Two Inch Blade

[J_T]

 What advantage would thare be in using a two inch blade verses one and a quarter or one and a half ??? Or are there any :

[mike_van]

A few years ago I got a free 2" from  Suffolk, I found it cut faster [1" ts] and as it began to dull, it didn't make wavy boards the way 1 1/4's will.  They were about 3x the price of the 1 1/4s though,  and I never went any farther with them.  If you send blades out for sharpening, the extra weight will really add up, this one still sits in my shop, dull. 

[J_T]

Thanks Mike .  8)

[Tom]

It's not often considered but wheels sized for 1 1/4" blades will cause wider blades to cup.  You can usually get by with  1 1/2" blades but 2" blades may require a wider bandwheel.  ....not to mention new guides.

[woodhaven]

Hey Tom,
What size do they come in. Say 2" up to 4"??????

[Tom]

These little sawmils we use are noted for their small widths.  1" to 1 1/2" seems to be the norm.  There are some 2" bands out there and some of the larger double cut bandmills, like Poulsen, Heartwood and select,  have 5" and 6" bands.    Some of the vertical bandsaws doing resaw work and cant breakdown have bands in the 6" to 8" range.  There are larger bandsaws breaking down logs whose bands are in the 10" and 12" range.   I've heard of 16" bands and perhaps there are some larger.

[mike_van]

This note came with the blade from Suffolk - " This blade on certain machines will have to be hammered to maintain the levelness of the body.   1.  After the second sharpening the body of the blade will form a convex cup from the back to the front, the back and tooth edges will rise away from the band wheel.                                      2.  This results in a blade that will continually dive in the cut as soon as it enters the log, the dive can be extreme, as much as 1/2".           3.  To hammer the blade, which will only have to be performed once throughout the life of the blade, the following procedure is used.    a.  Lay the blade on an anvil or similar flat surface so that the cup is now concave, you will have to flip the blade from its original direction.     b.    Using a 1 1/2 lb. blacksmith hammer, hit the blade body once every 1/2" just above the centerline of the body towards the tooth edge.        c.    Flip the blade back to it's original direction, check the set & continue sawing.      It did cut well new, better than 1 1/4's I thought, but  for the added expence & work involved in maintaining them, I don't know if it's worth it or not.  ???

[Rod]

i have car tires for band wheels.Maybe thse 2'' blades might work good on them,I don't know tho.

[J_T]

Thanks everyone I'm learning a lot 8) Have got an inch and a quarter tracking good at present . Have not had much time to work on building this thing but think I can desine some guids to adjust to different size blades. ???