# Resawing and small milling on bandsaw



## dbnewton (Feb 10, 2019)

I have been milling short sections (4') of maple with some success. But it rapidly dulls my blade. I'm using a 99.75" Timber Wolf Bandsaw Blade 3/4" 3 TPI TPC. 

Is there a different blade I should be using?

Any helpful hints that I should consider?

My basic approach is to find the flattest side of the piece, with that side down take a first pass through the saw to get one rough but reasonably flat face. Then use that flat face down to get another flat face perpendicular to the first. Then put one flat side down and the other against the fence (a jig I made for the bandsaw) and cut slices.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

dbnewton said:


> I have been milling short sections (4') of maple with some success. But it rapidly dulls my blade. I'm using a 99.75" Timber Wolf Bandsaw Blade 3/4" 3 TPI TPC.
> 
> Is there a different blade I should be using?
> 
> ...


Is this bark on????? Dry bark dulls blades quickly....also dirt and debris. I'm not familiar with shop bandsaw milling and correct bands for this....log size also determines tpi. You may save some wood by flattening one side on a jointer first getting a true flat to start sawing process with.

Some build resaw sleds for their upright bandsaws which help get a true side quicker as it's more stable/safe to make the passes.

I hope this helps.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*two separate issues .....*

Premature blade dulling would be caused by dirt on the bark on the logs. Your 3/4" wide blade is the maxium width a 14" bandsaw can tension properly. A 1/2" 3 TPI band by Timberwolf is what I use on my 14" Craftsman Pro 14" bandsaw. It works fairly well when the wood is 6" and under. For thicker wood, I use my 18" Min Max with a 3/4" 3 TPI Timberwolf blade. I made a carrier to support heavy logs as shown here:
https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/resaw-large-logs-your-bandsaw-58708/










If you want to invest in a carbide tipped blade, at around $130.00 or so, Lennox makes one.









A couple of videos showing how to resaw:


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## RickKr (Jun 19, 2018)

woodnthings said:


> ...snip...
> If you want to invest in a carbide tipped blade, at around $130.00 or so, Lennox makes one.
> ...snip...


Another option for carbide tipped resaw blades. https://lagunatools.com/accessories/bandsaw-accessories/bandsaw-blades/resaw-king-bandsaw-blade/

Option selections do not include 3/4" wide blades but they are available if you call them. The site seems to indicate calling them is the only way to get any blade. I have not used one of these, but if I do, I'll need a 3/4" for my Powermatic 140. The recommendation of this blade came to me from a friend who does a lot of resawing for making guitars. 

Rick


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## dbnewton (Feb 10, 2019)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have been removing the bark, not because I knew it would dull my blade, rather because I only have about 7.5" clearance and some of the logs are that thick (or more).

I did build a fence, not really a sled and that might help so I will pursue. Here is what I have:

https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=371793&thumb=1
and it does slide:
https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=371795&thumb=1

But its rather unstable if pulled too far out (since it was really meant as a fence not a sled).

None the less it sounds like I may just be asking the saw to do more than it is capable of doing. Maybe I need to keep the maximum thickness smaller.


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## justdraftn (Feb 20, 2019)

I use a Laguna Resaw King blade for milling raw wood.
Works great!








This is my raw wood fence.
Saw a picture of this on some other site.
Pretty easy to make. Works very well.


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## bikeshooter (Nov 5, 2010)

You might consider this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-X-3-4-TP...h=item5b26c39261:g:bz8AAOSwGIRXbhtD:rk:1:pf:0

A new meat cutting blade will cut through a beef femur bone like it's butter. Yeah, I'm a retired meat cutter. The kerf is thinner as well because the teeth do not have any pitch. The pulleys on a meat cutting saw cannot have tires for sanitation reasons so it's metal blade on metal pulley - friction + heat. Any pitch would be gone in just a few revolutions. Please note that the above link is for a frozen beef blade. That stuff is about as hard as a rock it's sooo solidly frozen. Usually frozen to -20 degrees.

I use a 1" 2tpi wood cutting blade for over 6" or so. Buy them local and they can be resharpened with an electric chainsaw resharpener. I bought mine at HF for $25 - they may still offer them. Turn the blade backwards to how it goes on the saw and the chainsaw resharpener is preset to about the same angle as the teeth. Just a light touch on each tooth will do. Takes about 15 minutes for a 112" blade and will yield about 50% of what a new blade will. I resharpen twice and then discard.


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