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PostPosted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:28 pm 
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Based on a friend's experience I decided it was time to try a bi-metal blade for resawing since they generally last longer than standard blades. I bought a Lenox Classic Pro Vari-Raker blade, which alternates between 2 and 3 TPI. The blade is 1" wide. My early tests have been quite satisfactory. I resawed an 8" wide cherry board and got the most consistent results I've gotten with any blade I've tried. There is NO belly to the cut and the blade tracks dead-straight. A single pass through the jointer with about 1/32" depth of cut cleans up all cutting marks.

Now here's the interesting thing. The pricing on Amazon is totally random. My 142" blade cost $42, which isn't bad, esp for a bi-metal blade. But if you're willing to weld/braze your own blades (or go to a local shop to get it done), you can buy much longer blades for a LOT less money. After testing this blade and discovering the total randomness of the pricing, I bought a 178" for about $15. Same blade model, just longer, a lot less money. I can get it welded in Albq for $6.50 or I can try to braze it myself. ( Some crazy deals on coil stock on eBay.)


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:38 pm 
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Hey drstrip,

I've had good results with Lenox carbide blades, but I also found that the blade back was much thicker than the Laguna ResawKing, which is also a carbide toothed blade. As with most carbide blades, the back fatigues before the teeth get too dull to use. The thinner the back, the longer it lasts.

As far as brazing blades, I recently bought a brazing jig because no one would weld my smallest blade. I've had good luck silver solder brazing the light blade, but haven't tried it on a large one.

I'll be interested to see how you get on with the new blade, keep us posted.

Cheers,
Tom

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:38 pm 
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Hey drstrip,

I've had good results with Lenox carbide blades, but I also found that the blade backing was much thicker than the Laguna ResawKing, which is also a carbide toothed blade. As with most carbide blades, the back fatigues before the teeth get too dull to use. The thinner the back, the longer it lasts.

As far as brazing blades, I recently bought a brazing jig because no one would weld my smallest blade. I've had good luck silver solder brazing the light blade, but haven't tried it on a large one.

I'll be interested to see how you get on with the new blade, keep us posted.

Cheers,
Tom

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:16 am 
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Tom -
Just to be clear, I'm using the Lenox Classic Pro, which is a bi-metal blade, not a carbide tipped blade.
I looked up that Laguna blade and it really is thin - the web page says it's .024" (but in one place it says the pitch is 2-3, and when selecting a blade width and length it says 3-4, so I don't completely trust the data). The Lenox Tri-master is the same .025" for a 1/2" blade, but the wider blades get thicker.

The blade I have (the Classic Pro) is .035, so it's thicker than the backing for the Laguna.

Another question about the Laguna - it says the backing is .024" and the kerf is .041", which means that the tips are only .017 wider than the backing - about 1/64" total wider than the backing. That's a really small bit of carbide. Are those numbers consistent with your experience? The 1/2" Lenox TriMaster lists a kerf of .05" for the same .025" backing.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:28 am 
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Hey drstrip,

I'm sorry, I did catch that you got the bimetal, but I haven't any experience with that blade. I think that my blade is 3-4, but I'll check.
It is amazingly thin and the numbers you quote sound correct, again I'll have to check.

One of the reasons that I switched to the Laguna was that they will resharpen it for $45. I now have two, so that I have one to use while the other is off being sharpened.

Cheers,
Tom

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 10:17 am 
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TMS or DRSTRIP, I have a question. When you have broken those wide resaw blades and soldered/brazed it did you find that fatigue showed up in other places on the blade? Being in far distant SW NM I don't have access to a shop that can weld the blade. A long time ago I fabricated a brazing jig that works very well on smaller blades and I am tempted to braze the one inch carbide blade that broke.

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 11:54 am 
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Hey Frank,

The back is always going to fail first (and repeatedly) on a carbide blade. Eventually, it's just not worth the effort to keep repairing it.

Cheers,
Tom

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:09 pm 
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While Tom is right that over time fatigue will mean the blade has reached end of life, I'd be tempted to try to repair the blade if this is its first break, esp if it's an expensive carbide tipped blade. If it's a generic steel blade or even a bi-metal, I'd probably trash it and buy new.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 1:41 pm 
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I would definitely repair it if it’s the first break. I usually repair about two or three times before giving up. Usually, if I'm on the third repair, I will find a number of small cracks initiating that mean another break is imminent.

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