Bandsaw question

Today was suppose to be a big day for me. I finally lost my job last week so now it was time to start getting my tonewood site stocked up and running. Was going to tackle some guitar sets first and work my way down to the uke sets. Put a brand new blade on my saw. Pushed a 9 inch tall by 23 long billet of koa through the saw. The set was fine. Only problem is it just took way to long. If I only had 20 sets to cut no big deal, but I have a ridiculous amount of wood to cut. My question is, have any of you ever swapped out your bandsaw motor for one with more horsepower? I am thinking to replace my 3 hp with a 5 or 7 hp motor. Can I do this? I mean I know I can mount the new motor in but from an engineering point of view. Is there a reason not to do this. As I see it my choices are upgrade motor or buy a bigger saw. My ex-wife would say my other choice would be a burn pile. Got to love it. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks

absolutely no reason not to. if the blade is. being stoped. By feeding too fast that will cure it however there may be a greater strain on the blade and you may break one. I would doubt that any of the other components wouldn't hold up.. it's a balancing act and you are changing the balance.

Out of curiosity, what bandsaw and blade are you using?

Im using a Laguna 16/ its got 12 inch resaw capacity. The blade is called a shear force. If I was not resawing koa the hp would not be a problem. I just cut a pile of milo sets and it pushed through like butter. Koa is just brutal to cut. Dulls blades real quick.

Maybe a carbide tipped blade such as this? http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/carbide-tipped-blade/
I realize that blade availability, kerf, time invested are all variables you would have to weigh.

I use a carbide tipped blade on my saw Brett and it cuts most things like butter. But there is some Blackwood (so similar to Koa that I have to keep them separate so as not to confuse which is which) that I struggle with. My mate Micheal Connor does a lot more resawing than I do, and has a dedicated Hitachi resaw with a 3" carbide tipped blade, as well as a 39" Wadkin saw. Same story with him. A good blade and horse power helps, but some wood is just a lot of work.

A power feed does help, but they don't come cheap.

If the blade is dull more power ain't going to help... I'd say try a carbide tip blade.

Agree with Allen. Carbide blade (Lenox in my case) and a power feed will make all the difference.

For my 14"er, moving to a carbide tip blade was like doubling the HP.

Yeah I agree 100 percent with everybody. And yeah Chuck I ordered that Lenox blade you recommended. Excellent blade. And was looking at a power feed this morning. I went down to my shop this morning and was looking at my saw and noticed the belt was awfully loose. I never even pay attention to it. Time for a new belt. I think that is going to be noticeable. Thanks for all the input from you guys. Sure am glad I didnt order that 5 hp Baldor motor last night. Was getting a little ahead of my self.

If you haven't tried these belts ( or something similar ) would highly recommend them. They're great and it is also easy to keep spares in that you can lock them in at any size.

http://www.amazon.com/Powertwist-Power-Twist-V-Belt/dp/B001BQDS8I

There is also considerable difference in carbide saw blades ( teeth rake, quality of carbide etc. ) as well so you may want to shop these if you still aren't happy with your purchase. The blade by Lenox you mention is a good all purpose blade but not necessarily the best for extreme hard material .... We have gone round and round for blades for our big saw that is 3" wide and 21' long..... cost us a arm and leg every time we need a new one ... (Hardest material that we personally have tried to re-saw is IPE.) We actually keep 3 different blades for the large saw depending on what we are sawing but all 3 are carbide.


Blessings,

Kevin

Couple of points on the PowerTwist belts.
Disclaimer, I use them on several machines such as a 10" contractor tablesaw, 10" cabinet saw and small tabletop drill press.

* They were originally designed for use by HVAC repairman to act as temporary replacement belts.
* They are directional. I have seen several with arrows molded into them. Not sure that is pointed out in the literature.
* Harbor Freight carries a similar belt (It is green) That seems to work as well, but can be had for 2/3 the cost.
Works for me, but I don't make a living with my tools, hence myusage demands are less.

Due to their design they will reduce vibration. I have also found that machined steel pulleys and higher quality bearings will also go a long way to cut vibration and make sure all your power goes to the blade.
I have never been 100% convinced that they are better than the OEM belts as far as working life and power transmission, but they do work well enough.

Avoid the black shiny plastic type of link belting (without rivets).....I try'd one out on my lathe....as soon as I put a slightly heavy cut on the workpiece the belt just skidded on the pulleys...so I added a bit more tension and it snapped...This is a much better type http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nut-Link-...K_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item3a755c10d0

I use Woodmaster CT blades by Lenox, the 1" x 0.035" x 2TPI for resawing on a MiniMax which is a 16" bandsaw similar to the Laguna. I have spoken with Laguna about their motors, as at one point I thought about a bigger saw. I belive they use Baldor motors, which are high quality. He told me that most of the other saws including the Minimax, use motors that are not as good, said the compettitions 5HP was like their 3HP. Who Knows, but I have never seen ANY lack of power on my saw, and the motor seems like a high quality one. I have also used the Resaw King blades, which are a resharpenable carbide blade sold by Laguna USA. The Resaw King was easily bested by the Woodmaster CT, in both cutting speed, and quality of cut, but especially in price. The kerf of the CT is pretty thin, and the cut can come off the saw looking almost sanded. The most recent blade I purchased from them though, did have a kind of funky weld that caused the tooth at the weld to break, and a 'knock' when the weld passes through the cut. It is going back. Super happy with these blades so far. I have access to a 32" resaw in the shop next door, and use it sometimes. Obviously it has no problems cutting through about anything, I think it is about 20 HP, and it will easily slice 1/16" veneers when set up properly with the right blade. When resawing expensive lumber, though, I think a slight sacrifice in speed is made up for by more efficient cutting with a narrower kerf. I only buy carbide tipped blades for resawing, and am perfectly happy with the speed at which I can put a 12" tall piece of Koa, or even figured Bubinga, through this setup.

+1 on the PowerTwist belts and machined steel pulleys.

Agree with what others have said about carbide blades. Also have been using candle wax on the sides and back of the blades. I have a Laguna 18 inch saw with a 3 horse motor and it is underpowered.

have never used candle wax, but.... I do take a small diamond hone to the back and rear corners of the blade, after giving a tap on the power button, but not fully engaging the 'on' switch, but just enough to comfortably rotate the blade. This is done after checking the weld dressing, and cleaning up with a file, and sandpaper. The smooth round edges allow the board to leave the blade easily without hanging. I also use a tensioning device, a small dial indicator that reads to 0.0000" , clamps onto the blade. This allows exact tensioning of the blade. I run the CT blade at between 20,000 PSI, and 25,000 PSI. Before owning this I always set by 'feel', but, the tensioner is more accurate and consistent. Blades last longer, and cuts are better. It is a fine line where maximum tension is. Less tension can allow more wander in deep, difficult cuts, and too tight will bring a premature end to the blade. For cutting 4-5" depth the tension is fine at 20-22,000 PSI. I have the Laguna ceramic guides on my saw, they work pretty well and definitely an improvement on the guides that come with the MiniMax. I also put a shortened Biesemeyer fence on it, and made a height extension that is slip fit, and very solid. This fence setup is fast, easily adjustable, and as precise as the Biesemeyer on your table saw. The fence that comes with the MiniMax sucks.

I have not seen a power feed that is small enough, and slow enough for my setup. I think the fence would need to be more solid. The fence on the resaw next door weighs about 80 lbs, and bolts very securely to the table. It has buit in rollers, and a pneumatic powerfeed. Does anyone use a powerfeed on a 16" small saw? Theoretically it would be great, but do they exist?

Next up is improving the dust collection on this saw, which also kind of sucks. (no pun intended...)

I am all the time slicing Ebony, Rosewoods, Cocobolo ( Cocobolo is not hard, but very dense, and can be tricky to cut. The wrong tooth pattern will have the board wanting to jump into the blade and other scary antics) and other hard woods. If not the Lenox CT, what are better blades for hard woods? I have been really happy with the Woodmaster CT blades, would love to see something that cuts better, or lasts longer.

I use a Comatic AF/17 powerfeed with my hitachi resaw. It was about $900 7 years ago. I also use the standard 3" stellite blades (.055" kerf) and have them resharpened to take a bit of the sting out of the $90 price. I also have a 5 hp. motor but can't offer a comparison as it was on the saw when I bought it used. This powerfeed is the only one I found that could go slow enough and I only use the lowest 2 speeds. When all the stars are aligned I can keep my cuts within a .020" range.

Steve
curlykoa.com

The main problem ended up being a loose belt. How could I be so stupid. What a difference tightening that baby up made. I cut a bunch of tenor mango sets yesterday, the saw was just humming. Power twist belt is in the mail. Also ordered a variable speed power feed from Laguna. Just need to order a box of carbide blades and I will be ready to make some sawdust. I will also be broke. Oh well, like they say, No guts no glory.

I've used a lot of the Suffolk Machinery Timberwolf ASS vari-pitch blades. 3/4", .025 ban, .045 kerf. The thinner the blade, the less hp required. The problem with carbide is that if you hit something nasty like a rock or a nail (I do lots of "urban harvest" woods...), then you just lost a very expensive blade. Hated the Laguna carbide when I tried it. Liked the Suffolk and the Lennox...but only for clean wood. Then again, I have 20 hp on a conveyor belt fed horizontal Baker AX resaw...

Rick,

We didn't have much success with the Timberwolf blades... although we like the kerf of the blade, it wanted to wander with us.

Though we might share some of what we do that involves bandsaws. Much of the local material that we offer for sale is actually processed by us, from stump to part.

We have several bandsaws but we have two that are for permanent resaws and the sawmill.

The large one is a 40 HP with power up, down, and out, with pneumatic assist and power blade lubricant the Powermatic a 7.5 hp the Woodmizer mill is 24 hp .... we often resaw with a special resaw carriage on the mill. The smaller Powermatic saw has a 3 speed powerfeed and works great for short material and we do us a Lennox 1 1/8" carbided tipped blade . Large saw uses a 3" special commercial carbide tipped saw blade and we use Woodmizer blades on the mill. One of the pictures shows 2 of our 3 kilns and material about to go into the kiln that came from the Woodmizer.