Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello to the real Resaw Kings,

seems like bandsaws and sawblades are of interest these days alot, so I want to jump in with a question regarding the Laguna Resaw King Bandsaw Blade.

I have done quite alot of resawing with the Woodmaster CT, the results being very satisfying.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115793185519493121307


I now bought one Resaw King blade from Laguna, actually I bought it here in Germany from the company which is producing these blades for Laguna here in south Germany.

http://www.kohlbacher.com/index.php?pag ... 1207390264

Actually, there was not really a reason for me to change the blade, the Woodmaster CT works really good on my saw, very long blade life, quite good surface, perfect tracking...what is drift?????

But I am curiouse and wanted to see and feel and experience the difference between these two blades. You never read anything negativ about the Woodmaster CT, about the Resaw King there are some negative statements here and there in the internet, also very recently in this forum.

Also i have once seen a video posted online with somebody having seriouse problems with a Resaw King. As far as I remeber the blade was biting into a piece of cocobolo, the saw was shaking, bocking down, quite scary video to watch when considering how expensive such a blade, and the wood, is.

Now I want to resaw some boards of BRW, so I want to put on a new, fresh blade, and I want to test the Resaw King for the BRW. Perhaps, with resawing the back and sides just a little bit thinner (because of the even smoother surface?), and the thinner kerf of the Resaw King, I might be able to get this one extra slice...you know

So, who has used both blades, who knows where to find this video with the failing Resaw king? Any tips and tricks for the Resaw King in comparison with the Woodmaster CT?

Any comments, ideas and worrys highly appriciated,

Thank you and cheers, Alex

Yes there has been a lot of chatter (no pun intended) about the resaw king.

I used a Woodmaster CT & bought a resaw king hoping to get a smaller kerf & smoother cut too. The kerf was smaller but I couldn't get a good cut. I spent hours messing with blade tension, guides, and drift adjustment but couldn't get it to work as it should. It now hangs on the wall.

I bought the 1" version but I know that a member here (the guy who ran Forgotten Woods I think) ran the 1-1/4" Resaw King and swore by it.

I would do some serious testing before I put a piece of BRW into it.

Kevin Looker

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

I have run both on my 32" Northfield. On a brand new blade they seem quite similar, but of course this is very difficult to assess as every resawing task varies a bit. The Woodmaster CT definitely lasts longer in my experience. As I do a lot of resawing of boules for furniture pieces I have a roller fence and powerfeed which really eases blade wear due the even pressure and constant feed rate when resawing. I also have the variable speed belt drive Northfield and run woods like BRW at about 7500 FPM and a moderate feed rate, very smooth straight off the saw.

Happy building, Tim

Kevin and Alex - I use both. When I first put on the brand new Resaw King it wouldn't even cut Cedar well? I had to send it back to them for sharpening. It is now by far the finer of the 2 blades
(vs Woodmaster). I look at the Woodmasters (which are excellent) as workhorses and the Resaw King as more of a fine finishing blade. I only put it on when I want better yield. 0 drift, ridiculously small kerf and if I had a power feed it would produce cuts smooth enough that would clean up in minutes with a scraper, if you were so inclined. . I just said in another thread my best yield was 4 usable slices from a 11/16th board.

They did a very good sharpening job over at Laguna. You might want to give it a try Kevin. And Alex, I've heard of others that have had the same problem. You can't exactly take the blade to your local saw filer. I would think whatever grinding technic would be somewhat specific to that blade. Shipping from Germany to California might be a few deuchmarks but I'm thinking you might have a wee bit of expertise in the field of blade sharpening so it might not be an issue. And thanks for taking the time to put up photos of your resaw efforts. It's nice to see the great results and wood.

Enjoy the Day

It sounds like it would be prudent if you buy a resaw king to immediately ship it to Laguna for sharpening.

How much does that cost?

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Frankly that sounds pretty bad for Laguna to send blades that aren't ready for use.

I haven't tried the WoodmasterCT yet, but plan on buying a few this spring from Spectrum Supply in Ohio. I have several ResawKings, and it is hit and miss with sharpness. Too expensive to send them back to Laguna for sharpening when dull out of the box, so I will try and sharpen them myself. As for the sharp ones, they are fantastic. The woodmasters are less than half the price.

Bob

I don't recall but it wasn't out of line if my poor old memory serves me correct. It is nice to be able to resharpen a blade. Especially an expensive one. I don't know if the service is available for Lennox blades.

I was told around 30$ for sharpening by a Laguna rep yesterdY...

Thank you so much for your answers. I am still planing and thicknesssing the blanks, so not yet at the bandsaw. Guess I can start resawing tomorrow. I will put on the Resaw King and see how it behaves, in case I do not like it, I will put on a new Woodmaster CT.

Another question for the experienced: How many sets can I expect to resaw with one Resaw King? The BRW is old and hard.
Just a rough guess would be nice for me.

Thank you, cheers, alex

If you have a solid power feeder....
30 to 50 sets of the BRW
100-150 for less dense species.
Keep the blade cool with water/air mist
Resharpen RK blades 5 times

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Lance Peck

Yes I have a power feeder....myself....feeding myself with chocolate all day to enhance power

Ok...40 sets...could work out then...we will see...will keep you informed.

Cheers, Alex

BTW...here is the enemy :

A worthy adversary, Alex!

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I live in Hawaii and send my used Lennox blades to Cascade Carbide in Eugene, Oregon for sharpening. They do an excellent job. 3-4 sharpenings on a blade. I also buy my Lennox blades from Oregon Industrial in Eugene. Good service and prices. I use a 24" Laguna saw and find the Laguna blades terrible compared to Lennox.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Today I tested the Resawking.

The blanks have been cut to sizes, planed and thicknessed. I always work all 4 sides plane and straight before I start resawing.
So I changed the Woodmaster CT for the Resaw King. I did not have any problems so far. Adjusting, tracking, drifting (not happening at all) everything perfect. The blade is very sharp and cuts well. Till now I resawed about 8 back sets BRW all at least 8 inches wide.

Here my observations regarding the differences between these two high quality blades:

- The Resaw King is way slower than the Woodmaster CT. The feedrate has to bee reduced.
- The Resaw King needs a bit less tension, BUT not as much less as I would have expected. Still I am cranking up the tension on the saw real high.
- Of course, the kerf is about 15% thinner, which gives better yield, and makes a nicer, more true, bookmatch.
- The surface quality is...OMG...this is unbelievable. It is as smooth as out of the thickness planing machine. It is so smooth I would hesitate to glue it because it would be too smooth for my taste. Seriousliy, you can put a finish on this surface. That´s crazy!
- The Resaw King is more flimpsy, feels more fragile. I recognized something interesting. In one of the blanks there was a kind of swirl, an irregularity in the straightness of the grain. While I am sure the Woodmaster CT would cut through this swirl without any problems, the Resaw King was wandering about 0,1 - 0,2 mm in the area of the swirl. Nothing dramtic, but interesting.

Another questin, of course, should be: Do we need such a perfect surface? NO, because the backs and the sides will be thickness sanded anyway, but it is nice to have, and again, the bookmatch stays very true, which I like a lot.

Interseting, the first two cuts were not so smooth, but then, suddenly the blade woke up somehow. I guess this is because, perhaps, there have been very small rough left overs at the teeth from the grinding process while sharpening. After a few cuts the teeth became totally clean and started to show what they can. My guess.

Of course I can not yet judge how long the Resaw King will last, compared to the Woodmaster CT. But as others have stated, I have to expect way less blade life.

And we have a differnt price, the Resaw King costs me nearly double the amount of money compared with the Woodmaster CT. But I will ask the company Kohlbacher for a better price when buying a few blades.

Resharpening is possible with the Resaw King for about 40 Euros, but I can also resharpen a Woodmaster CT, so here the calculation gets difficult.

Till now I do net yet know which blade I like more, we will see. Easier, safer and faster is the Woodmaster CT, more fun and more high-end the Resaw King.

Cheers, Alex

I live in Eugene and my experience with Cascade Carbide not so great. Tri-Masters have a triple chip grind and they are not set up for that, but sharpen the face only. They told me before hand, but I gave it a try. For me......not satisfactory.

I also have a 1/2 in lenox tri-master from industrial bandsaw blade in LA. The other day after resawing , the blade started to not want to cut in a straight line (cut at a slight angle)in resawing 4in wide black walnut. When I was using carbon steel blades , I assumed that the teeth were worn on one side , so would not resaw with that blade. Is this the same deal with the tri-master???. I/m guessing that they need to be returned for sharpening?? but not sure .Can any of you guys confirm this for me ? As this is my first time using a trimaster . I/ve probably resawed abt 5 hrs so far. Thanks

Less saw marks = less thickness sanding. This should make it a little less stressful to go for thinner slices, as long as you have enough wood left to clean up a less than flat glue up on the back joint. Sides on the other hand, you can almost cut them to final thickness with a sharp RK. I have to hand bomb on mine but I could well imagine how a power feed would make for a very perfect cut.

Thanks for the report Alex.

Power feeder makes a huge difference with the RK blade. The cut is smoother. The blade will last 3 times longer before needing resharp. The feed rate can be increased.

_________________
Lance Peck

How does a power feeder accomplish this?

I'm not sure how but it does.
I have my opinion as to how.....
The RK blade is very thin and flexible, the kerf leaves basically no open space.
When you use your hands to push the wood through there is always going to be variations in feed pressure, rate and direction.
Using a thicker stiffer blade if you wobble a little the blade is not influenced very much but when you wobble the wood during a RK cut the blade may be forced to alter its straight line path, even for only a fraction of a second this will affect the cut.
Every time the band behind the teeth is forced with pressure it builds heat as compared to a free tracking band. The heat is what causes the teeth to dull faster.

So using a power feeder applies constant pressure in a direct line and avoids these small issues.
I use a feed rate of 3 feet per minute and it cuts clean but pushing by hand at that rate causes problems. I really don't know why other than what I tried to explain above.

Adding water mist cooling keeps the blade completely cool to the touch and this is important with the RK blade.

All this may sound like a hassle and a lot of trouble but once you have dialed it in the results are worth it.
Perfect bookmatches because you don't have to sand much of the face of the set (remember you remove thickness from the back).
Squeezing out one more slice in a two inch billet means 5 sets instead of 4. That's 25% more sets from valuable wood.
As Alex said he cut 8 back sets of his BRW and got 15% more slices, that equates to another set of BRW and that alone is worth the cost difference with other blades.

_________________
Lance Peck

Here are 3 videos that show the power feed. As you can see the speed is faster than can be done by hand without problems. At least I can't push the wood through that fast and steady.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=49 ... =3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10 ... =3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=46 ... =3&theater

_________________
Lance Peck

I use a power feeder on my table saw when ripping, and the quality of cut is much better. They save your body from the repetitive stress, and keep your hands away from the blade.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Thanks for the videos! I'd never seen such a power feed before. Want!!!

Hello,

very interesting videos, had seen them before already, but thank you. Yes a powerfeeder is something I should go for. Unfortunatelly they are quite expensive and seem to be difficult to find a used one.

And you totally right, somehow it is not possible to resaw fast with th RK by feeding with hand.
I can imagine that using a powerfeeder is also better for blade life.

One thing I noticed today:

I resawed 11 slices, so 5 backs and a single one out of one block of BRW. The block was 60cm long and 22,5cm wide. 23,5 inches long and 9 inches wide.

So till now all together the Resaw King resawed about 13 back sets and also about 4 sides sets. Now the blade is dirty and full with gunk. Tomorrow I will clean it with aceton. Is this normal, I guess yes with BRW?

The woodmaster stayed cleaner for a longer time.

I am resawing the backs at about 0,150 inches and the sides about 0,130 inches thick. I do not dare to go thinner
The sides perhaps to 0,120. But I am always concerned about some wraping or some defects. Do you really resaw the sides to nearly final thickness? What does this mean in a number? 0,085 inches ? omg...

The Laguna Powerfeeder looks nice, but it is too expensive. doesnt make sense for me...What speed do you resaw with? When resawing a back? In BRW or something comparable...not mahogany really 3 feet per minute????? something is wrong with my setup....

I need for a back slice with 60cm lenght and 22,5 cm width about 3-4 minutes!!!! Soemhow I think that is too slowly?
That is about 24 inches in about 4 minutes, thats about 6 inches in a minute....something wronge here?

I am also afraid my blade gets then too hot? Too less power at the saw? Motor has about 4 HP. Blade length is 196 inches.

I need a powerfeeder....

Cheers, Alex