# band mill blades



## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

as i have been doing my research on saws i can't help but notice they all claim to have the best blades and if they don't they reffer you to purchase woodmizer blades. i am very much a novice to the sawmill arena and was wondering if anyone had any imput on blades and more specificly sharpening them. i have noticed that norwood offeres the cheapest shapening/setting system. price can sometimes reflect the quality of a product is this the case with the norwood sharpening system? or would i be ok to purchase their product?


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

As to blades themselves, it's subjective. That's why you have so many blade manufacturers, because different millers get different results with different blades. My blade of choice is Munksforsaagen (aka monkey) and I buy them from Kenne-saw supply. 

I eventually had a cam made and converted a bunch of woodmizer blades to the monkey profile. I was recently told that Timberwolf blades have the same profile as Monkey blades but that the alloy has more whatever in it that keeps them sharper longer even than monkey blade. I don't know how true that is. 

As to resharpening, buy your own equipment (if you'll be sawing a LOT - do the math to decide this) or have another sawyer do them for you. Woodmizer resharp will never get my business again. My rejects went from averaging ~15% to about 2% after I quit using them. 

Can't tell you nothing about the Norwood resharp setup, but Cooks is known to have quality sharpening and setting equipment.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

I have called my local sharpening shop and they don't sharpen bandmill blades. What is the average cost to sharpen band mill blades? how often do they need to be resharpened under normal wear and tear?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I run a "full service" sharpening shop...I send my own bands out to be sharpened :huh:, noone local does it here either. Since I don't mill full time if I bought the right equipment to set/sharpen sawmill blades as well as someone who specializes in it I would have to work those tools too to get my money back sharpening for other people. That quite simply cuts into my milling time and the other sharpening that I do. I personally use this guy http://www.jordansbandsaw.com/ If I send them a dozen at a time it averages around $8 a band shipping included, I really can't afford to do them myself for that considering my labor.(and initial tool investment) He has fast turn around and so far I am most pleased with his work than any other service I have sent them to (that's not an ad for the guy, but credit where credit is due)

You might as well plan on buying a few dozen bands, you are going to need them even as a weekend warrior. Like I said I only mill part time and probably have 150 (?) that are still usable, 50 or so of which are set/sharp ready to go.

As far as how long they last it depends on the wood you are milling. With a manual mill like yours (and mine) something like cherry/walnut you can go all day on the same blade. Hard maple, not as long...hickory for example even less. And too the kind of blade you are using. I also use Munks like TT mentioned, I switched a few years ago and found they seem to last quite abit longer (noticeably longer) for not that much more money.

But there is always the variables...you are going to mill some yard trees too right ? I have wrecked 3 bands on a single log before :furious:


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

Awesome thanks for the info. i will order some new blades some time this week once i get em i will send in my old ones. any suggestions on how to ship them effectively?


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

I've used Norwood blades and their Goldline are pretty good. Their most recent heavy duty sharpener and setter are getting good reviews but I haven't tried them. Like Daren, I can't get past the price of the sharpener.

Norwood doesn't offer a sharpening service. We thought we got lucky when we found a Amish guy within driving distance to sharpen our blades. After using him for a while we started searching again. Too many freshly sharpened blades were wandering and he was losing interest in getting them turned around quick So we tried Cooks and I'm impressed. By and large, we found we could push a Cooks-sharpened blade after it starts getting dull and it will usually track true. I credit this to them running every band, wheather it needs it or not, through a band roller to get rid of any crown. Their setting seem to miss fewer teeth resulting in most bands not leaving and tooth marks. Their service also runs ~$8.00/band including shipping. We did have a slow turn around on the first batch. But they attributed that to an excessive Spring rush.

We tried Cook's Super Sharp bands also. They were sharp (cut myself on the first one then destroyed it on the first cut by hitting a log post) and a good price but there is so little tooth protruding from the band body that it concerns me that we'll get fewer sharpenings. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong?


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

I will be milling any log i can get my hands on. i have been keeping notes on locations of log piles in and around my area. (i travel a lot for trugreen) so far i have located 6-8 piles of logs each seeming to consist of 10-20 logs each. i won't know where they came from till i get ahold of the owners. i found out who owns two of the piles today and will call them tomorrow.

does anyone know if norwood blades will fit my woodmizer LT15. part of the reason i was looking at norwood saws to begin with was because they have an inexpensive sharpening system compared to other manufacturers. if i could use there blades i would just buy their sharpener and setter. i know that the system is expensive but i plan on owning my machine for a long time to come and it will pay off for me eventually i'm sure.

i used to run a wenig moulding machine making gallery quality picture frames. i was also responsible for sharpening/making the cutter knives for the machine. i think that sharpining band mill blades would utilize my experience in this area. has any one attempted to sharpen their own blades if so how did it go?

oh btw i will post pics of my first boards this weekend. my whole setup is at my dads house and i won't be back there til sat afternoon.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

greg4269ub said:


> . has any one attempted to sharpen their own blades if so how did it go?
> 
> .


Rodney Sinclair showed how he does it http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f26/1-stone-8873/ It looks like it would work to me assuming a guy knows how to keep the wheel dressed to the proper profile. I rigged up an old Foley Belsaw chainsaw sharpener (I have extras) on the bench and sharpened a few of mine a few times. It worked, but it was way slow manually feeding the band around and all. And I was not satisfied with the setting part, that's important to me well set teeth. Just _one_ out of whack and it makes rougher lumber than necessary. I found myself going around and around the band with a manual tooth setter (for handsaws) and a dial indicator in frustration :cursing:...it was not worth my time when someone else is happy to do it for $6.50. I could use that time I wasted messing around with a jury rigged system to make much more per hour doing other work. (and quite honestly be more satified with their job on them) Sawing yard trees and hitting "stuff" teeth set is my biggest problem, one nail may not significantly dull the blade but it sure can throw the teeth out and that shows up on the surface of the lumber in heavy scratches.



greg4269ub said:


> does anyone know if norwood blades will fit my woodmizer LT15.


It's just a matter of length (mine for example are 144") I don't know what size the LT15 uses but if Norwood has the same length (most likely) then yes.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

I've been using a guy way up north but I'm gonna try Daren's guy. A lot less on the shipping. If I was you I'd find a decent sharpening service and focus on learning the other things for now. I mean, I actually have a woodmizer grinder and setter but both motors on the grinder are out, and it needs other work. If I didn't have anything else going on sure it would pay me to invest the 20 hours and several hundred dollars getting this machine running, but it's much easier to box up 10 or 15 blades and send them out. 

You are starting from scratch with no equipment at all. Unless you find a great deal on running equipment - which isn't likely since anyone who owns grinding equipment knows what it is worth - then you're better off IMO concentrating on other equipment you'll need a lot more. You can buy a decent used tractor or skid steer nearly for what some of the grinding setups cost new.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

thanks for the insight TT. you said you used a guy to sharpen up north... where exactly is up north? i live in wi is he near me?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

TexasTimbers said:


> I'm gonna try Daren's guy.


I just got a card in the mail today from Chris Jordan:

Vacation Notice
Oct. 5- Oct 13 and Dec. 4th- Dec. 18th.
Our shop will be closed during this time.

But they can still be reached during these dates by calling a toll free number on the card (the same one on the website I linked).


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

The Norwood blades are 144". Some of the Norwood sharpener owners had a large number of Woodmiser blades and said they got the right cams from Norwood to shapen them. But check with Norwood on cams to sharpen other brands you may be interested in.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

today i broke the two teeth off my new munkforssager blade. does that make it no good or can i get it sharpened for reuse? i changed it out for another new one because it was tracking deeper into the log and walking all over in general. i would suppose that was happening because the teeth were no longer set properly correct? i compared the new munkforssager blades to the woodmizer blades i got with my saw and they appeared to have the same profile. i am asking because when i send them in for sharpening i should separate the two if they are infact different and i missed it.


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

Two teeth are debatable. Most of the time they can be recovered. Sometimes there's too much other damage like kinks or too many teeth that simply have a little bit of their tip missing. If it's just the two teeth then prospects are fair. But it's up to the person doing the sharpening and the sharpening service. They can advise you on their policy on round-tripping a blade that can't be sharpened. Some will charge you full charge, including shipping for such blades, while others will charge nothing but the shipping. The can also advise you on Monkey/Woodmiser cam commonality.


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