Using the best sawmill blade is key to increasing production, improving cut quality, and reducing costs for your sawmilling or resawing operation. From green softwoods to abrasive hardwoods, Wood-Mizer manufactures an industry-leading range of sawmill blades with more than 100 combinations based on profile, width, thickness, tooth spacing, and material for any type of sawing or resawing application. With a wide variety of options available, selecting the blades that best fit your operation can be complex. Here is a helpful guide to understanding different parts of a band sawmill blade and how to choose the best blade profile and material for your sawing application.
A. Tooth Spacing is the distance between each tooth from one tip to another. Shorter tooth spacing (1/2″, 5/8″, 3/4″, and 7/8″) is generally used for low horsepower sawing (24HP or less), secondary processing, and resawing, while wider tooth spacing (1” and 1-1/4”) is ideal for high production, high horsepower (25HP or more) operations.
B. Gullet is the area between teeth that captures and removes sawdust while providing strength in the tooth. The tooth height must be tall enough to allow the gullet to carry out sawdust from the cut.
C. Tooth Height is the distance from the lowest point of the gullet to the highest tip of the tooth. Taller teeth (4°, 7°, and Turbo 7° hook angle) provide more performance in higher horsepower (25HP or more) with increased sawdust removal. Shorter teeth (9° and 10° hook angle) are better for lower horsepower (24HP or less), small log diameter sawing, resawing, and secondary processing.
D. Hook Angle is the number of degrees that the tooth face leans forward of 90 degrees. The hook angle should be chosen based on the type of wood you are sawing.
4° Sawmill Blades – Lowest hook angle for sawing frozen, dense hardwoods and knotty softwoods.
7° Sawmill Blades – Solid, all-around profile with a good gullet capacity for higher horsepower (25HP or more) sawing in hardwoods.
Turbo 7° Sawmill Blades – Only available from Wood-Mizer, this high-performing profile with an aggressive 39° back angle is engineered specifically for extreme and exotic hardwoods when sawing with higher horsepower (25HP or more) equipment.
Turbo 747 Sawmill Blades – Only available available from Wood-Mizer, this profile is compatible with all horsepower levels and features a deeper capacity gullet for increased sawdust removal, extreme 47° back angle for faster sawing speeds, and sharp penetrating points for increased sawing accuracy.
9° Sawmill Blades – Ideal blade for lower horsepower (24HP or less) sawing frozen wood, hardwood, and small diameter logs.
10° Sawmill Blades – Very popular all-purpose blade for all horsepower levels sawing mixed hardwoods such as red oak, cherry, walnut, soft maple, and poplar.
Vortex™ Sawmill Blades – Only available from Wood-Mizer, this unique dust-removal profile has more gullet capacity to remove sawdust from the board.
E. Tooth Set is the distance the tooth is bent beyond the body or raker tooth of the blade. Tooth set clears a path in the wood for the body of the blade which is measured by kerf or the total amount of wood removed by the blade with each pass. Wood-Mizer thin kerf blades remove less than 1/10” which produces about 20% more boards per log than circle mills or chainsaws.
F. Blade Width is the distance between the tip and base of the blade. Wider blades (1-1/2″ to 2″) are designed for higher horsepower (25HP or more) sawmills, provide a faster feed rate, and are able to be resharpened more. Narrow blades (11/4″ to 1-1/2″) are for lower horsepower sawmills (24HP or less) and more difficult sawing.
G. Blade Thickness is the thickness of the blade. Thicker blades (.045″, .050″, .055″) provide faster feed rates and better cutting performance in difficult sawing conditions such as knotty, frozen, dry or extremely hard material, but requires higher horsepower (25HP or more). Thinner blades (.035″, .038″, .042″) provide longer flex life with lower horsepower sawmills (24HP or less) where production or speed is not a primary factor.
Selecting Blade Material:
In addition to the profile, blade material is another consideration when selecting the best sawmill blade for your operation. Wood-Mizer offers four blade materials based on alloy, RC hardness, and more.
With hundreds of combinations based on profile and material, every Wood-Mizer sawmill blade tooth is precisely set by computer-controlled equipment and completely profile ground tip to tip using super abrasive grinding technology to ensure the highest quality blade performance. Made in the USA, all Wood-Mizer blades are quality checked for performance throughout more than 100 tests and inspections from the selection of raw materials to the final grind. Compatible with multiple sawmill brands and models, you can count on Wood-Mizer sawmill and resaw blades for unmatched quality, accuracy, and performance across the board.
