Laguna bandsaw blades I don't like you


Recommended Posts

This is my second shear force blade. The first one I used to resaw about 4 feet of birds eye maple, next time I tried to use it the teeth were dull, and deformed. I brought the blade back to Woodcraft and they gave me a new one to try. It worked great on about 10 feet of soft maple, and since then it's burn city. I bought a Starrett hook tooth "rip"blade 3/4" I've resawn about 15 feet with it so far, and figured I'd share my results. I've set the blade tension, drift, and guides appropriately for each blade and here's my comparison. Also don't mind the little lapse of thought. It's almost 2am. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I was at Woodcraft earlier and I was talking to the guys there about bandsaw blades.  They are Woodcraft guys so take the following with a grain of salt.  They could have no idea what they're talking about, they could be trying to sell a particular product, or they could be spot on.

I was asking for opinions about resaw blades that were better than the Timberwolfs/Woodslicers/Starretts/etc but not as expensive as the Resaw King.  They said there was no such blade.

They said their favorite blades were the Timberwolfs.  (Is the plural of Timberwolf Timberwolves?  Never mind.  Who cares.)

They poo-pooed Woodslicers (imagine that)...their reason was that they don't stay sharp for more than five minutes.

They sell the Starretts but insisted they were far inferior to the Timberwolfs.  Also because they don't stay sharp as long and a poorer quality cut compared to Timberwolf.

I asked for opinions about alternatives to the Resaw King and they just kind of shrugged their shoulders.  I don't think they get too many guys buying the carbide tipped blades.  One guy mentioned the Lenox blades and another mentioned a company called Morse that I'd never heard of.  Both guys said you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between these three blades.  I find that hard to believe but I didn't challenge them.

So boiled down, their recommendations were the Timberwolf or jumping to a carbide blade.  It's a big jump.  They do insist that the cut quality with the carbide blades is night and day different.  One guy said you could basically go straight to 180 grit right off the saw.  If that's true, I may be a couple hundred poorer pretty soon.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One guy said you could basically go straight to 180 grit right off the saw. 

That's verbatim to what the guy at my woodcraft said about the Resaw King. I almost bought one, but they were out of them and wanted to sell me the one on the demo 1412. I said how much? They said regular price, I said no thanks. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Eric. I have used nothing but Lexox blades for the past 10 years. I started out using Timberwolves because of the hype but found they didn't stay sharp very long. Then I tried a couple Lenox blades welded locally and they cut better and stay sharp much longer and have bought from the same place ever since. A 131 1/2" x 3/4" 3 TPI costs me $20. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

I've used lots of different blades on many different bandsaws and I keep coming back to the Lennox Diemaster Bi-metallic blade. I like the 1/2" x .025 4 tpi hook blade. I buy them here: https://www.toolcenter.com/BI-METAL_DIEMASTER.html. On my newly purchased Laguna 1214, the blade just "chugs" through most anything at a slow-moderate feed rate. Not quite so "grabby" as the 3 tpi blades I've used. A new or sharpened blade  seems to cut straight and doesn't bow in the cut. The Lennox Diemaster blade seems to stay sharp longer than most and can be re-sharpened many times. In fact, it cuts better after a LIGHT grinding of the teeth. 

No doubt there are better bandsaws and better blades out there, but for my money the Laguna 1412 with ceramic guides and a Diemaster blade is one sweet set-up for medium duty hobby or semi-pro woodworking.

An old, buy very true, saying ... " I'd rather have a $100 saw with a $50 blade than a $1000 saw with a $10 blade "

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Brendon_t said:

He does,  it's titled "I got a MM euro saw and you didn't so  there. ." 

At least Parts Pronto sent me twice the amount of stuff I ordered for the price of one order. 3 tires, 2 power knobs, and 2 electrical switch boxes. They kept messing up and not wanting the stuff back. Now I've got extra parts. 


As for the blades. I still maintain that the Starrett blades are great. Timberwolf blades are great as well for the 14" saws. 

The new 20" saw uses a Lenox Woodmaster CT 1.3 which is a killer blade

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

I bought a Laguna ReSaw King from Woodcraft about a year and a half ago. It worked awesome until about a month ago, the blade broke in two places. One was a horizontal break clean through and the other is a horizontal break about 3/8” deep about 18” from the main break. 
I contacted Woodcraft a few times and they always say they will get back to me. I never hear from them. I contacted Laguna twice and was only able to leave a message, to which they never responded to.

i took the blade to a local company that repairs bandsaw blades and they told me it’s .002 inches too thin to repair. Not sure how .002 can make a difference, but they wouldn’t repair it.

i would love to get another one, but with this kind of response, I’m not so anxious to make the same mistake again. (P.S., the blade only has a one year warranty).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forums!

After a year and a half, it’s really not Woodcraft’s issue at all. You should be contacting Laguna about it. They may decide to replace it or give you a discount on a replacement, but it’s out of warranty so they aren’t bound to do anything. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, DennisO said:

As I said, I’ve already attempted Laguna contact, but no response.

Send an email or message through their contact form. They've been good to me and replaced 4-5 resaw kings that broke exactly the way you describe. You'll need a picture of the break.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We bought the Laguna 14 SUV about 4 years ago and ordered it with the 1" Resaw King blade.  It cut great until I destroyed it (you can go to my YouTube channel and see a video called "PSA - Improper use of bandsaw" - I don't want to insert it here and hijack the thread).  I quickly ordered another blade and a spare.  All I use the saw for is resawing and the saw and blade have performed flawlessly.  So for me the Resaw King is a great blade.

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   3 Members, 0 Anonymous, 44 Guests (See full list)

  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    422k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,774
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    rojmwq4e
    Newest Member
    rojmwq4e
    Joined