Lennox Bandsaw Blade

[John King]

I have a MiniMax 16 on the way and I am looking for guidance/thoughts
on bandsaw blades. I have noted in this and other forums that many
MiniMax owners are using Lennox Bi-Metal bandsaw blades with
excellent results. I went to the Lennox Bi-Metal bandsaw blade web
site and found eight (8) blade options - QGT, QXP, Armor RX+,
Contester GT, LXP, Rx+, Classic and Diemaster 2.

Here are the questions.

1) Which of the eight Lennox Bi-Metal bandsaw blades works best in
cutting green wood bowl blanks? What other characteristics are
important (blade width, blade thickness, teeth per inch, etc.)?

2) Which of the eight Lennox Bi-Metal bandsaw blades works best in
resawing kiln dried wood? What other characteristics are important
(blade width, blade thickness, teeth per inch, etc.)?

3) Are there Lennox bandsaw blades other than those listed above
that are more suitable for cutting bowl blanks and resawing? If yes,
please provide specifics.

Because of cost I have excluded carbide blades from this evaluation.

I appreciate and look forward to any inputs you may have on this
subject. - John

 

[Bill Boehme]

For green wood, there is no real advantage to an expensive blade, but you will want one with a deep gullet -- probably 2 to 3 TPI and 3/4 to 1 inch wide. If you are cutting green wood, then brazed carbide tipped blades are NOT recommended. They should only be used on kiln dried woods. I would just get a much less expensive blade from Suffolk.

 

[Rob Wallace]

Check-out the woodturners blade from Highland Woodworking

Several members of our woodturners group and I have had very good success with the "woodturners blade" sold by Highland Woodworking in Atlanta. I've been using these blades for at least three years, and now always have a new one in inventory for replacement when necessary.

Click HERE to see this product.

It does what they say it is capable of doing, even with soaking wet wood. Good clearance of sawdust with its deep gullets, and it is capable of making fairly tight radii if you're cutting smaller blanks.

I actually sharpen these blades right on the bandsaw, using a Dremel tool and a diamond chainsaw sharpening bit (5/32"). Takes only a few minutes to touch-up the teeth and the blade cuts as new.

No affiliation with this company, other than being a satisfied customer.

Rob Wallace

 

[robo hippy]

My first bandsaw is a PM industrial 14 by 6 inch saw with a cast iron body and a 96 inch blade. Every one I talked to told me to go to a local guy for blades. I went in and told him what I was doing and he recomended a bimetal blade, and he carried Lennox blade stock. I later got into turning, and have been using the Lennox bimetal blades ever since for resawing green bowl stock. I now have a Laguna 16HD saw, and use the 1 1/4 inch Diemaster blades on it, and the blades have teeth about 3/4 inch apart. The only thing I have to compare it to is my chainsaws, and it beats them hands down. I have had the carbide blades, and they are best used for resawing veneer stock, where you want a surface that doesn't need hardly any work. If your saw is properly tuned up, this is possible. The good thing about the bimetal blades is you can take on a nail or 3 without ruining your blade. They cost me (150 inch blades) about $10 each to get sharpened. I usually have several on hand. The only bad thing about them is figuring out how to unwind them safely without having to toss them up in the air and let them go wild. There is a tecnique, that I almost have down.
robo hippy

 

[Steve Worcester]

The good thing about the bimetal blades is you can take on a nail or 3 without ruining your blade. They cost me (150 inch blades) about $10 each to get sharpened.
robo hippy

Where do you get your blades sharpened? The only people that would talk to me about this would only do blades that are 1-2 teeth/inch.

 

[robo hippy]

There are 2 saw shops here in town that I know of that will do it. I would think that most saw shops can, or if they can't they will know some one who will. The teeth get set each time as well. We do have a lot of loggers here, so maybe more big bandsaws. They sharpened my 1/2 inch, 3 tpi blades as well.
robo hippy