Band setting question

[dad2nine]

Been setting my 1 1/4" band teeth to 15 thousands there abouts. Seems to be cutting ok. And this was mainly on a whim, I took a new blade and just copied what it read on the setter. I cut mainly hardwood, seldom do I cut anything other than ERC. Is this about the right set? What's the ideal set for hardwood and softwood?

Thanks

[Bioman]

Best amount of set is 1/2 the material thickness for hardwood

[dad2nine]

Best amount of set is 1/2 the material thickness for hardwood

so if I cut 4/4 I should set to .250 each side to equal .500 or 1/2 inch - this makes no sense at all.

[dad2nine]

I think I might understand now, my blades are 1 1/4" - .042 - 7/8 Lenox, So that would mean in a perfect world I would set them @ .021 each side?

Thanks

[mike_van]

Suffolf Machinery has a pretty detailed chart you can find online. Just search them on google. It's actually too detailed for me, it really breaks down log sizes, etc. But check it out. Your .021  is real close to what you want.

[dad2nine]

I think you talking about this link?

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/set_hook_angles.asp

The bands I'm using are Lenox Woodmaster C 1-1/4"x0.042 listed here:

http://www.lenoxsaw.com/woodc.htm

According to the suffork chart I think my setting of .015 is a little to low, it's looking like I should be more aggressive to around .020.

I think.?.?.?

[Brad_S.]

I think .015 is low but passable, especially if you set before you sharpen. You know when you're too low because you will leave packed sawdust on your board and your cuts may wander. You'll know when your high because you will leave a lot of loose sawdust on your board. No harm done there but you are robbing yourself of horsepower. I use .018-.020 for hardwoods and .025-.027 for soft woods with the .042 blades.

[Larry]

I'm really lazy and really really hate setting bands.  And did I mention I hate setting bands?  So, I set to .024, sharpen which brings down the set a little. .024 is a tweak to much in hardwoods.  Sharpen maybe 3...4 times more and by this time the set is down to .012 and they stop cutting.  Run the cycle again.

[dad2nine]

I think .015 is low but passable, especially if you set before you sharpen. You know when you're too low because you will leave packed sawdust on your board and your cuts may wander. You'll know when your high because you will leave a lot of loose sawdust on your board. No harm done there but you are robbing yourself of horsepower. I use .018-.020 for hardwoods and .025-.027 for soft woods with the .042 blades.

Brad - thank You for the solid answer, I really appreciate that a lot.

[solidwoods]

.020  to .025 range.
Larry-  That works great.  I set my blades about every 3 or 4 sharpens.
Setting teeth bend the teeth. Bending metal does what to it? (breaks it)
jim

[Kelvin]

I find that the set doesn't go out of the band uniformaly.  Never had luck setting only once in awhile.  I've been getting low amounts of bd ft per sharpening as it is, so i can't imagine doing anything to make it worse.  I find that if i check the set on the inside teeth, its down a little more than .002 than the outside teeth.  Most frequently seems to be the case.  Maybe i have something wrong with my setup, but i haven't found it yet.  If you sharpen your band, and find the set to be going out at all the same rate, you can skip the setting,  but for me setting seems to be the limiting factor in good blade performance.  When i skip it, all the other goes to heck!

[dad2nine]

Hey guys Thanks ALOT - right around .020 worked like a champ ;D. It's odd but my new blades are set at .015, it felt funny setting a brand new band, but I did. Then tossed the blade on the mill and cut some wide walnut. What a difference just that .005 set increase made, that little ole WM sang a sweet song going through those logs.

Thanks again !!!

[solidwoods]

And it all depends on the material being cut.
We can vary sets a little bit.
Less for hard material
More for soft material
But everything has a trade off
Hook angle must be factored also.
Its nice to have groups of blades, soft/easy to cut woods set and vice versa.

1 side set decreases a couple thousandths:
I see it also.
Differences in cut width per blade side?
Its also possible to have your blade tilted teeth down (towards the cant) and create this also.  You can't have the bladed tilted much past a smooch or you will see bad cuts, burn marks on the cant or board, blade arched cut.

Best thing for blades is to get the bark off the area the blade cuts.
A simple 2 bar chainsaw scraggmill  to square logs first would be nice.
jim