I’ve been doing a lot of bowl turning recently using green wood. I have the General 14″ bandsaw with riser block and use it along with a circle cutting jig to rough out my bowl blanks. Bowl blanks are between 5″ and 10″ diameter (so I need a blade that can cut curves) and up to 7″ or so. I turn mostly hardwood, lately Acacia. I’ve never had a problem with power before (I was resawing 8-1/2″ thick kilned dogwood with ease) but the motor stalls easily when cutting this green Acacia. I know that my blade is too fine for the task.
I am looking for recommendations of blade width, TPI, or brand for a suitable blade.
Chris @ flairwoodworks
– Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer
Replies
Chris,
Try a 1/2" 3 tpi skip-tooth in carbon steel from http://www.bcsaw.com. They are made by Starret and weldel up by BC. Besides being good blades, they're inexpensive so you can afford to keep a good one on.
Happy & safe New Year.
Steve
There are two secrets to keeping one's wife happy.
1. Let her think she's having her own way.
2. Let her have her own way. President Lyndon Baines Johnson
I use 1/2" 2 tpi custom made for my saw, which is a special length 18' 3". I get them from Memphis Machine at a reasonable price. I normally cut up to 16" depth with no problem.
If you are short of power, using fewer teeth will help.
I contacted Suffolk Machinery to inquire about Timberwolf blades. They asked a lot of questions about my saw and what I cut, then made recommendations based on that. At the time they had a "443" deal, where you buy 4 blades for the price of 3. I've been happy with the blades, price, and service.
Chris, I second the scott's info, call Suffolk, they know what works the best on your saw and they can provide a larger variety of solutions than most at good prices. They have more tooth types than I can remember and they make the timber wolf. Obviously I love their blades, they work.Paddy
For green wood, you need a blade with a fair amount of set. The Highland woodturner's blade works well:
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=6944&HS=1
It probably doesn't have an advantage over a good 1/2" 3 tpi blade unless you want to cut to a smaller radius than you mention though.
I use Olsen All-Pro 1/2"/3TPI hook with no problems on anything.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
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