Band Saw Question - Blade Width

[LB75]

Hey all, I'm looking at a new band saw in the very near future and have narrowed it down to the Grizzly G0513X2B 17" and the Laguna 14bx.

I was originally leaning towards the Grizzly mainly because it can take a 1" blade while the Laguna can only go up to a 3/4". On the other hand, the Laguna is 2.5 HP while the Grizzly is 2 HP.

So the question is, what can I do with a 1" blade that I can't with a 3/4"? I plan on doing some minor resawing of maple, cherry and walnut and both saws have more than enough resaw capacity (12") for my needs. I guess I'm hung up on which is more important for resawing, the blade width or motor HP.


Thanks!

 

[Tarhead]

George the strength of the saw's spine and motor are the deciding factors. This is way overstated in most Asian made 14" bandsaws. Kind of like having a speedometer that goes to 140 on a Yugo. :gar-Bi Flexing of the spine comes from the drag on the blade making the cut and friction the beam of the blade creates. When the spine flexes, the blade loses tension and cups in the cut. This potential is multiplied exponentially when a 6" riser is installed. The other issue is speed. I don't have 5 minutes to resaw a 2 ft 10 in hardwood board in order to do this on an underpowered saw.

I'm in the wider is better camp (to a point) as the section of the blade w/o teeth is a beam and assists with tracking a straight line. The bigger the beam the less likely you are to stray. But...you can get a very smooth, straight cut on a 1/2" Woodslicer blade if everything is dialed in.

 

[Phil S]

Take a close look at the Hammer 3800 or 4400. I have the 4400 and use a Laguna 1" resaw and there is no flex. I have used many pacific rim bandsaws - there is no comparison to the Hammer Austrian quality and power

 

[dupont6480]

George,

Take a look at the Laguna 14 SUV. Takes 1 inch blade, 3 HP and same construction and features as the 16 and 18 3000 series.

Good luck,

Tim

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

I have the Grizzly G0513X2 17" bandsaw. It works great wtih a 1/2" Woodslicer blade. I tried 3 different Laguna Resaw King blades. Two different 1" blades (the first was determined to be defective by Laguna) and a 3/4" blade. I was not able to get satisfactory results with any of them. I spent hours and hours making adjustments, trying different tensions, making the wheels coplaner, honing the edge of the blade, etc. Nothing worked. Eventually I went back to a woodlicer blade, had it up and running in 30 minutes and I haven't looked back since.


Here are some threads documenting my experiences:

https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=47596


https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=59730&highlight=woodslicer



I almost want you to get the Grizzly bandsaw just to see if you can get good results with a 1" resaw king (assuming you went with that blade). Who knows, maybe the problem was me.

 

[LB75]

Thanks everyone! The Hammer looks to be a bit out of my price range at this time. Really leaning heavily towards the Grizzly but need to do some research on the 1" blade issue to see if what Jeremy dealt with is common with that saw. If it is, I think the Laguna 14 SUV might just be the ticket.

 

[MarkE]

Just a couple of thoughts.

I don't think you will see much difference between a 2hp vs 2.5hp motor.

A larger diameter wheel will introduce less stress to the blade than a smaller diameter wheel.

My 'rule of thumb' for blade width has always been, use one size smaller then the max (claimed) supported by the saw. Just because a saw can use a 1" blade doesn't mean it will use it well. (See Jeremy's post above)

Blades over 3/4" wide are (usually) thicker steel. This is one reason why a smaller wheel diameter saw can't use a wider blade, it can't be tensioned properly without causing stress damage to the blade as it wraps around the smaller wheel.

I have the Grizzly G0514XB, 19" saw. It is rated for up to 1-1/4" blade. I put a 1" Lennox Woodmaster CT (carbide tipped) blade on the saw shortly after I bought it and it is still on the saw after several years of use. It was an expensive blade to buy (~$110) but it has paid for itself many times over. This blade stays on the saw and I use it for everything I do on this saw. The Woodmaster CT is not made in widths under 1". I have a small Rikon benchtop bandsaw that I use for small work like cutting tight curves and such.

The G0514XB is on sale right now for about $245 more than the G0513XB you are considering.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Since you asked about blades, I use a 1/2" Woodslicer blade on my 14" Rikon BS. It gives a great cut and I have had no problems w/ it.

 

[Willemjm]

I have the Grizzly and it has served me pretty good for several years. Some important notes though:

The wheel diameter is 16 3/4" and despite what Grizzly will tell you, that is too small for a blade thicker than 0.025".

Here is a link, among many, scroll down to see thickness versus wheel diameter. https://lagunatools.com/accessories...ndsaw-blades/proforce/proforce-bandsaw-blade/

Here is the problem, as far a I know Laguna are the only ones making a 1" and 3/4" blade which is high quality, close to to 0.025" and they cost a fortune.

All the other makers of QUALITY blades which cut straight, clean and last reasonably long, do not go thinner than 0.032" on their blades 3/4" wide and up. Use that on your Grizzly with the 16 3/4" diameter wheel and they cut beautifully, until you are faced with the blades fatigue stress cracking with relative short usage life. The cheaper carbon steel 1" or 3/4" blades are also 0.032" thick, but they will be blunt with not much use during re-sawing and the performance is normally pretty bad. You can have the best bandsaw, but put a poor quality blade on it and it performs pretty bad, especially if you are re-sawing wide boards.

So, in short, if you want to use high quality blades for around $45 a blade on your Grizzly G0513, with long life and great cutting performance, 1/2" wide is pretty much your limit for blade width.

I resaw 12" wide veneer 3/32" thick with Lenox Diemaster II blades on that saw (1/2" wide blades), and it does a pretty good job. You have to just feed a little slower.

For cutting boards out of logs (large diameter), I bite the bullet and use 1" blades, but they don't go very far in terms of service life. If I use cheap blades for this purpose, it is a disaster every time, namely Timberwolf, Grizzly, Woodslicer, etc.

Hope that helps, in short I believe my G0513 is approaching 10 years of use and I have been very pleased with it. Just know it has limitations. I am not sure if the new ones need this, but I upgraded my blade guides with a kit Grizzly offered, which made a big difference.

I have actually just cut a bunch of up to 12" wide 8/4 Walnut boards out of logs weighing around 500lbs each and it went pretty good, using the setup pictured below. I used a Lenox Tri Master 1" carbide tipped blade, which was damaged by a shop and thrown out. I managed to repair the blade well enough to use it for this purpose, but it is the second Tri-Master I have used on this saw, they don't go many hours before they crack and fail. They cost around $200 new.

 

[Edailey002]

I admittedly know very little about these kinds of bandsaws but here is what I can tell you from a bandmill users perspective. Bigger band wheels are better than smaller ones for band life expectancy, having the band wheels set up properly effects blade life as well and performance in the cut. Having the band tensioned and supported correctly will effect cut quality. Higher band speeds effect blade life, cut accuracy, feed speed and dust ejection but that will be limited by available power. I would suggest with which ever you get that you get a couple of different drive pulleys and belts and change them in accordance with what you are cutting. It will make a difference I assure you if you are cutting any quantity at all. Band width is important because wider is thicker, thicker is more ridgid and more ridgid is more stable in the cut BUT you need larger diameter band wheels for thicker bands or stress cracks will develop rapidly. Hope some of this provides some assistance in your search.

 

[scsmith42]

George, I have a Grizzly G0513X2B 17" bandsaw in my shop and like it a lot. It has exceeded my expectations, and the electric brake is great.

I've never run into a situation where I thought that it lacked power, but if I was concerned about more power I would go with the 0514 3 hp 19" model. A few years back I was visiting with Shiraz Baolia about the saws and he mentioned that the 0514 was one of their most popular models and he thought provided the most saw for the buck.

I use my 30 hp horizontal bandsaw for resawing so I can't speak to the 0513's resawing capacity, but overall it is a great saw.

In general, a wider band will allow you to tension it to a higher amount, and also provide a faster, straighter cut. From a production standpoint, the wider band coupled with requisite hp to operate it under load makes sense. However, if you only occasionally resaw, I think that you will find that a high quality band such as the Resaw King from Laguna, or a TriMaster from Lennox will provide very acceptable results on the Grizzly.

 

[LB75]

Thanks for all the help everyone! After doing a bunch more research based on the feedback here, I think I'm going to go with the 19" Grizzly 0514. It seems like that one is going to be the best bang for the buck and will do anything I could ever possibly want to do with it. Might be a little more saw than I was originally after, but it would be the last one I'd ever need to buy.

 

[chris_goris]

Take a close look at the Hammer 3800 or 4400. I have the 4400 and use a Laguna 1" resaw and there is no flex. I have used many pacific rim bandsaws - there is no comparison to the Hammer Austrian quality and power

I have a 4400 I would part with......

 

[LB75]

I have a 4400 I would part with......

Hmmm, you have my attention...