best blades

[dean herring]

Can' t do much, my wife won't let me out of my chair,but she is usually right. So I am gatheri ng info . I've been looking at wm and cooks. My buddy here uses Cooks ,says he likes them. Just wanting to see what kind y'all are using. Here are some more questions:

1. If you buy a blade with a certain set can you change it
2. How do you know the right set, are there some guidelines
3. What width blade
4. How many blades are used on say 1000 bf pine, / red@ white oak
5. If cutting 2x4's do you cut them 2x4 ,2x3.5, or 1.5x3.5 . Does it depend on if it will be kiln dried?

As you can tell I am bored just sitting in house, And I also have a lot to learn as I am starting from the ground floor. Thanks to all for all of your imput

[Magicman]

Hopefully you can visit with several different sawmill owners. I am Orange and have no experience with any other sawmill brand.

I only saw SYP and depending upon the cleanliness of the logs, I generally change blades at noon which is about 1M-1500 bf.  I use 1¼X10° blades.

I saw whatever dimension lumber that the customer wants.

[Ocklawahaboy]

Your mill manufacturer should have recommended thickness and width blades for your mill.  After that, tooth set and, to some degree, spacing are up to the type of wood you saw.  I accidentally ordered some blades that were too wide and too many teeth.  Horrible for SYP but have been cutting cypress like a dream.  I mostly use 9 degree but ordered some 4 degree for a rosewood log and they did very nicely.  Woodmizer has a blade selection tool on their site that I use.

[fishfighter]

I'm new to milling and have only milled red oak. The blades I'm using are 1 1/4, 10 deg. I find that my mill is having a hard time with the oak and been thinking of ordering some 7 deg blades. I don't know if that is going to help or not.

[schmism]

1) if you have the tools to put set into a blade then yes you can change the "stock" set of the blade.   Many sawers will talking about "tuneing up" a blade (going through and checking the set) especially if they see tell tale signs that the set has changed (diveing etc)
2) is it cutting flat and not diving/riseing ...  some say "pitchy" species (those with a lot of pitch/sap) need more set.  some say slabbing really wide boards need more set because they want more area in the cut before it binds up with sawdust.
4) its my understanding blade life depends more on condition of logs than it does species.   do you run a debarker?  are your logs stripped?  are you cutting crotches  etc.   General rule of thumb ive always heard/seen is 1000-1500 bf per blade as MM said.
5) cut them to what the customer wants.   Has more to do with intended use than how it is going to get dried.   full dimension for rough sawn material intended to be used in pole barns or other "farm" buildings.  1.5" for rough sawn trailer decking although if they intended to 2S it likely 1.75".

Here are some more questions:

1. If you buy a blade with a certain set can you change it
2. How do you know the right set, are there some guidelines
3. What width blade
4. How many blades are used on say 1000 bf pine, / red@ white oak
5. If cutting 2x4's do you cut them 2x4 ,2x3.5, or 1.5x3.5 . Does it depend on if it will be kiln dried?

[Magicman]

I saw very little "full sized" framing lumber.  One reason is that a 16d nail is 3¼" long which is the max that most air nailers will shoot.  Most builders here use 12d which is a bit shorter and both will go completely through 3" of framing lumber.  Which nails would you use to build with full sized framing lumber? 

[5quarter]

Full dimension lumber can be preferable in some applications, especially vertical loads. When I use full dimension lumber, I fasten with Timberloks. slower than a nail gun but definitely faster than hand nailing.  ;)

[terrifictimbersllc]

It's my understanding that if you use Wood-Mizer Re-Sharp (need to use WM blades), you can ask for a specific amount of set. 

When you sharpen/set yourself, you choose the amount of set.   You'll want to make a roller device to reduce set before setting, as most setters won't do this.  This tool is also good for quickly fixing setting mistakes which are easy to make. I've since added another roller to the tool, to do both sides at once.  Right now the tool takes set to 17-19 thousandths with about a minute's work. 



 

[fishfighter]

Well, instead of going out and buying some new 7 deg blades, I might just reset a new 10 deg blade to 7 deg. Now I just have to build a setter. ;D With the bad weather I been getting, guess that will be a project I can under take tomorrow. Been looking at pineywoods setter and might do a improvement or two. 8)

[Ohio_Bill]

Good morning, the 7deg and 10 deg is referring  to the hook angle.  Not the set.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Yes, 7° and 10° are different hook angle (angle of tooth face off from vertical) and also gullet shape depending on mfgr of blade. One would "re-grind" a 10 to a 7 not "reset" a 10 to a 7 (some might but I wouldn't though).   Too much work and takes off too much metal.

Set is how far the outside of the tooth tip is pushed out from the side of the band, to make clearance for the body of the band.

[drobertson]

Dean, I don't remember what sawmill you have, and it may not really matter anyway, other than the horse power you have running the band.  The only blade makes I've used are the wmz brand, cooks', and kasco. all of which do just fine.  I figure you could get through a day on one band, if logs are clean or a debarker is used, and no damage occurs to the band, such as metal, or you knocking it off, I'm sure I'm the only one that's done this ;D  but most likely you will need at least two bands a day.  I would not concern myself in changing anything from a factory band, at least until you've sawn for awhile,  there really is no need in my opinion.  As to the size of 2x's, whatever is needed is sawn, pretty straight forward here.