Blade roller question

just_sawing · November 26, 2008, 08:37:57 AM

I went out to a mill yesterday to look at his RR tie setup. Talking to the owner he stated that he had problems with woodmizer blades due to them being dished. We went into his Sharping shed and he showed me how new woodmized blades are dished to the out side. this means that on the inside circle of the blade there is a hump in the center. He showed me one and it was true. He had a Cooks Blade roller which takes that out. He said that was how they able to cut hickory and beech.
Any of you use a roller?

Tom Sawyer · November 26, 2008, 08:44:41 AM

I cut hickory and beech all the time without doing anything special to my WM blades.

Tom

pineywoods · November 26, 2008, 09:12:42 AM

I cut beech and hickory with woodmizer blades, but mine are not crowned, they stay flat. Bet he's using bandwheel belts that are crowned. crowned bandwheel belts and lots of blade tension will most likely stretch the blade in the center, especially the thinner (.035 and .042) blades. There's a reason woodmizer recommends certain belts

just_sawing · November 26, 2008, 04:58:34 PM

No we pulled a brand new blade out of the box and it was dished striaght from woodmizer. I am not a newby at all and only run WM blades. His mill is a 70 and there isn't an issue of problems with the mill.
If you cut beech hickory or chestnut oak you as every body will see problems depending on the phase of the moon or what ever other mystical source effects sawing in the universe.
He cuts ties out of large beech which I have personal experiance with and it isn't my favorite thing to do.
His experiance is when the blades (anybodies) have a hump they dive more. When there is a dish they cut the bad stuff eaisly.

backwoods sawyer · November 26, 2008, 09:55:07 PM

Working in the large mills with the big bandsaw's there are steps taken to improve the saws performance that are just are not taken with the little bands, simply because of the cost of the saws.

Benching a saw is where the saw is laid out flat so the saw filer can flatten the humps bumps and dips in the band. A new saw spends several hours under the close eye of a saw filer before it gets to be test ran with slower feed speeds. Once the saw starts to perform good then it can be ran at full speed.

So yes, there is some validity to rolling the bands. It is not as involved as a full tune up, but it is a step that is not taken in many cases where it is needed. I know a couple sawyers that only plan to get one or two sharpening out of there saws. With a tune saw tune-up, proper feed speeds, mill maintenance the life of these saws would be greatly increased as many who sharpen there saws here can attest to. Band rolling is seen by some as not necessary and too much of a hassle by others. Yet there are some of us that feel rolling the band is just one of many steps that should be done to maintain the saws performance.

Banjo picker · November 27, 2008, 06:09:36 AM

I have a roller, it came with the saw package I purchased. I have not used it yet, as we are still using new blades. I check the blades with a piece of flat stock before they are put on, so far so good. A blade that is not flat is going to stack the odds against your saw. I know I am still learning, but it don't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. If I get blades from any supplier that are not flat out of the box, they will go back! As soon as I get a blade to cup I will roll it and then be in a better possition to make a more informed commet. Tim

dad2nine · December 02, 2008, 08:34:10 PM

I may be stupid but have been known to grind off every other set of three teeth on a Lenox Woodmaster C and sharpen to nearly zero degree hook angle. I've cut some hard (four letter word) with that band like big ole dried out hickory and black locust. Works well but I need to go nice and slow.

The Lenox bands have a tooth set to the left the next one set to the middle and the last one set to the right. The box of WM bands I just got have a tooth set to the left the next to the right then to the middle. I'm scratching my head on why the set pattern is different? Anyone know why?

Thanks

Tom · December 02, 2008, 08:45:19 PM

I've never deliberatley ground off teeth, but I can see how the 0° band might work ok.

Perhaps you need to start looking at the lenox band by moving back a tooth. If you start with the right set one, it will be right/left/raker, whereas the woodmizer band is left/right/raker. Your confusion, I believe, might be due to your associating the set relative to the weld rather than relative to the teeth.

To make it easier, look at the set relative to the raker tooth. If you start with the straight (raker) tooth on each band, you will find that the set teeth follow it.

Whether the sequence is right/left or left/right wouldn't make any difference that I can see.

dad2nine · December 02, 2008, 09:39:50 PM

Quote from: Tom on December 02, 2008, 08:45:19 PM
I've never deliberatley ground off teeth, but I can see how the 0° band might work ok.

Perhaps you need to start looking at the lenox band by moving back a tooth. If you start with the right set one, it will be right/left/raker, whereas the woodmizer band is left/right/raker. Your confusion, I believe, might be due to your associating the set relative to the weld rather than relative to the teeth.

To make it easier, look at the set relative to the raker tooth. If you start with the straight (raker) tooth on each band, you will find that the set teeth follow it.

Whether the sequence is right/left or left/right wouldn't make any difference that I can see.

Thanks Tom you got me second guessing myself, which is good - I'll have another look see.