Bandsaw blades ?

[Shredd]

Good Tip on the dirty blades...  A while back I read somewhere that resin on the blade can cause dullness...  I don't clean my saw blades but I do clean my router bits everytime after I use them...  Then I coat them with a wax to keep any moisture out and corrosion down...

[mmattockx]

That's interesting Buggs.... I've been running saws for 40 years and never worried about cleaning the blades.

It depends a fair bit on what you are cutting. If it's green/wet construction lumber or some of the gummier softwoods you will find the blades collect a lot of residue on the sides and it fills the gullets of the teeth, which affects how cleanly the chips are removed. If you cut mostly well seasoned hardwoods then it might be no issue for you at all.

Simple green also works well for cleaning the blades, but it can remove any coating on the blade if you're not careful. I'm going to look up the glidecote and see if I can get some to try. Anything that keeps blades clean longer and makes the cutting easier is a good thing in my books.


Mark

[onetone]

Trewax or equivalent is really useful in the shop. Applied to metal or wood surfaces it really reduces friction and minimizes wear. Try it on a jointer bed or on the working surfaces of a table saw, whether cast iron, steel, aluminum or wood - it makes the work easier. Bandsaw spindle sander tables too.  Huge difference if applied to the sole of any hand plane, metal or wood. Try it on a handsaw for a real thrill. I always apply it to all the friction surfaces of a shaping jig before use.

Just wipe on a thin coat, then wipe off the the excess and give it a few minutes harden. No worries about contaminating wood with wax either. For all practical purposes it stays put.

[Buggs]

onetone, which Trewax product are you using?

[onetone]

Forgot to mention, if there are tools or surfaces you don’t want epoxy to stick to, do a couple of coats of wax and don’t bother with wiping it off. Epoxy will just pop off once it has cured.

[Buggs]

I've used hard waxes on hand tools in the past, but have never considered it on high speed cutting blades. Worried about heat transfer. Sounds like you have not had any problems and considering how old that can of wax looks, I'd say its been proven!

[onetone]

Yeah three pounds of wax lasts a LONG time. I don’t even remember when I bought it.

[Appalachian Hillbilly]

I have used the Minwax wood wax for a long time. I put it on all my saw tables mainly to help with rust. I also put it on the bottom of my lam sled to help it feed smoothly through my Byrnes sander.

Never thought about using it on the blades. May give that a try.

[Mad Max]

Yeah three pounds of wax lasts a LONG time. I don’t even remember when I bought it.

I googled it with images and all of them said Vintage 

[onetone]

Good one Max! 

AH - I wasn’t saying I use it on bandsaw blades … but as you say it it might be worth a try.

[Mad Max]

I’m going to try wax on my pattern sander table.
I tried baby power at one time to make it slippery but it didn’t really work

[Bryan Adolphe]

I don’t cut veneers on my bandsaw any more even though I bought a second saw just so I could.

Actually…. I just got a good deal on a 17” Jet bandsaw, not specifically for cutting veneers. I used the wood slicer from highland and also tried the timber wolf. Both worked well, but were not fun to get set up just right for veneers every time I needed it. I use that saw for other things too. 

My second bandsaw is a 14” and has a 3/4”x 3 TPI carbide tip blade I use for G-10 , glass , micarta, phenolic, and riser work. It’s all I use it for.  Very expensive blade but they last for years.

I cut my veneers on a table saw, then use the drum sander. I use a thin kerf 8.25” , 24 tooth on my 10” saw. And use 7.25” carbide tipped framing blades made by Diablo  for ripping glass and carbon. those are very thin kerf just over 1/16”.

Kirk

   

 Question: So cutting veneers or core lams on the table saw, what approx thickness 1/8" ? do you cut too before you mill them on the drum sander ?
And do most of you cut edge grain for your core lams vs flat ?
Most of my figuered woods i have are 4/4 so was hoping to cut veneers with band saw if its doable to save some wood but i have used those Diablo blades lots on skill saws and they are a pretty thin blade probably not much more waist at all , alot of the saws the arbor wouldnt tighten enough without a washer.

[Kirkll]

For my regular core lams I use to mill tapers and parallel lams, I rip them down to about .130-.135  . I like a wee bit more than an 1/8” to make sure I cam sand all the saw marks out and end up with .100 thickness on my finished lams.

I use quarter sawn vertical grain on maple for consistency in lams and wedges. All wedges should be vertical grain.  For veneers you would want the flat grain.

 A little  secret to success with using the table saw is always keep the crown of your lumber into the fence, and that can change as you are ripping your lams. Every cut you take relieves the tension in the wood and the wood moves. So flip it over and rip from the other side always keeping the crown into the fence. Table saws are dangerous tools and require sharp blades. nothing should ever be forced.
Putting extra pressure holding a warped board into the fence to cut a straight line is not something that should be done. It can cause the blade to bind up and kick back on you. On a big saw with a 3-5hp motor you can get hurt badly binding up a blade. I’ve learned to keep my body offset and never stand directly behind that saw blade when using a big saw. That has saved me a time or two. 

Most guys with small shops or garage builders rarely have commercial grade table saws with serious power. The home owner grade or hobby saws have 3/4 hp or 1 hp  and if they bind up their saw, it stops the blade. If you do not have professional training and experience using these saws, be very careful. These are man eaters.     Kirk

[Shredd]

Kirk...  Do you cut tapered lams on your saw??  Or just Parallels??

[Kirkll]

I just cut Pars on my table saw, but have a wedge jig that cuts about 5/16" to nothing in 12" . I flip the block every pass on my wedges.

I suppose a guy could set up a taper jig for cutting tapered lams too, but i've never messed with it myself.   I typically set up my saw and rip a 100 -140 lams at a time, then bundle them up in stacks of 20 and keep them on a shelf until i go into lam milling mode. Then i mill 20 at a time of each different taper rate. .001, .0015 , @ .002 then keep them in neet stacks so they don't get oxidized too bad. 

With that being said, i still freshly sand all my lams just prior to lay up. This gets rid of any oils or oxidization that effects the surface and i'm good to go for lay up.  Teak, Bocote, Bubinga, Cocobolo, and some rosewoods need to be freshly sanded IMO.  There are other oily woods i'm sure i missed. I never use acetone on my wood to remove oils.   Kirk

[Kirkll]

I just cut Pars on my table saw, but have a wedge jig that cuts about 5/16" to nothing in 12" . I flip the block every pass on my wedges.

I suppose a guy could set up a taper jig for cutting tapered lams too, but i've never messed with it myself.   I typically set up my saw and rip a 100 -140 lams at a time, then bundle them up in stacks of 20 and keep them on a shelf until i go into lam milling mode. Then i mill 20 at a time of each different taper rate. .001, .0015 , @ .002 then keep them in neet stacks so they don't get oxidized too bad. 

With that being said, i still freshly sand all my lams just prior to lay up. This gets rid of any oils or oxidization that effects the surface and i'm good to go for lay up.  Teak, Bocote, Bubinga, Cocobolo, and some rosewoods need to be freshly sanded IMO.  There are other oily woods i'm sure i missed. I never use acetone on my wood to remove oils.   Kirk

[Bryan Adolphe]

Well that’s good to know Kirk I just checked my 8/4 maple and it’s def not quartersawed,
Still possible to use as core lams or best to find some quartersawed ?
 Not a good day unless you Learn something new !

[Appalachian Hillbilly]

When I go choose my core or lam lumber, I only get quartersawn. If I end up with plain sawn, I use it for accent stripes in the riser.

I keep some clean solid color maple for accent stripes. I hate to use good lam material for accents, because good lam wood is harder to come by.

[Shredd]

  Sanding tapers out of parallels sounds like a lot of grinding to me...  Why not just cut tapers??  You get more lams out of a piece of wood and a lot less sanding...   
 
   I cut tapers about .025 to .030" over in thickness...  A couple of passes on the sander and you are good to go...

 

[Bryan Adolphe]

Well thanks guys that’s all good to know now, I have no shortage of Maple accent woods  still on the back pain meds 
As far as veneers go anything goes right ? Flat/ quarter sawn doesn’t matter for the most part it’s just looks ?
Thanks for the  info guys ,