Dry Douglas Fir

[davemartin88]

Have a customer that has about 100 old Douglas Fir beams he wants milled in to flooring and some posts for new interior construction. Told me that if it made sense to get some special blades to use for these since they are so dry, I should go ahead and do this. Any feedback on the best type of blade to use on a Woodmizer LT50 for this. I typically use a 7 degree blade but thought I'd ask.

[red oaks lumber]

we cut alot of old dry d.fir, all we use is 10* blades with no water or lube. seems to cut good

[MartyParsons]

13 degree

[spencerhenry]

i have milled thousands of feet of dry doug fir. i usually use a 9* blade, with water on the blade. big knots or spike knots are the only things that dont work out so well. dry doug fir from my experience mills pretty well.

[davemartin88]

we cut alot of old dry d.fir, all we use is 10* blades with no water or lube. seems to cut good

, 3 replies, 3 different answers, sounds like most any blade might work????

[rbarshaw]

13 degree

Note who he is, I think he's got the inside info ;D ;)

[Brucer]

I've always used 10 degree blades to saw green Douglas-Fir -- that's my main product. On the few ocaissions I had to saw dry D-Fir I wasn't happy with the 10 degree blades, especially in the wider stuff.

I bought a few 7 degree blades just after they became available, but that was to saw really wide, dry Spruce. They were great for that. Haven't had a chance to use them on dry D-Fir.

My suspicion is that 7 degree blades will do a better job than 10 degree blades.

[davemartin88]

13 degree

Note who he is, I think he's got the inside info ;D ;)

I know Marty and respect his opinions, just thought it was funny how the feedback was so varied. Thanks to all.

[ladylake]

 
I don't know about doglas fir but do know less hook works better in tough to saw wood.  Steve

[millwright]

I recently sawed some doug fir beams that were 21 feet long, these beams were over 100 yrs old and very dry. I used WM 9 degree blades with a little water and had good results.

[Brucer]

One thing I've found with very dry softwood is that narrow cuts -- 6" wide or less -- seem to do fine with 10 degree blades. The wider you get, the more likely you are to see some ripples.