using these blades for a while now, as I resaw logs. Worth every penny spent...I recently replaced my old Craftsman/Delta band saw with a Laguna 1412 and slapped a 3/4" Resaw King on it. Hot knife through butter.
I have three different blades that are the wrong size but cannot be returned because I procrastinated! This is very timely for me, I'm switching to carbide! Thank you!
I have a 14” bandsaw set up for resawing and early on I came to the realization that steel blades do not last. I am constantly resawing hardwoods and the occasional soft wood. Carbide tipped blades are great and I have amazed other woodworkers with the consistency that the blades offer. What I appreciate I’d that you pointed out the sharpening potential of a used blade. Thank you for creating this video. My question to woodworkers is how many times do you want to spend your money on blades for resawing?
Very good advice! This goes for anything that is priced higher, which doesn't just mean it's better but you have to consider how much you'll use that product. Loving your videos, really great stuff!
As always, great info! Knowing what you are doing for your project is key to the tool to use. I like the ending "No these are not for curve cutting, just resawing." Kind of brings you back if you having a wandering mind like mine.
Been there in person to interview and talk to the WOOD SLICER (Highland Hardware- ATL) and Laguna folks. They both make exceptional quality blades. So which to choose: You have trees you mill and turn into treasure? WOOD SLICER is more forgiving in my experience on a Laguna 18" BX. Have some exotic hardwood slab you want to turn into veneer? The Resaw King is hard to beat with it's carbide teeth. Takes some adjusting, but man does it cut straight and just go for days. Thanks again JAMES for some no -nonsense, just cut to the chase woodworking wisdom.
Agreed. Several years ago I got one for my 14" Delta bandsaw. The first cut I made looked like it came from a sander. It was expensive though. A bit over $200 as I recall. But for the smooth surface and dead straight cut it was worth it to me. James, thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.
Thanks for the great info, James. I'm about 80 linear feet at an average of 6" resawing into my first ResawKing blade on my 14" Grizzly G0555xh (12" resaw without riser). I was doing 6" resawing on walnut and cherry this morning and the surface quality has been great. Used to leave at least 1/8" on each surface to make sure I could plane/sand/CNC down to final dimensions. I had one board that was really close to being too thin to use, but I cut the gap down to 1/16th and was able to get the pieces I needed out of it. It's kinda funny how little it takes to claim a victory some days. I've been using Woodslicer blades in the past and was always happy with them, but I'll be sticking with ResawKing blades for resawing going forward.
Good video James. I use 18” Timber Wolf silicon blades but I also have one of their 1” carbide blades. I don’t remember how much I paid for it but I have had it for about 12 years and it see a lot of use and haven’t had to sharpen it yet. Totally agree on using carbide blades.
Carbide is a game changer overall! I remember my first Diablo reciprocating saw carbide blade Came in a pack as a bonus blade. It took me about six months to finally have something to use it on, but I sawed through a cast-iron radiator six times (At the thickest point which was a 1-3/4 circle with a 3/8” wall) with one blade and a battery powered reciprocating saw. We Need it to get the radiator out of the house, but we had forgotten the renovation was over. The only way to get it out of the house was cut it up, are 9” grinder just wouldn’t work. My coworker brought me home, I picked up the blade, we went back and it took around 3-6 minutes to make all six cuts. That was the first time we had ever witnessed a carbide reciprocating saw Blade, and the first time they had seen one. And it felt good because they were all telling me (because they’re 10 years older than me) you can’t cut through that with a reciprocating saw blade. Those old dogs learned a new trick that day!
Thank you Stumpy! I ordered a new Laguna resaw blade. The price was $149, but the resharpening and welding service sold me. I have a broken carbide blade I got a couple of years ago, but couldn't find anyone that would welt it for me. This takes away the fear of it happening again.
Youre videos are supreme. I watch them all even if its not related to a subject I'm interested in at the time because they are all chalk full of clear, concise information.
If you really want to test the metal (no pun intended), of the carbide resaw blades, try splitting 3/4" Ipe (Brazilian Walnut), into 3/8" strips. I had the occasion to build some lattice for a pergola on the water. Due to it's similarity to Teak and it's durability under foot as high-end decking, I chose the Ipe, not knowing it's hardness. It dulled a new set of planer knives, every carbide saw blade, and it twisted the end off of a solid carbide (3/8"), spiral, down cut router bit, like it was made of glass. I had always heard that Ironwood was hard, and popular for old bearings in early machinery, but the Ipe makes Ironwood look soft. Indifferent to the bandsaw blades and as an aside, the dust from sanding is unique as well, it is an irritant to the skin and will burn you when you sweat, and turns blood red when you attempt to wash it off. Given those two together, pretty unnerving the first time you work with it.
@@cchavezjr7 as far as I know Ironwood is Ironwood. But the wood that we call Ironwood (blue beech) where I'm from is a smallish tree (about the size of a mature apple tree), smooth greenish Grey bark/skin, with a sinewy knarled appearance (if it were muscle you would say it was cut/buff). The wood itself is white with no visible grain, and when dry is hard to the point of sounding akin to rock when either struck or dropped on a hard surface. As I said old timey people in the area would use it for bushings/bearings on shafted farm implements, I've seen it used as pillowblock bearings on agricultural pumps, and marine bearings due to it's resistance to swelling in water. And I've seen a few Iron shafts worn down while the Ironwood bearings look like new. Now, my experience with Ironwood is only with old stock (in service before I was born), and that was never having to shape it with power tools, but by weight and feel the Ipe is harder. Add to that the consumables used building my project. Did a little research: Australian Ironwood has a Janka hardness of 5060, Ipe (Brazilian Walnut) has a Janka hardness of 3680, Though Ipe is in a different family of wood, When the term "Ironwood" is used as a classification, Ipe is considered an Ironwood. Ipewoods.com/resources
Janka hardnesses: Ipe (Brazilian Walnut): 3510 Desert Ironwood: 3260 Lignum Vitae (for reference): 4390 White Poplar (for reference): 410 Ipe and Ironwood are pretty close in hardness. I've never tried to work with Ipe, but Desert Ironwood is pretty darn tough (The "Desert Ironwood" I refer to is the Ironwood that grows in southern Arizona). I bought some Lignum Vitae (just to see what it's like) and holy cow that stuff is tough. It's fun to drop in a bucket of water and watch it plummet straight to the bottom :)
@@jasonwood7340 as I said, I didn't pull the numbers I listed out of thin air. Looked up the numbers I referenced online. Though several sites had varying numbers, they were in close proximity. As stated "Australian" Ironwood had the hardest "Janka" rating at 5060, and Ipe was listed in the top 10 hardest woods. As to my comment, I stand by what I said; that Ipe is by far the hardest wood I have worked with. My primary comparison had to do with "solid carbide bandsaw blades", and my "solid carbide router bit" that was destroyed by a piece of Ipe. If you don't agree, that's fine. I was speaking based on experience not opinion!
I get the pun but you know it's meddle right lol And don't bother, all miter and circular saw blades that aren't complete garbage are all carbide tipped and I go through a high quality Freud blade a day on an Ipe deck....Ipe will eat a carbide bandsaw blade the same as it will eat a carbide circular saw blade...ipe is around 5k Janka hardness which when you compare to a Brinell metal hardness test is pretty damn close to the hardness of Pure Aluminum Its basically metal....and it's toxic...and the splinters are the absolute worst thing you'll ever experience as a woodworker, basically guaranteed to fester I love the way ipe looks, but Jesus is it a nightmare to work with lol
maybe that is why people tend to chose bi-metal blades and bits so they arent quite so brittle. its not just for cost savings though you do save a lot. a bit of spring steel with a carbide tip might survive when straight carbide will not.. and finish the cut
Yes, I now only re-saw using carbide tipped. Defiantly worth the price. I have an old 16" 2116 Makita resaw, ( Great saw but not made since the early 80s, I believe) I tried many brands and was frustrated with cut quality and blade durability. The first time I tried a Re-saw King it cut beautifully, no wandering and very smooth cut surface.
I use timber wolf blades, I use a 1/2 inch for re-sawing works great! I have a Grizzly 17 inch band saw and I have used this blade for 3 years re-sawing thousands of board feet. Still working fine.
I have been using Timberwolf carbide for sometime. I live in Western Australia and our local hardwoods are hard and have a high amount of silica. Carbide blade are the best option I have found. Love you channel
I have a 3 HP Laguna 14 SUV saw that is dedicated to resawing various woods for guitar making, including some of the hardest, densest rosewoods and ebonies. I outfitted the saw with a 3/4" Resaw King blade. As you said, even though I've probably pushed a mile or two of ten inch wide boards through this saw, cutting slices as thin as 3/64", that blade just keeps on cutting! I had it resharpened once in five years. I actually bought two of these blades when I bought the saw, so I'd have one for backup, and the second one is still in its original packaging. The only things I would add to your comments is, it is ESSENTIAL to make sure your saw is very accurately set up and true, and corrected for drift, if you want to get that much mileage out of a Resaw King blade. And- Laguna advises you to loosen the quick-release tensioner on the saw after use, to extend the blade life. I'm skeptical of that idea; I leave mine under working tension all the time, because it just seems logical to me that repeated changes in blade tension will cause metal fatigue, and actually shorten the life of the steel band. James, what's your opinion on this? Thanks a million for your videos! You are my Oracle, and source of all woodworking wisdom, and I love your channel!
I bought a laguna carbide blade for my delta 14 inch band saw and I really liked it did I really need it probly not but I do have a project coming up that it would work great for and I'll say it cuts beautiful.
I have a Grizzly 17” bandsaw and put a 131.5” Lennox carbide blade on it. First of all, that thing is scary sharp and due all the respect you should give it. Push sticks and push pads are a must if you want to retain your fingers! The cut quality is excellent and durability is very good. I mainly resaw oak and softer hackberry. If one shops around at the resaw blade sellers website, you can find good blades at reasonable prices. I think I paid around $150 for mine.
Amen! I recently upgraded the blades I've used for the last 18 years with some Swedish Silicon blades that are twice+ what I was paying...indeed, you get what you pay for.
I had no idea they did rewording. thanks for the info. love the laguna resew blades. but I did break one after a lot of heavy hard wood resew jobs. I felt even buying a new one I was really pleased with the cut quality thru at least a hundred cut and still clean cuts coming off.
I bought a Laguna resaw King 115" x 3/4" blade based on this video. It worked extremely well when new, but after resawing about 100 ft. x 8" maple and poplar, it started drifting to the point it was unusable. I'm going to get it resharpened and see what happens. I think the time between resharpening is only a few weeks for an active shop. I still agree that carbide is better, a steel blade dulls after one or two maple resaws, in my experience.
I got my Laguna 18BX a couple of months ago and have been milling logs with a cheap 1.25" blade. I took your advice and got Laguna's Resaw King 1.25" carbide blade (I initially balked at the price) and all I can say is wow! I am very impressed and the fact that I can justify going from $35 to $160 is a big thing for a cheapo like me :p. I'm hoping for a long usage life as well.
I have a 14” Laguna bandsaw, I.tried the Resaw King three times,. One blade had a bad weld and had to be returned. On both of the other two blades I had teeth eventually break off and the last blade actually stripped off a series off teeth. Possibly if you can afford a dedicated resaw bandsaw and can leave rage blade in place it may work great. I have one bandsaw and have to change blades, the teeth are so fragile I imagine this contributed to the teeth chipping. FYI, I have been woodworking for over 40 years. I now use Woodslicer blades.
For my needs and budget, I could not afford to buy a carbide blade, though I do have one on my table saw which gets more use than the bandsaw. But, soooo worth the investment in a production shop. The blades I buy for the 14" bandsaw I have cost between $20-60. If I do decide to start resawing my own wood and start selling the items I make, then I may invest in a carbide resaw blade. But for now, the high-speed Timber Wolf blade I just bought for $35.00 will do. I love seeing your videos!
I forget the brand (not Laguna) but I bought a 1/2" carbide blade for my 14" Jet a few years ago and it's still awesome. Admittedly, I don't do as much resawing as you do but I also highly recommend them.
Concur. Spot on in fact. I have both the Wood Slicer and the Laguna 1” blade. Out of the box (and after retreading the Laguna), the carbide bit excelled. The higher priced Laguna cuts extremely smooth and I could get paper thin cuts whereas the excellent value priced Wood Slicer blade had blade marks that had to be sanded out. I found that the carbide blade cut better overall and could be resharpened at a reasonable cost (although it took time to mail it in and have it returned), relegating my Wood Slicer to a backup role.
Good to know. Definitely convinced me to invest in a carbide blade. I’ll skip Laguna products though. I’ve used 4 of their machines in commercial and private shops. Not impressed.
Not a great fan of Laguna, but viewers should know that there are other good carbide sources as well. Lenox Trimaster and woodmaster carbide blades are the selection of many pro shops. They aren't cheap either-I have a 24" bandsaw that needs a 184" blade at about $300 a pop-but they are amazingly long lived and the quality is great. Another factor that wasn't talked about in the video is how FAST you can cut. If you have a powerful saw, you can literally feed the wood for 'regular' (flat) cuts as fast as you can push it, and it will cut cleanly. Useful for safe ripping and rough cutting.
Thanks for this video. I have finally saved up to buy a 14" resaw capable saw. Was planning on getting high carbon steel blades for resawing. This video is compelling to invest in a carbide blade.
Based on this video I bought a Laguna Resaw King. I haven't used it much when I was resawing a 6" wide piece of figured maple and a carbide tooth came loose and imbedded in the kerf. The tooth that came off then damaged every tooth on the blade. I've ordered a wood slicer blade as a replacement. I agree, carbide lasts nearly forever, unless you lose a tooth, then the blade is toast. I can't take the risk at this time to order a new Resaw King, as much as I loved the performance.
I see your point. No doubt you're right. When the Wood Slicer for my 36" Tannewitz is shot I'll cough up the really big bux for carbide... bet they're over $300 right now.
(I don't do enough resawing to make buying a carbide blade worth considering.... Yet... But I really enjoyed hearing about _real_ experience with those blades. It's always a pleasure to hear from you - - thanks much for another worth-the-time presentation! Enjoyed it as always!)
Great video. I’d love to see you do (another) tutorial on resawing, especially of wider boards like you used in this video. I’ve been struggling to get descent cuts. I suspect I’m not tensioning my blade enough or supporting the boards adequately. I was intrigued to see what I assume was a unique (lime green handle) feather board.
Great follow up to your silent movie, the comments on the silent movie were quite interesting, you had a lot of your viewer wondering what exactly you were trying to get across, myself included. But as usual a couple of super sleuth fan were right on target.
I use a 1" Resawking on my big saw at home, it has been wonderful. We also had a 1/2" Resawking on our resaw machine at our makerspace. It broke, no where near the original weld, so I don't know what happened. So we replaced it with a 3/4". Unfortunately, a small metal shield above the lower guide bearings came loose jamming itself between the blade and bearing. This turned our beautiful blade into something like a potato chip. The kerf cut by these blades is very narrow, so only use them for straight cuts.
Don't overlook the need to keep resin buildup to a minimum. I have a Resaw King carbide blade on my Laguna 14/12. It was getting hard to push a 6"wide board through it, so cleaned the blade with Simple Green and what a difference it made. Like new again!!
Aannd... now I just ordered over 200 worth of guradrit disc's and burrs coming! Thanks for the recommendation. Used your coupon code too thanks for that!
FYI - Highland also sells a carbide blade, but it has a thicker kerf and is more geared to heavy duty use, in my opinion. I do like their woodslicer blades, though. I’ve had good luck with those on cherry, maple, and walnut. Resaw king lasted 4 years for me. I used it for general use, too - and that was a mistake.
I worked as a machinist for several years, started off learning on the mill with HSS endmills. After getting ahold of carbide, it was a night and day difference. The feed rate of carbide, as a guestimate, is roughly 5 times that of HSS. The tool life (sharpness) is much longer too. The only advantage that HSS has over carbide is how HSS tends to dull and carbide likes to break. Carbide breaking usually has to do will tool chatter (or getting dropped on the concrete) but it will also dull over time. I didn't know that carbide tipped bandsaw blades existed, I will have to try one out one day.
My issue with carbide in machining is the tool pressure required. More an issue on the lathe than the mill. Like you, I love carbide end mills. I don't think you can get carbide blades for horizontal saws, or if you can they would be eye watering expensive.
A use a 3/4" Resaw King carbide blade on my Laguna bandsaw and concur. I resaw hardwoods a lot and can run them along the fence with no drift and minimal resurfacing to be done afterwards.
Excellent! As you said; it comes down to how much you use your bandsaw. If you use it a lot, you would probably need two or three HS steel blades to enable you to keep working while your blade(s) are away for sharpening. Then you factor in the hassle, time, and cost of blade changing, packing it up, posting it, etc. That pretty much levels the cost, but you then factor in the frustration of the "can I get one more cut before I change the blade" conumdrum. Finally, you lose the satisfaction that comes with being able to walk up to your machine and know it will perform every time... no brainer really.😃👍
I have a Jet JwBS 14SFX fitted with a 3/4’’ wood slicer blade. I resawed some thick zebra wood into 1/16” veneer and it completely destroyed the blade, all 116 inches and over 400 individual teeth. I had to scrape off the resin, resharpen and reset each tooth. These are not cheap blades and I can’t be replacing them every time I resaw some exotics. Maybe carbide is the way to go.
I've used old metal cutting bandsaw blades in a wood cutting bow saw at work. We had scrubbing pads that we had to cut twice to make them go farther. We scrubbed drains with these, and couldn't reuse them, hence the two cuts of the box. We found that a hacksaw couldn't cut all the way through the box. This is just FYI, and how to get more uses for old blades.
Hola! Thanks for the info and the side by side comparisons. I especially appreciate the cost analysis based on usage from one blade to the other. It will definitely help me when it comes time to purchase my bandsaw and what blade will best suit my shop. Take care and have a good one, Adios! 🖐
Thank you for the video. I recently purchased a Laguna BX18 and I am still learning to use this large machine. I have yet to resaw any material as I do not have a blade for that.
Thanks so much. I have been having all the issues with the steel blade and I was starting to think I could not figure out how to accurately use my band saw. I would get that first few cuts and then the drift and the roughness and the planning. I was barely lucky to get 2 quarter inch pieces out of a 7/8 inch board and the waste…I thought damn, I just can’t work this saw right. I would watch videos of the band saw gurus and they would slice paper thin slices one after the other in perfectly straight cuts and I thought what the hell am I doing wrong. OK too long a story I just wanted to say I don’t feel as crazy and I really appreciate you pointing out all the exact things I struggled with. I’m definitely getting a carbide blade.
I used my Resaw King blade on my Laguna 1412 for a couple of months and it unexpectedly broke. Had no idea about the rewelding service from Laguna, so I gave it to my local woodworking shop. They butchered the rewelding (didn’t charge me though). Back to steel for me. That was all too painful.
I bought a grinder for my angle grinder. It's like a wood rasp in a circle. It doesn't cut as aggressively as the chain grinder. However, I hit the side of my hand. It gave me SERIOUS road rash, but I still have my hand. Sorry I couldn't find the original post. Hope this helps someone
I'm a machinist. My shop uses carbide tipped band saw blades for case hardened, chrome plated steel rods. They typically last 2 weeks for our uses. Carbide in wood will last a very long time.
Great video, I got my first bandsaw and hand to do some fancy JB Weld on it and have only used it a few times, but really got great info from this video.
My carbide saw blade lost two teeth, and then it cracked. I have been sharpening steel blades, it takes a while because the blades are long, but it saves money. It is very easy to sharpen, I just use diamond coated needle files.
Ok. You have given me hope. I just purchased one of these blades. It hasn't even arrived yet. I purchased it for a specific task. Cutting stupid hard wood. Quebracho, or Axebreaker. More than three times harder than hard maple on the Janka scale. I assumed if it did get dull before I finished the job(cutting a bunch of knife scales out of a couple bags of firewood, the only way I could find this wood) well I could then get it resharpened. But THEN (after ordering) I find out there is noone to resharpen. Not even Laguna will resharpen their own blades anymore. And Laguna claims they had to invent/modify a diamond wheel sharpener especially for these varied angles. But maybe, if the blades are as durable as you say, I will finish my job before the blade itself is finished. Kinda gets my goat about Laguna though. They claim they are having machine issues and parts issues that require them to stop resharpening service. But they still make the blades, so they are still sharpening. I guess they just want to join the society of disposable parts manufacturers. Selling blades pays more than sharpening blades.
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so what your saying is, they are more likely to break than dull? I mean if I needed one that bad I would make the investment, sound advice its good to know what options are out there
What was the lime green feather board resaw guide thing used? I want one of those.
@@AubreyMobley I have one of them too. It is the "Guide PRO Bandsaw Guide," made by BOW Products. It is 6" tall, and there is an optional 4" extension to give you a 10" total height for the feather. They work very nicely.
The inventor of carbide tipped tools, Fred Clas, passed away 12/11/21 at the age of 99. I know this because he was my Grandfather and this was just one of his inventions -or in this case perfections from failed attempts just before he figured it out as a machinist apprentice just before WWII. I've been watching your for years but I still come across material I've missed like this one today. Anyway... just a neat thing to share. He was quite the guy as you may imagine.
So sorry for your families’ loss. His contribution is most appreciated!
That’s an awesome legacy.
I know others have mentioned this before, but it's very refreshing hearing someone who is well spoken and clearly puts some preparation into their presentation/what they are going to say. It's crazy how much more useful information can be squeezed in when superfluous language like "um" is not utilized. It's also much smoother and more flowing making it easier to understand. Seems like a small difference, but I think it's key especially in an educational setting.
i agree 100%
That said, I miss his old humor.
I love stumpy but I always end up in a puddle of tool drool.
@@pleappleappleap I thought lasers was funny.
Umm, well said.
I was attempting to resaw a piece of Gorgeous mystery hardwood I'd purchased from my exotic hardwood dealer (he couldn't identify it, and neither could any other hardwood dealers in my area). All we knew is that it was ungodly heavy for the dimensions, and it "rang" like a frigging bell when we rapped on it with a big wrench. I had just purchased a new bandsaw, and the new blade it came with might have gotten about 10" of cut in a board no more than 5" tall on edge, before it was hopelessly smoked. That's no big deal... nobody ships a new unit with a Good blade on it, so I spent a lot of money for a good, steel, 3/4" wide resaw blade from a very reputable company that sells these things via catalog and online (I may have seen one of their catalogs in hand, on this video...). That blade lasted about another 15" worth of cutting before it too was dulled beyond belief! So far, I've accomplished just a smidgen over 2' of cut, and my board is 8' long X 3" thick X 5" wide, and I had planned on getting at least 4 planks out of it... Long story short, I bit the bullet and ordered a carbide tipped resaw blade. It cut all 4 planks, with no discernible wear, and I've been using it for 6 years now without any need for a resharpening! I too, will never Waste my money on a steel blade!!!
If you do much cutting of valuable exotic tropical hardwoods carbide is the way to go.
On my horizontal band resaw I cut 1/8" Cocobolo veneer and start to sand with 120 grit sandpaper.
Thanks for posting and also to James for this video. I have a fair amount of exotic wood that I have just started to resaw into 1/8” veneer and am struggling with the saw blade getting dull quickly. This is the answer. Thanks!
I thought my expensive band saw was junk. Then I watched this video and purchased a carbide tip saw blade. Suddenly my band saw became a great asset. Thank you
I have a Laguna 14" SUV and purchased a 125" Carbide Resaw King blade for it. I cut several samples to test the blade and quality of cuts. My best cut was 2" x 12" by .015" thick. My woodworking friends would not believe I cut the veneer with a bandsaw blade. What you need to know is, a carbide blade is ground on 3 surfaces and the kerf is created by the thickness of the carbide brazed to the steel blade. Because of the side grinds on the carbide teeth, the blade cuts very smooth with no teeth marks in my samples. Because the Laguna blade guides touch 8 lines of contact on the blade, the blade is held very straight. The saw and blade cost a lot, but you get what you pay for.
As a side note, James has two Harvey bandsaws in his shop and speaks highly of them. Harvey is the maker of my Laguna 14" SUV bandsaw equipped with the Laguna ceramic 8 line contact blade guides.
I agree with everything James points out about carbide tipped resawing bandsaw blades.
Straight, carbide-tipped, talk. I expect that in this channel (even when it IS sponsored). Over several years now, I have NEVER been disappointed. There is no channel that is more valuable to me and the activities in my little shop.
Another point on safety to consider is that as they dull people tend to apply more pressure into the cut. This increases the chance of an uncontrolled jump at the end of a cut and your hand could lunge toward the blade. It only takes a split second for an amputation. There is an old saying that you are more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife than a sharp one. Thumbs up for safety! :) Love your videos, keep em coming! :)
People just can't help getting dull.
I use a carbide Re-saw King on my Laguna 14/12 mainly for cutting bowl blanks. I was slicing a 12" thick Cherry log in half and only after I finished the cut and opened the piece up did I realize that I hit 3 old 16d nails. I inspected the blade and found 1 tooth missing. I'm still using that same blade 9 months later, and it is still doing great!
I thought my expensive band saw was junk until I took your advice and purchased a carbide tipped blade. The band saw is now a great asset. Thanks.
Now this is the video I was expecting!
I’m not a woodworker, but I like watching knowledgeable craftsmen ply their trade.
I taught my daughters to resaw when they were 14 as part of fabrication and woodworking for something to do in between modeling and dance and softball and school. They have scratch built go karts mini bikes and lots of shop tools. They really liked resawing and when '19 hit they were resawing veneers and stuff for projects at home from reclaimed wood. Then 2020 lumber prices happened and they started volunteering to do demo work and being paid in old lumber. Started selling wood to grey hairs at reasonable prices and selling old growth stuff and exotic veneers (they now have a "lumber guy" I'm so proud) at OUTLANDISH prices to hipster makers and woodworkers for tables and beard holders or whatever they make. Now they are around 17 and both own 2019 model year very nice cars and they have a 2020 pick they split the cost of for work. They have I think 6 bandsaws now they use daily and they switched to carbide and they haven't had to replace or sharpen one yet. Having a really good metal detector helps here I would hate to see what a nail would do to a carbide blade but that's why they keep HSS blades on hand as well I guess (their knowledge of resaw is so far past me now it's beautiful).
Anyway short story long they swear by carbide and they resaw literally for a living. I'm so proud of my girls, who have 0 reason to work and were basically spoiled rotten their whole life material goods wise at least, decided to take up a hobby and make a damn fine living from it all before they graduated high school. I always made them do chores around the property, hell it's 6,000acres if you want to play on it kids ya gotta help it's too much for me, and taught them "work has value" but always just bought them what they wanted game consoles clothing all that and was going to do the same with a car and they were aware but took it upon themselves to change their trajectory in life.
I guess they didn't want to travel the world running construction jobs like dad and with mom not in the picture wanted to "help out". But hell they keep my household lol when I'm gone they feed the animals or pay help to have it done out of their pocket. Sorry I'm just rambling away, the holidays are rough when I think about their mother and how grown these girls have gotten
Cheers man merry Christmas thanks for the story I enjoyed reading it sounds like you've done a good job raising your girls.
@@JDeWittDIY Cheers! My kids bought me a freaking jet ski for Christmas! They wanted it to be a surprise but it got delivered while they were out scouting a couple trees they are interested in dropping and well someone had to sign!
oh i see how proud you are! amazing job on guiding people to their happy place in life! cheers
@@leoleoleonor hard not to be proud! Raised my little darling assholes not to be my friend but to be people I would respect when they are in their 20's ya know.
If more people felt that way about raising their churdlens I feel the world would end up better for it
I picked up one of these king blades when I bought my Laguna bandsaw and haven’t looked back. I general get a smooth face after resawing. Dude knows what he’s talking about.
Perfect timing for this video, I am looking at upgrading my bandsaw as I have gotten into making flag cases and only use rough cut lumber. The extra cost of a carbide blade will actually save me money in the increased yield from the wood saved.
Bavo! Your explanations are so clear and complete. They are a pleasure to hear.
Today my new 160” Laguna blade arrived and immediately got put into service. My concerns were allayed in the first cut!
My bandsaw is now back to “favorite power tool”, a place it had been forced to yield to my
Robland combination a year ago.
Some thirty years ago an article in
Fine Woodworking convinced me that the bandsaw was all I really needed and until the
Robland showed up a year ago, I got along fine. I hate the loss of floor space necessary to use a table saw properly!
So, even though I had made peace with a more crowded shop with a nice table saw, I’m very pleased with the increased utility of my bandsaw with the carbide tipped blade. Thanks James for your logical discussion. I owe you, buddy.
Two years later after I attempted my first 13" resaw on a 40" long piece of sapelle on my Harvey C14, I remembered this video. Luckily, I'll be able to salvage the two mangled pieces after a design change, but a Resaw King is on order. Thanks again for the great advice, James!
Thank you, good explanation. I am a professional machinist cutting stainless steel every day. The shop generally supplies high speed steel end mills, but I request carbide end mills and these cut two to four times faster, running at a higher RPM in the machine, while also lasting much longer, a year or more in daily use and basically never wear out with occasional use. I do have to be careful because a part that vibrates during cutting can break the carbide cutter while high speed steel is more resistant to vibration. The band saw should not have this problem since the carbide is just the little cutting teeth, most of the blade is still steel.
Here I thought maybe I was doing something wrong. I had just bought a used Delta 16" band saw a few weeks ago and been busy playing with resawing a whole slew of different woods. The used blade that came with it broke after just a few slices, the second one I ordered new cut like butter for maybe 7 or 8 cuts before I found myself really trying to steer my board straight and snapped the blade. I'm on my third now and already it wanders all over. Thanks for all the great info and giving me something to look into. Take care and stay warm.
I have HSS blades that I have used for re-sawing hardwoods (not oaks). I can typically get about 200 linear feet through 8" wide boards before I notice degradation in cutting.
Either something is very wrong with how you set up the saw, or you are buying really crappy blade (or both).
See if you can find a copy of The Bandsaw Book from Taunton Press. Most of the advice you will get online is bad.
Great explanation of why sometimes the least expensive item ends up being the most expensive, and does a poor job.
@Timbo Dewabem Carbide is better at everything.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve got some excellent cheap tools, and some hideously expensive tools that are still worth the expense. Finding out whether or not to spring for the expensive option… always better to let someone else figure that out on their dime, as long as you trust their judgment.
Based on your video I ordered a carbide tooth blade. It took over ten weeks to arrive but it is now in my bandsaw. Wow, I Cut a 1/8thx6x20 piece off of a 1x6x20 pine board. Fast, straight, beautiful. Your information is much appreciated.
I put a 1.25" Resaw King on my 18" Laguna bandsaw when I purchased the saw. Its an absolutely great blade! Well worth the investment!!
An additional benefit is the finer surface finish that you will get from a carbide tipped bandsawblade. Some furniture makers will use a non-set style carbide tipped blade to eliminate the sanding needed after using a set style bimetal HSS blade.
Been using these blades for a while now, as I resaw logs. Worth every penny spent...I recently replaced my old Craftsman/Delta band saw with a Laguna 1412 and slapped a 3/4" Resaw King on it. Hot knife through butter.
I have three different blades that are the wrong size but cannot be returned because I procrastinated! This is very timely for me, I'm switching to carbide! Thank you!
I'm not even a woodworker, but I love your videos. You're very clear and explain things incredibly well.
I have a 14” bandsaw set up for resawing and early on I came to the realization that steel blades do not last. I am constantly resawing hardwoods and the occasional soft wood. Carbide tipped blades are great and I have amazed other woodworkers with the consistency that the blades offer. What I appreciate I’d that you pointed out the sharpening potential of a used blade. Thank you for creating this video. My question to woodworkers is how many times do you want to spend your money on blades for resawing?
Very good advice! This goes for anything that is priced higher, which doesn't just mean it's better but you have to consider how much you'll use that product.
Loving your videos, really great stuff!
As always, great info! Knowing what you are doing for your project is key to the tool to use. I like the ending "No these are not for curve cutting, just resawing." Kind of brings you back if you having a wandering mind like mine.
I have a jet 14” with a 13” resaw had no idea they made carbide tip blades , you gave me a reason to spend money, I do a fair amount of resawing
I do a lot of resawing on my 18 inch General and the Wood slicer from Highland is all I use.
Been there in person to interview and talk to the WOOD SLICER (Highland Hardware- ATL) and Laguna folks. They both make exceptional quality blades. So which to choose: You have trees you mill and turn into treasure? WOOD SLICER is more forgiving in my experience on a Laguna 18" BX. Have some exotic hardwood slab you want to turn into veneer? The Resaw King is hard to beat with it's carbide teeth. Takes some adjusting, but man does it cut straight and just go for days. Thanks again JAMES for some no -nonsense, just cut to the chase woodworking wisdom.
Agreed. Several years ago I got one for my 14" Delta bandsaw. The first cut I made looked like it came from a sander. It was expensive though. A bit over $200 as I recall. But for the smooth surface and dead straight cut it was worth it to me. James, thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.
Thanks for the great info, James. I'm about 80 linear feet at an average of 6" resawing into my first ResawKing blade on my 14" Grizzly G0555xh (12" resaw without riser). I was doing 6" resawing on walnut and cherry this morning and the surface quality has been great. Used to leave at least 1/8" on each surface to make sure I could plane/sand/CNC down to final dimensions. I had one board that was really close to being too thin to use, but I cut the gap down to 1/16th and was able to get the pieces I needed out of it. It's kinda funny how little it takes to claim a victory some days. I've been using Woodslicer blades in the past and was always happy with them, but I'll be sticking with ResawKing blades for resawing going forward.
Good video James. I use 18” Timber Wolf silicon blades but I also have one of their 1” carbide blades. I don’t remember how much I paid for it but I have had it for about 12 years and it see a lot of use and haven’t had to sharpen it yet. Totally agree on using carbide blades.
Carbide is a game changer overall!
I remember my first Diablo reciprocating saw carbide blade Came in a pack as a bonus blade. It took me about six months to finally have something to use it on, but I sawed through a cast-iron radiator six times (At the thickest point which was a 1-3/4 circle with a 3/8” wall) with one blade and a battery powered reciprocating saw. We Need it to get the radiator out of the house, but we had forgotten the renovation was over. The only way to get it out of the house was cut it up, are 9” grinder just wouldn’t work. My coworker brought me home, I picked up the blade, we went back and it took around 3-6 minutes to make all six cuts. That was the first time we had ever witnessed a carbide reciprocating saw Blade, and the first time they had seen one. And it felt good because they were all telling me (because they’re 10 years older than me) you can’t cut through that with a reciprocating saw blade. Those old dogs learned a new trick that day!
Thank you Stumpy!
I ordered a new Laguna resaw blade. The price was $149, but the resharpening and welding service sold me. I have a broken carbide blade I got a couple of years ago, but couldn't find anyone that would welt it for me. This takes away the fear of it happening again.
Youre videos are supreme. I watch them all even if its not related to a subject I'm interested in at the time because they are all chalk full of clear, concise information.
If you really want to test the metal (no pun intended), of the carbide resaw blades, try splitting 3/4" Ipe (Brazilian Walnut), into 3/8" strips. I had the occasion to build some lattice for a pergola on the water. Due to it's similarity to Teak and it's durability under foot as high-end decking, I chose the Ipe, not knowing it's hardness. It dulled a new set of planer knives, every carbide saw blade, and it twisted the end off of a solid carbide (3/8"), spiral, down cut router bit, like it was made of glass.
I had always heard that Ironwood was hard, and popular for old bearings in early machinery, but the Ipe makes Ironwood look soft. Indifferent to the bandsaw blades and as an aside, the dust from sanding is unique as well, it is an irritant to the skin and will burn you when you sweat, and turns blood red when you attempt to wash it off. Given those two together, pretty unnerving the first time you work with it.
@@cchavezjr7 as far as I know Ironwood is Ironwood. But the wood that we call Ironwood (blue beech) where I'm from is a smallish tree (about the size of a mature apple tree), smooth greenish Grey bark/skin, with a sinewy knarled appearance (if it were muscle you would say it was cut/buff). The wood itself is white with no visible grain, and when dry is hard to the point of sounding akin to rock when either struck or dropped on a hard surface.
As I said old timey people in the area would use it for bushings/bearings on shafted farm implements, I've seen it used as pillowblock bearings on agricultural pumps, and marine bearings due to it's resistance to swelling in water. And I've seen a few Iron shafts worn down while the Ironwood bearings look like new.
Now, my experience with Ironwood is only with old stock (in service before I was born), and that was never having to shape it with power tools, but by weight and feel the Ipe is harder. Add to that the consumables used building my project.
Did a little research: Australian Ironwood has a Janka hardness of 5060,
Ipe (Brazilian Walnut) has a Janka hardness of 3680,
Though Ipe is in a different family of wood, When the term "Ironwood" is used as a classification, Ipe is considered an Ironwood. Ipewoods.com/resources
Janka hardnesses:
Ipe (Brazilian Walnut): 3510
Desert Ironwood: 3260
Lignum Vitae (for reference): 4390
White Poplar (for reference): 410
Ipe and Ironwood are pretty close in hardness. I've never tried to work with Ipe, but Desert Ironwood is pretty darn tough (The "Desert Ironwood" I refer to is the Ironwood that grows in southern Arizona). I bought some Lignum Vitae (just to see what it's like) and holy cow that stuff is tough. It's fun to drop in a bucket of water and watch it plummet straight to the bottom :)
@@jasonwood7340 as I said, I didn't pull the numbers I listed out of thin air. Looked up the numbers I referenced online. Though several sites had varying numbers, they were in close proximity. As stated "Australian" Ironwood had the hardest "Janka" rating at 5060, and Ipe was listed in the top 10 hardest woods.
As to my comment, I stand by what I said; that Ipe is by far the hardest wood I have worked with. My primary comparison had to do with "solid carbide bandsaw blades", and my "solid carbide router bit" that was destroyed by a piece of Ipe. If you don't agree, that's fine. I was speaking based on experience not opinion!
I get the pun but you know it's meddle right lol
And don't bother, all miter and circular saw blades that aren't complete garbage are all carbide tipped and I go through a high quality Freud blade a day on an Ipe deck....Ipe will eat a carbide bandsaw blade the same as it will eat a carbide circular saw blade...ipe is around 5k Janka hardness which when you compare to a Brinell metal hardness test is pretty damn close to the hardness of Pure Aluminum
Its basically metal....and it's toxic...and the splinters are the absolute worst thing you'll ever experience as a woodworker, basically guaranteed to fester
I love the way ipe looks, but Jesus is it a nightmare to work with lol
maybe that is why people tend to chose bi-metal blades and bits so they arent quite so brittle. its not just for cost savings though you do save a lot. a bit of spring steel with a carbide tip might survive when straight carbide will not.. and finish the cut
Yes, I now only re-saw using carbide tipped. Defiantly worth the price. I have an old 16" 2116 Makita resaw, ( Great saw but not made since the early 80s, I believe) I tried many brands and was frustrated with cut quality and blade durability. The first time I tried a Re-saw King it cut beautifully, no wandering and very smooth cut surface.
I use timber wolf blades, I use a 1/2 inch for re-sawing works great! I have a Grizzly 17 inch band saw and I have used this blade for 3 years re-sawing thousands of board feet. Still working fine.
Very timely message. I don’t have much bandsaw experience. Thanks for your channel
I have been using Timberwolf carbide for sometime. I live in Western Australia and our local hardwoods are hard and have a high amount of silica. Carbide blade are the best option I have found.
Love you channel
I have a 3 HP Laguna 14 SUV saw that is dedicated to resawing various woods for guitar making, including some of the hardest, densest rosewoods and ebonies. I outfitted the saw with a 3/4" Resaw King blade. As you said, even though I've probably pushed a mile or two of ten inch wide boards through this saw, cutting slices as thin as 3/64", that blade just keeps on cutting! I had it resharpened once in five years. I actually bought two of these blades when I bought the saw, so I'd have one for backup, and the second one is still in its original packaging.
The only things I would add to your comments is, it is ESSENTIAL to make sure your saw is very accurately set up and true, and corrected for drift, if you want to get that much mileage out of a Resaw King blade. And- Laguna advises you to loosen the quick-release tensioner on the saw after use, to extend the blade life. I'm skeptical of that idea; I leave mine under working tension all the time, because it just seems logical to me that repeated changes in blade tension will cause metal fatigue, and actually shorten the life of the steel band. James, what's your opinion on this?
Thanks a million for your videos! You are my Oracle, and source of all woodworking wisdom, and I love your channel!
I bought a laguna carbide blade for my delta 14 inch band saw and I really liked it did I really need it probly not but I do have a project coming up that it would work great for and I'll say it cuts beautiful.
Thank you again for another great explanation about a very troublesome topic! Your explanation of the loss of performance with hss was so good.
This guy is a proper craftsman
I have a Grizzly 17” bandsaw and put a 131.5” Lennox carbide blade on it. First of all, that thing is scary sharp and due all the respect you should give it. Push sticks and push pads are a must if you want to retain your fingers! The cut quality is excellent and durability is very good. I mainly resaw oak and softer hackberry. If one shops around at the resaw blade sellers website, you can find good blades at reasonable prices. I think I paid around $150 for mine.
I do a lot of re-sawing so yes it makes perfect sense me buying carbide blades
Amen! I recently upgraded the blades I've used for the last 18 years with some Swedish Silicon blades that are twice+ what I was paying...indeed, you get what you pay for.
I had no idea they did rewording. thanks for the info. love the laguna resew blades. but I did break one after a lot of heavy hard wood resew jobs. I felt even buying a new one I was really pleased with the cut quality thru at least a hundred cut and still clean cuts coming off.
I bought a Laguna resaw King 115" x 3/4" blade based on this video. It worked extremely well when new, but after resawing about 100 ft. x 8" maple and poplar, it started drifting to the point it was unusable. I'm going to get it resharpened and see what happens. I think the time between resharpening is only a few weeks for an active shop. I still agree that carbide is better, a steel blade dulls after one or two maple resaws, in my experience.
I got my Laguna 18BX a couple of months ago and have been milling logs with a cheap 1.25" blade. I took your advice and got Laguna's Resaw King 1.25" carbide blade (I initially balked at the price) and all I can say is wow! I am very impressed and the fact that I can justify going from $35 to $160 is a big thing for a cheapo like me :p. I'm hoping for a long usage life as well.
I have a 14” Laguna bandsaw, I.tried the Resaw King three times,. One blade had a bad weld and had to be returned. On both of the other two blades I had teeth eventually break off and the last blade actually stripped off a series off teeth. Possibly if you can afford a dedicated resaw bandsaw and can leave rage blade in place it may work great. I have one bandsaw and have to change blades, the teeth are so fragile I imagine this contributed to the teeth chipping. FYI, I have been woodworking for over 40 years. I now use Woodslicer blades.
For my needs and budget, I could not afford to buy a carbide blade, though I do have one on my table saw which gets more use than the bandsaw. But, soooo worth the investment in a production shop. The blades I buy for the 14" bandsaw I have cost between $20-60. If I do decide to start resawing my own wood and start selling the items I make, then I may invest in a carbide resaw blade. But for now, the high-speed Timber Wolf blade I just bought for $35.00 will do. I love seeing your videos!
I forget the brand (not Laguna) but I bought a 1/2" carbide blade for my 14" Jet a few years ago and it's still awesome. Admittedly, I don't do as much resawing as you do but I also highly recommend them.
Concur. Spot on in fact. I have both the Wood Slicer and the Laguna 1” blade. Out of the box (and after retreading the Laguna), the carbide bit excelled. The higher priced Laguna cuts extremely smooth and I could get paper thin cuts whereas the excellent value priced Wood Slicer blade had blade marks that had to be sanded out. I found that the carbide blade cut better overall and could be resharpened at a reasonable cost (although it took time to mail it in and have it returned), relegating my Wood Slicer to a backup role.
Good to know. Definitely convinced me to invest in a carbide blade. I’ll skip Laguna products though. I’ve used 4 of their machines in commercial and private shops. Not impressed.
Not a great fan of Laguna, but viewers should know that there are other good carbide sources as well. Lenox Trimaster and woodmaster carbide blades are the selection of many pro shops. They aren't cheap either-I have a 24" bandsaw that needs a 184" blade at about $300 a pop-but they are amazingly long lived and the quality is great. Another factor that wasn't talked about in the video is how FAST you can cut. If you have a powerful saw, you can literally feed the wood for 'regular' (flat) cuts as fast as you can push it, and it will cut cleanly. Useful for safe ripping and rough cutting.
Thanks for this video. I have finally saved up to buy a 14" resaw capable saw. Was planning on getting high carbon steel blades for resawing. This video is compelling to invest in a carbide blade.
Based on this video I bought a Laguna Resaw King. I haven't used it much when I was resawing a 6" wide piece of figured maple and a carbide tooth came loose and imbedded in the kerf. The tooth that came off then damaged every tooth on the blade. I've ordered a wood slicer blade as a replacement.
I agree, carbide lasts nearly forever, unless you lose a tooth, then the blade is toast. I can't take the risk at this time to order a new Resaw King, as much as I loved the performance.
I've never experienced that. Either way, why wouldn't you just send it back and get it replaced under warranty?
I see your point. No doubt you're right. When the Wood Slicer for my 36" Tannewitz is shot I'll cough up the really big bux for carbide... bet they're over $300 right now.
(I don't do enough resawing to make buying a carbide blade worth considering.... Yet... But I really enjoyed hearing about _real_ experience with those blades. It's always a pleasure to hear from you - - thanks much for another worth-the-time presentation! Enjoyed it as always!)
Great video. I’d love to see you do (another) tutorial on resawing, especially of wider boards like you used in this video. I’ve been struggling to get descent cuts. I suspect I’m not tensioning my blade enough or supporting the boards adequately. I was intrigued to see what I assume was a unique (lime green handle) feather board.
Great follow up to your silent movie, the comments on the silent movie were quite interesting, you had a lot of your viewer wondering what exactly you were trying to get across, myself included. But as usual a couple of super sleuth fan were right on target.
I use a 1" Resawking on my big saw at home, it has been wonderful. We also had a 1/2" Resawking on our resaw machine at our makerspace. It broke, no where near the original weld, so I don't know what happened. So we replaced it with a 3/4". Unfortunately, a small metal shield above the lower guide bearings came loose jamming itself between the blade and bearing. This turned our beautiful blade into something like a potato chip. The kerf cut by these blades is very narrow, so only use them for straight cuts.
Don't overlook the need to keep resin buildup to a minimum. I have a Resaw King carbide blade on my Laguna 14/12. It was getting hard to push a 6"wide board through it, so cleaned the blade with Simple Green and what a difference it made. Like new again!!
Aannd... now I just ordered over 200 worth of guradrit disc's and burrs coming! Thanks for the recommendation. Used your coupon code too thanks for that!
FYI - Highland also sells a carbide blade, but it has a thicker kerf and is more geared to heavy duty use, in my opinion. I do like their woodslicer blades, though. I’ve had good luck with those on cherry, maple, and walnut. Resaw king lasted 4 years for me. I used it for general use, too - and that was a mistake.
I worked as a machinist for several years, started off learning on the mill with HSS endmills. After getting ahold of carbide, it was a night and day difference. The feed rate of carbide, as a guestimate, is roughly 5 times that of HSS. The tool life (sharpness) is much longer too. The only advantage that HSS has over carbide is how HSS tends to dull and carbide likes to break. Carbide breaking usually has to do will tool chatter (or getting dropped on the concrete) but it will also dull over time.
I didn't know that carbide tipped bandsaw blades existed, I will have to try one out one day.
My issue with carbide in machining is the tool pressure required. More an issue on the lathe than the mill. Like you, I love carbide end mills.
I don't think you can get carbide blades for horizontal saws, or if you can they would be eye watering expensive.
A use a 3/4" Resaw King carbide blade on my Laguna bandsaw and concur. I resaw hardwoods a lot and can run them along the fence with no drift and minimal resurfacing to be done afterwards.
Excellent! As you said; it comes down to how much you use your bandsaw. If you use it a lot, you would probably need two or three HS steel blades to enable you to keep working while your blade(s) are away for sharpening. Then you factor in the hassle, time, and cost of blade changing, packing it up, posting it, etc. That pretty much levels the cost, but you then factor in the frustration of the "can I get one more cut before I change the blade" conumdrum. Finally, you lose the satisfaction that comes with being able to walk up to your machine and know it will perform every time... no brainer really.😃👍
Good video, I’ll try a carbide blade. I use broken blades to make Chinese saws, no waste.
When it comes to blades, I’ve found you get what you pay for. That goes for most woodworking tools.
I feel like I've seen a must shorter version of the before from stumpy nubs 😂 this one is much better thank you.
I have a Jet JwBS 14SFX fitted with a 3/4’’ wood slicer blade. I resawed some thick zebra wood into 1/16” veneer and it completely destroyed the blade, all 116 inches and over 400 individual teeth. I had to scrape off the resin, resharpen and reset each tooth. These are not cheap blades and I can’t be replacing them every time I resaw some exotics. Maybe carbide is the way to go.
I've used old metal cutting bandsaw blades in a wood cutting bow saw at work. We had scrubbing pads that we had to cut twice to make them go farther. We scrubbed drains with these, and couldn't reuse them, hence the two cuts of the box. We found that a hacksaw couldn't cut all the way through the box. This is just FYI, and how to get more uses for old blades.
Great info. Thanks for the honest feedback and opinion based on your experience.
You have answered the question for me, *2 yrs & I guess I`ll stay with steel
Really appreciate your delivery and knowledge. Very informative and useful! Always a student of tour videos. Thank you.
Love this channel James...honest opinions and tons of great content 🎯✔️
Hola! Thanks for the info and the side by side comparisons. I especially appreciate the cost analysis based on usage from one blade to the other. It will definitely help me when it comes time to purchase my bandsaw and what blade will best suit my shop. Take care and have a good one, Adios! 🖐
Thank you for the video. I recently purchased a Laguna BX18 and I am still learning to use this large machine. I have yet to resaw any material as I do not have a blade for that.
Even when it's stuff I. Can only dream of using the info is good to know. Thanks.
I am a custom Luthier . I tried the Laguna carbide, I just don't like the wide kerf. Wood slicers are my go to blade.
Thanks so much. I have been having all the issues with the steel blade and I was starting to think I could not figure out how to accurately use my band saw. I would get that first few cuts and then the drift and the roughness and the planning. I was barely lucky to get 2 quarter inch pieces out of a 7/8 inch board and the waste…I thought damn, I just can’t work this saw right. I would watch videos of the band saw gurus and they would slice paper thin slices one after the other in perfectly straight cuts and I thought what the hell am I doing wrong. OK too long a story I just wanted to say I don’t feel as crazy and I really appreciate you pointing out all the exact things I struggled with. I’m definitely getting a carbide blade.
I used my Resaw King blade on my Laguna 1412 for a couple of months and it unexpectedly broke. Had no idea about the rewelding service from Laguna, so I gave it to my local woodworking shop. They butchered the rewelding (didn’t charge me though). Back to steel for me. That was all too painful.
I’ve never been able to resaw anything with any success. Today I learned there are carbide toothed blades. Maybe that’ll help. Thanks!
They keys to resawing are good bandsaw setup and a sharp blade.
ok, its 1 a.m. and i have now aquired some knowledge in the pros and cons of bandsaws.
Wait until you learn about nails... ua-cam.com/video/7rwcGXIORro/v-deo.html
I bought a grinder for my angle grinder. It's like a wood rasp in a circle. It doesn't cut as aggressively as the chain grinder. However, I hit the side of my hand. It gave me SERIOUS road rash, but I still have my hand.
Sorry I couldn't find the original post. Hope this helps someone
Thank you for your honest review.
I'm a machinist. My shop uses carbide tipped band saw blades for case hardened, chrome plated steel rods.
They typically last 2 weeks for our uses.
Carbide in wood will last a very long time.
great info.....will give the carbide a shot
Great video, I got my first bandsaw and hand to do some fancy JB Weld on it and have only used it a few times, but really got great info from this video.
Great info and timing. I'm on the market for a new bandsaw and might as well get a proper blade to go with it.
My carbide saw blade lost two teeth, and then it cracked. I have been sharpening steel blades, it takes a while because the blades are long, but it saves money. It is very easy to sharpen, I just use diamond coated needle files.
Ok. You have given me hope. I just purchased one of these blades. It hasn't even arrived yet. I purchased it for a specific task. Cutting stupid hard wood. Quebracho, or Axebreaker. More than three times harder than hard maple on the Janka scale. I assumed if it did get dull before I finished the job(cutting a bunch of knife scales out of a couple bags of firewood, the only way I could find this wood) well I could then get it resharpened. But THEN (after ordering) I find out there is noone to resharpen. Not even Laguna will resharpen their own blades anymore. And Laguna claims they had to invent/modify a diamond wheel sharpener especially for these varied angles. But maybe, if the blades are as durable as you say, I will finish my job before the blade itself is finished.
Kinda gets my goat about Laguna though. They claim they are having machine issues and parts issues that require them to stop resharpening service. But they still make the blades, so they are still sharpening.
I guess they just want to join the society of disposable parts manufacturers. Selling blades pays more than sharpening blades.
Really well presented and informative. I'm out tomorrow to buy a carbide saw blade!! (and I don't even own a band saw!)