I made a resawing video!

[Chuck Tweedy]

Not sure if I'm the most qualified person in the world to make such a video, but hey! Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBXFpcoJBJo

[Jason Rodgers]

Excellent! It was cool to see your shop in action (and you, too). That is some super ridiculous walnut!

[Eric Baack]

<<------ jealous of that bandsaw!!!!! Oh, and of the walnut too!

[Steve Senseney]

Nice wood!

Tidy shop.

Why did the blade dull so quickly?

[Chuck Tweedy]

Thanks guys.

Don't know Steve. It might have been because the wood was wet?
The second one also gave up the ghost quickly and I actually had to stop short of completing the cut on the last slice.
Maybe I was cutting too fast or slow... ??

[Mark Swanson]

That is a great video Chuck! Nice to ee you again.
I have had blades go dull like that on me too. I don't think it's a matter of too fast or too slow, when cutting it actually gets pretty easy to feel what the right speed is, I think.

[Jason Rodgers]

Were both blades brand new? I don't have a ton of resaw experience, but I do buy cheap blades, so I've dulled a few. Walnut is hard stuff, and my guess is that slicing through, what, 4 feet of 10 inch wood is just taxing on a steel blade. Consider the square inches that those teeth are contacting times 6 cuts, and you probably use up the lifetime of a blade real quick.

[Dave Anderson]

Great job on the video Chuck. Looks like some gorgeous walnut!

[Mario Proulx]

Nicely done! Nice saw, too.

On my little, and totally underpowered 14" Delta, it helps me a lot to make three cuts(both edges and the starting end) on the table saw, with a thin kerf Freud 7-1/4" blade. The kerf isn't much wider than the bandsaw blade's, and at full height on my Unisaw, it cuts a little over 2" in height, which means you're re-sawing 4 inches -less- width than you would otherwise, and a couple inches less in length. Every bit helps prolong the blade's life!

[Jason Rodgers]

I did this a couple weeks ago when slicing up some Osage for fingerboards and bridges. Holy crap, can that stuff kill a blade dead in no time flat! Zip on the table saw with the Freud 40-some tooth blade, easy peasy on the bandsaw.

[Chuck Tweedy]

An extra cut using the tablesaw method could really have helped for a couple reasons - and I wish I had thought of it before.
It would have cut the giant knot along one edge that sent the re-saw blade off track - that was a pain, and ...
It would have opened up the bottom of the kerf for the swarf to get out.

After thinking about this more I'm pretty sure that the swarf (sawdust) was the killer.
I had been resawing walnut - dry walnut - earlier on this exact setup and did a significant amount without killing a blade. The difference is that the dry swarf does not stick to anything (or itself). The wet walnut swarf is very cake-y and did not clear out of the slot well. I even got stuck a couple times where the cut would not proceed without heavy pressure. After looking at it, the cut was jammed with a wet cake of swarf that had even turned black from picking up iron from the blade - not burned. SO - the woodslider blade - with its extremely minimal set - was not letting the slot clear.
A blade with more set, or opening up the slot, would have really helped.

[Bob Gramann]

I've been using the Woodmaster CT, a carbide blade. It's expensive but worth it. The way the carbide is attached, the blade cuts straight without a need for the special resaw fence. The kerf is wide (about .055) but the blade cuts very well.

[Charlie Schultz]

@ Bob- are you using that blade on green/wet lumber?

@ Chuck- what was the tpi on the blade you used?

[Chuck Tweedy]

3 - but it is variable. The woodslicer blade has staggered distance teeth.

[Jason Rodgers]

Wow, I've not cut wet wood like that. I wouldn't have expected it to cause so much trouble, what with the cake-y swarf you describe (sounds like a pirate with a gland problem). If the kerf isn't clearing, though, I suppose it doesn't matter what the bits are made of.

[Bob Gramann]

I'm not cutting wet/green lumber. I often cut Osage Orange (I usually use a Trimaster blade for that). They tell me that it cuts easier when it's green. I haven't had a chance to try that.

[Randy Roberts]

The speed you were cutting at in your video sure seemed pretty normal to me, but I'm sure no expert at resawing.

The only other wood I've resawn green was Osage Orange, on the advice of the guy I had bought it from. He said there was a world of difference between dry and green, and green it cut easier than any wood I've ever cut. Dry Osage has always been a bear for me.

I think you might be right about the thin set maybe not clearing the wet swarf out well enough. I've so far not had a problem but I've always used a carbide blade resawing, and the teeth tend to look like big shovel heads compared to the band, and so are probably shoveling out the swarf pretty thoroughly.

Jason,
I've never thought of walnut as a particularly hard wood, what leads you to that conclusion?

[Steve Senseney]

Regarding Osage-

It cuts well when dry. It does not fuzz, and the swarf is like powder.

It cuts fairly well when wet also.

Cutting green wood does produce a swarf which will gum up the blade, causing heat, causing the blade to twist and giving very curious shapes to your cut pieces.

The worst cutting experience I have had is cutting ponderosa pine. The sap causes a very sticky mess. Even though the wood is soft and relatively easy to cut, the sap causes the blade to heat.

[Chuck Tweedy]

I've always used a carbide blade resawing, and the teeth tend to look like big shovel heads compared to the band, and so are probably shoveling out the swarf pretty thoroughly

Yep, I think the "big shovel/thin band" would have solved my problems.

[Jason Rodgers]

Randy, I was thinking of walnut amongst it's domestic peers that we use in instrument making: harder than cherry, on par or slightly harder than most of the maples, but about half as hard as Osage.