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After tweaking my old American Delta 14" bandsaw (1930s vintage) about as far as I can take it I am looking at getting a new bandsaw. A carbide blade is a given, either a Woodmaster CT, or Tri-Master. I don't intend to do lots of back & side resawing, maybe 6 sets per year. Mostly it will be used for ripping exotic wood into bindings, neck blanks, etc. I have a smaller Inca bandsaw with a 1/4" blade I use for cutting curves. The Grizzly G0457 seems like it would do everything I need and the 14" wheels would dictate the Tri-Master. General International has an attractive 14" saw, but it seems underpowered and the cast iron wheels look a bit wimpy.
All the info I have been able to glean on this and other forums indicates that 18" is the minimum diameter wheel for the Woodmaster CT. Stepping up to an 18" or larger saw not only costs more upfront, but makes it way more difficult to move it in place, takes up more floor space, and usually requires more amperage.
The initial cost of the 2 blades is close enough to not be a significant factor. So my question is posed to those who might have had experience with both of the Lenox blades mentioned above. If the Tri-Master cuts easier and smoother than the CT then it seems like the smaller saw would get the nod. If the Woodmaster out-performs the Tri-Master significantly then I may have to consider going to a bigger saw.
--Tom

Tom,
I cannot compare the tri to the woodmaster, but I recently installed a tri 1" 2-3 tooth on my 17" grizzly GO636x. Compared to the stock non carbide, well, there is no comparison. Resawed some 8.5 " soft maple and some 8" cherry, and went through like butter, nice and straight and a smooth finish.
The price on the tri master is more than the woodmaster, but spectrum supply gave me a great deal.

Brian

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

The Woodmaster CT has the same surface finish as my cheaper carbon steel blade of the same pitch. The difference being that the carbide obviously lasts longer (as to how long, it is debatable because I have to be significantly more careful with carbide blades when changing them... they chip easily). The carbon steel blade while it does not last nearly as long, can be resharpened many times at a low cost.

One thing you need to keep in mind is the carbide blade (even trimasters) need higher tension, definitely more than a Delta 14" can provide. I've heard stories of Trimasters on those 14" saws self feeding leading to breakage.

Personally I think a good compromise would be a bimetal blade such as Diemaster. With the lower TPI you can sharpen them when they go dull, at least until the HSS tip gets worn away.

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Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I love my Woodmaster CT but I also run it on a massive 36" saw.

I know people run them on 18" saws but I think that's the bare minimum.

Since the Trimaster comes in narrower widths, you're ok with the price, and you want a more manageable saw, I'd go with it. I've never heard a bad word about the Trimaster besides the price.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Tai,
Yet another reason to move on from the old Delta. I've done all I can do with it and definitely need to pass it along. I am hoping to get some feedback from folks who have used both the Tri and the CT.

Kevin, thanks for your input. The price difference between the Tri and CT lessens when you figure you have to put the CT on a bigger saw and buy a longer blade.

Tom I have a 1/2in tri master 3 tpi blade purchased from industrial blade supply in the LA area. I would recommend them over spectrum in grand rapids , as they sold me 2 crappy bi-metal blades that broke vy quickly on a craftsman12in and the craftsman 10 in rikon clone.I don./t think their knowledgeable about bandsaws and which blade goes on which BS. I use the trimaster on a scmi s-45 2 hp which I bought in st louis in 1995. The blade has cut a lot of vy hard wood exotics ,domestics, and foreign.in 1 year. I broke one tooth on resawing OO and industrial paid the freight both ways and repaired the blade.The tri.master can also get 1 sharpening after it/s dull. For a new BS.IMHO. I would save my money for a better quality saw e.g. laguna SCMI, felder . aggazzani , hammer, etc.. Shop around and do your own research. You will be amazed at whats out there .Lots of BS reviews on youtube.

How much resawing do you do? If you don't resaw that much then it makes no sense to pass on the Delta. You just need to learn to work with it. The widest blade it can tension properly is the Bimetal 1/2" 3T blade (the .025" ones from Olsen, not Diemaster). You can resaw with it just have to take it really slow. If you do get a larger saw for lots of resawing keep the Delta because changing blade on anything above 18" is going to be a real chore. Make sure the larger saw has a brake because a 18" saw takes what seems like an eternity to stop (maybe about 1 minute) but larger saws like 26"+ takes even longer... like 10 minutes for it to come to a complete stop (those sawmills even require a few minutes for it to come to full speed).

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I run my WoodMaster CT on my Laguna LT16HD with no issues at all. Not sure where this (18" min.) info is coming from, but I don't believe it to be accurate. For many things, I actually prefer the Aluminum Master over the WMCT.

If you want to run a big blade on a bandsaw, those old 14" Deltas don't have the frame stiffness to handle the kind of tension these blades require. The tubular steel framed saws are much stiffer and can usually handle higher tensions.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Do you have a table saw? If you do and your only talking about occasional resawing you could use the "nail in kerf" method of resawing and a common 1/4 inch wide 3tpi bandsaw blade on your 14 inch saw. I've even removed the upper guides to get more capacity for my 3/4 hp 14 inch Delta bandsaw. Using the table saw to cut deep kerfs on the top and bottom allows the bandsaw to only cut the remaining 2 to 4 inches of material in between. it's not as efficient as a dedicated resaw, but for half a dozen sets a year (or month) it might be more cost effective.

We have a number of band saws and re-saw 10,000+ feet of lumber per year ....... a Morse blade will out perform anything that Lenox has.....always best to call Morse to find out what kind of blade for your hp, material, and size........ Personally wouldn't want a saw less than 18" and preferably 1.5 hp and up..... 3hp probably ideal for most application. ( one of our bigger saws...... 20hp vertical we run a metal blade for cutting exotics... but wouldn't recommend it for lower hp....... found the manufacturer very helpful and knowledgeable about cutting materials and what to use. )

http://www.mkmorse.com/lobby/index.aspx?lobby=8

You can also have the Morse blades re-sharpened.

http://www.countrysaw.com/

My two cents......

Blessings,

Kevin

Thanks, Kevin W for your response. Interesting about the Morse blades. It is really cool that they can be resharpened. Morse blades don't seem to get the buzz that Lenox blades do. Some months ago I asked on this forum if anyone had used the M-Factor Morse blades carried by Woodcraft and got no first-hand answers.
I appreciate all the input from everyone so far.
--Tom

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--Reynolds Large

Yup kevin . is correct my machinest reiterated the same thing, morse metal blades for big bandsaws

I've used both the Trimaster and Woodmaster on 18" saws. The Trimaster leaves a nicer finish but makes a larger kerf. It was more expensive too. My advice: if you want to maximize yield, go with the Woodmaster; if you want to spend less time sanding/planing out scratches, get the Trimaster. I now use a Woodmaster exclusively, but maybe I should look into one of the Morse blades...

And keep the 14" saw with a small blade... I find having an extra bandsaw for light duty and curved work invaluable. Cutting curves with a 1" carbide blade is not practical.

I use both the Woodmaster CT and the Trimaster blades on my 18" Rikon bandsaw. I use the Woodmaster CT for most cuts (mostly resawing). It leaves a smoother cut than the Trimaster and cuts faster. But, it has a more aggressive tooth than the Trimaster and sometimes causes very hardwoods like Osage Orange to jump when I'm cutting a thick piece. I suspect a stiffer saw frame than the Rikon would solve this problem, but for the hardest woods, I switch to the Trimaster even though the cut is a little rougher and the kerf slightly larger. I have kept a smaller saw with a small blade for small and/or curving cuts so I don't have to change blades for the little stuff. Also, the kerf of the carbide blades turns a fair amount of good wood into dust and shavings. I use the big saw mostly for resawing and cuts through big stuff. I can't imagine using a carbide blade on the 14" Delta clone that I used to have. It just wasn't powerful enough or stiff enough. Resawing Osage Orange on the 14" clone didn't work well at all--the hard wood dulled bi-metal blades in just a few feet of cutting. When I bought the Rikon, it was a big step for me. Knowing what I know now, I would buy a big saw with a stiffer frame. Cheaping out on a tool that I use all of the time doesn't really save anything.

I can't comment on the Woodmaster CT, but I have compared (and have) both the Lennox Trimaster and the Laguna Resaw King carbide bandsaw blades.

The trimaster blades have a very heavy band - 0.9 mm thick - so heavy that they really aren't (in my opinion) very good even for a large Laguna LT18 bandsaw like I have. I think the band is too heavy and inflexible. The carbide teeth are very good and very sharp. The Trimaster blades I have came with the saw I bought and the previous owner had broken and re-soldered three of the Trimaster blades. The bands are so heavy that they take a kink when bent, unlike the resaw king.

The Laguna Resaw king has a much thinner and more flexible band - 0.6 mm thick - which feels much more appropriate for a moderate to large sized wood bandsaw. The band steel also appearrs to be "springier" than the Trimaster; it doesn't kink or take permanent deformation when bent, it's more like spring steel. The blade maybe has a bit more backwards flex when cutting than the Trimaster does, but I get really good results from the resaw king, and I should 'cause they cost a fortune.

If I read the web-site correctly, the Woodmaster CT also has a 0.9 mm thick band, and is not a carbide blade. If you aren't buying a carbide blade, I'd say almost any brand is good as long as it's sharp and you replace it frequently (they are cheap).

Agreed with the hassle of changing blades. I ran into an Inca 10" this past summer in a guy's barn. Once I got the mud dauber nests out of it, freed up the corroded parts, put new urethane tires and a new blade on it cuts like a champ.

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

From their website:

LENOX WOODMASTER® CT BAND SAW BLADES
CARBIDE TIPPED BLADES FOR OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

The CT stands for Carbide tipped, I bet.

cheers

Spectrum in Grand Rapids? Do you mean Cleveland?

To those of you who have used the Trimaster, which size? They come in many sizes including 1/2" x 3tpi that's only 0.025" thick which should work on a Delta 14" clone.

Bringing up the Resaw King is opening a can of worms. Some people love them some hate them. The one I got is a P.O.S. that wouldn't even saw Mahogany cleanly after judiciously setting up the guides. The Woodmaster CT is very forgiving about saw setup FWIW.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Yes I did get crappy blades , but it/s the BS blade supplier in grand rapids.Sorry , for the misquote must have got companies confused.

I have a souped-up Delta 14" cast iron saw with a heavy spring from Iturra and a 2 HP Baldor motor. I've been using a 1/2" Tri-master and I've had no problem so far resawing anything I've tried it on - top woods plus Ovangkol, Padauk, Bubinga, Zebrawood, Cocobola. I don't do that much resawing, and if I were going to be doing it day after day I'd want a bigger saw. For the amount of resawing I do now, I'm pretty happy with the setup. The 2HP motor was key I think, possibly more than the blade.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

The amount of money you'd spend souping up a Delta 14" clone could buy you a decent 17" saw…

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I have the Laguna 24" saw. I had the Tri-master 1-1/4" wide on it for about 7 years-had it sharpened twice(about $60)..Great blade I probably cut at least 400 sets including a lot of really hard abrasive stuff ziricote,coco, macassar ebony etc.and a whole bunch of other cabinet related stuff until it broke recently -not on the weld.

So I got the Woodmaster 1" blade (slightly smaller kerf) WOW!!! this thing cuts really nice-much less feed pressure and smoother surface finish than Tri-master and it was less expensive-Did I say I really like it?

Correction, the amount you would spend on the 14" plus what it costs to soup it up would buy you a decent 17". Wish I had seen that coming up front. But I already had the 14", and it isn't a clone.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I have had Resaw Kings on my Laguna 16HD that were very good, and some that couldn't cut Lutz. I am switching over to the Woodmaster CT when the weather warm up.

Bob

Over in the UK there is a company named tuffsaws, they're blades are awesome and very well priced. Ian who runs the place is also a top guy, very helpful. I'm not sure of import laws into the USA, but if your allowed I would deffonately recommend you try them out.

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