Blade Problems

[Tony]

 ??? ??? : Well it's me again in need of blade advice this time.

  I've got a TK 1600, have just about sharpened and resharpened the blades TK provided to the max. Got in a tight and had to have some new blades quick. Ordered 6 Lennox blades, 2 broke with only about 200-300 bft of use, 1 dulled with about the same amount of bft, and 1 cut like I thought it should. The blades weren't as aggressive as the TK blades,and had to slow the feed rate.[ no metal, very clean logs]

I asked a fellow TK owner and FF member what blades he used and he suggested monkey blades.

  I just  got a call to mill 3000+ bft. I won't be able to get much done at this rate. So once again I call on the FF for much needed advice. :( :(

             Thanks in advance
                                      Tony  8)

[Fla._Deadheader]

  We love them Monkey Blades (Munksforsager).  Just bought 10 new ones. Call Menominee and try them. Don't know anyone that was DIS-satisfied. Some guys didn't see any difference with their previous choice, compared to Munks.

  I've sharpened mine from 1¼" down to 15/16". HAD to get new ones. Broke our first one tother day. Have about 35 old ones.  ;D ;D

[GF]

I definitly use the Monkey blades also, tried a couple of other brands (Timberwolf and Red Streak) and the Monkey's always came out on top.  The Red Streaks did real good also.  Was not to impressed with the Timberwolf.  I will continue to stay with the Monkey blades, Fla_Deadheader sold me on them in the past.

[Tom]

I use Lenox blades on a mill with 38 horses and big bandwheels.  They work good. 

However, I didn't have as much luck running them on my old Wood Mizer LT40.  The horsepower was 24 and the wheels were much smaller.

My supposition was that the Lenox blades are thicker and stiffer than most other blades.  They may have trouble getting around the smaller bandwheels which would shorten their life.

When considering sharpness, remember that many "new" bands aren't as sharp as you might grind them yourself.  Also the blade shop may be careless and throw bands teeth down or otherwise damage the points of the teeth. It only takes a careless employee one time to damage a bulk roll of band.  He may be the only person to know and may also be ignorant of the damage he is doing.  Bulk band stock stacked up on the floor of a shop is just asking for damaged teeth.  You may be helping out your blade shop to alert them to the longivity of the points on the teeth.   It may not be the problem or the dullness could be caused elsewhere, even on your sawmill, but telling them will alert them to the possibility of mis-handling.

You will probably be happiest with a more flexible blade on a mill with smaller band wheels.   I used 42 Thousandths Wood Mizer blades and Simonds Red Streaks on my LT40 with good success. 

[Back40x2]

  Tony,

      As you can see, they are GREAT ;) ;) ;)  I promise you will not be disappointed!!!!! 

      I too have used the Lenox Woodmasters and did not like them at all.  Although, I have 18 Band/re-saw and love their blades for that.  Red Streaks are pretty good, just a little thinner.  Timberwolves are a puched tooth profile.  Brandnew out of the box, I think they are worthless.  Have them resharped, and they are not too bad.

      Like others, I will always use MONKEY"S to make my sawdust fly ;)

Goodluck ;)

[gmmills]

Tony,

   Your Timberking blades are relabled Munksforsagers. If you are happy with the performance of the Timberking blades you should be just as happy with the Monkey blades. Just compare prices of both and purchase the most economical brand.

  On out of the box sharpness does leave a lot to be desired.   I totally agree with Tom.


   I have Lenox 1 1/2" 0.42's  and they did pretty well. They were purchased from Cook's Saw. They are now offering a Presharp Blade. This blade is sharpened after it is welded. This assures that the blade is sharp right out of the box . As far as I know, Cook's is the only blade supplier to offer this service. 

  I have tried many different brands of blades. They all cut well when properly maintained.  I use WM blades almost exclusively as of late.  The Timber Wolf blades are not worth the extra money . They are the most tempermental blade I have ever used. 

[Furby]

I use the munks!
Hit my first nail on Tues. and never even felt it (push mill).
My buddy pointed it out in the cant several boards later.  ;D

[Quebecnewf]

On my 18" bandmill I have tried the following

Sandvik (not made any more) as far as I know. Good blade got them for 17.00 CDN . Learned to saw with them. Wish I had bought more when they were cheap.

Lennox 2 different types (not impressed)

Woodmizer (good blade) not a long life span and need to be set more often

Suffolk (maybe Timberwolf is the same blade I think) getting good performance out of these or I think it is good. I can get about 10 to 12 sharpens , 1 or 2 went to 14 sharpens. This works out to about 4000 brd ft per blade clean logs but some are 2 years old so they are harder all softwood.
I had a batch of 15 come a few days back have not tried them yet. I paid 40.00 CDN for them with shipping and taxes. How does this compare with other canadian users. My blades are 13' 9" long

[Quebecnewf]

by the by are there any dealers for these Monkey blades in Canada

[Tony]

  Just an update on my blade problems.....
I think they are solved. ;D ;D

  Was sawing some pine yesterday, green and beetle killed. Well the knots were giving me fits using the resharpened ( for the 5th or 6th time, I told the customer   I'd not charge for the fancy scallops in the boards) blades.

Ordered 10 Munks from Menominee per the advice of FF members. Needless to say the knots were knot a problem anymore. smiley_clapping smiley_clapping

                               Thanks fellas, Tony
PS. Another plug for a FF sponser, that 60"  brite blue cant hook is a winner also. Logrite Tools