Sounds like incorrect tension on the blade. With a 17 inch saw, you may have to loosen the blade slightly. The tensioning spring may be too weak or too strong, which will alter the setting from what is marked. Another possibility might be the alignment of the guides deflecting the blade and causing heat buildup. I suggest the saw may be the problem, not just the blade, although poor tempering of the steel may also be a factor with the blade that has broken repeatedly. My thoughts anyhow.

 

Tom,
I'm inclined to think along the lines of improper tempering too. My reason for that is that the replacement blade works so well. I have set the tension on the blade as loose as I can with it still cutting as it should so I think that I can rule out over tensioning it. The fact that it broke for Bill also seems to point in that direction also.

Jerry

 

One more vote for improper tempering.

 

I gotta say that this has been a most informative if not interesting series of events with this Lenox blade. Jerry and I had discussed this blade at length for a while. Considered why there seemed to be such a problem with the thing. I must say first off that it was most generous of Jerry to forward me along the blade. I had purchased the Grizzly GO513X2 17" bandsaw without knowing that it was in fact the identical saw he had.
Up until having installed the Lenox blade, I had experiment with factory blades of 1/4" and 1/2". Just getting used to the saw and proper setup of the new toy. I used the Snodgrass method for setting up the saw. Feeler gauges were used to set up the guides. I feel that I can safely say that the bandsaw setup was spot on. There was/is only one issue that is a bit out of the ordinary, at least with my saw. The owners manual suggests that the tension gauge after adjustment should read around 4-6 on the scale. I found that a reading of 1-2 on the scale was quite sufficient. Now there is the possibility that this may change slightly as time moves on and things settle in a little..who knows. With the 1/4 and 1/2 inch Grizzly blades the saw performed beautifully. Only issue out of the box was the lower support bearing wanted to chatter making a rather high pitched growling sound. The noise it was making is really hard to describe *L*... none the less, tearing the assembly apart, and reassembling seems to have taken care of the problem. No more noise.
Ok, back to the Lenox blade. First thing I did when taking it out of the box was give it a good looking over, knowing its history. The blade was in like new condition. A close examination of the weld (repairs) indicated nothing. The weld itself was well done and appeared to be flawless. When I went to install the blade there was a problem as Jerry indicated there might be. The blade itself appeared to be short. Perhaps by an inch-inch and a half. I didn't measure it. YET. Getting the blade on proved to be extremely difficult due to its short length. But I did manage to get it on (those darn carbide teeth are biters!!!! be forewarned ). Once the blade was around the wheels, there was ZERO adjust to be made. There simply wasn't enough blade to adjust. With the tension adjuster backed all the way out the blade was as taunt as I dared to make it. To be honest about it, it may very well have been too tight!! She did setup though without any problems. At this stage, I made it a point to do the setup from scratch. Once completed, the blades tracking on the saw was dead on.
Though a bit apprehensive about the tension issue, I was anxious to see just what this Lenox Tri Master was capable of doing. I Grabbed a 2" square x 24" piece of red oak. Set the fence up for a 1/8" resaw and off to the races I went. The saw performance was outstanding. The blade performance was equally outstanding. Tracking was dead on. Absolutely zero compensation to get a straight line. When finished, I had a 1/8 thick piece of oak that required minimal sanding. Next run was at 5/32nds. Once completed, a pass through the drum sander and I had a dead on 1/8" piece of oak.
Reasonably impressed at this point, I next brought out a 4 1/2" x 1/ 1/2" by 60" piece of Honduran Mahogany. I was hoping to get 1, 1/2" board and 1, 3/4" board out of this piece. Nailed it. Got my 2 boards with plenty to spare. Almost too much to spare.. A problem I can live with. I ran another identical board then 2 more at 6 1/2"s wide. Same results. A smooth steady feed, just enough pressure to guide the wood into the blade and noooooooooooo problems. Next was another 4 1/2" board. Mid way though this one is when the blade snapped. and dang, did it go with a BANG... *L* The blade cuts so nice that I was hoping that there wasn't a problem after all. But, I guess I'd have to admit that when it did go, it wasn't a big surprise.
Inspection of the blade showed that it snapped at the weld again. A nice clean brake, straight across the blade right at the base of the weld. I wish I could say with some degree of certainty what was actually the cause but I really can't. Considering the blade was installed as is, without being any to make any kind of adjust to the tentioner since there was none to be made due to its length, It may very have been on too tight, I will say if it was, it wasn't off by much (relatively speaking as compared to the other blades I have used so far)...I'm confident the setup was not an issue.
As a side note, after the Lenox snapped, I put on a Grizzly 3/4" resaw blade. It cut smoothly and with little more effort than the 1/2" Lenox. I'm guessing the big difference between the 2 would be in the expected life span of the two blades. I've ran another half dozen pieces of the mahogany thru using the 3/4" grizzly blade and it
performed darn near as well as the Lenox.. DARN NEAR. not as well...

thats my story, and I"m sticking to it

 

Thanks for the detailed description of your experience with the blade. It confirms that my initial set up on my saw was not the culprit.

I have come to the conclusion that a hobbyist really has no need for spending the money on a blade that is made for production work, but I just had to try one. As Bill said the less expensive blade cuts just about as well as the high dollar Lenox ($180).

Obviously the blade is now to short to be welded one more time and even if it were, the defect, what ever it is, would still exist.

One more issue that should not over looked is that Lensox, without any question replaced the defective blade and as I have said earlier, it is, at this poin still working just great.

Jerry

 

A few years back I bought a 100' coil of band saw blade material. A general purpose material, nothing special. We have a blade welder @ work. I made a few blades. Some worked well, some kept breaking @ the welds. It was also a problem getting perfect alignment, at the weld. It is not a high end welder.

Then I bought some silver solder, made an alignment fixture. I used a 20-25 degree scarf-joint at the braise connection. Wow, what a difference that made. I have not had a blade break. I replace them when they become dull. They also have been lasting longer, due to everything is in perfect alignment. I can hardly tell when the joint passes across the guide bearings. No annealing required when brazing. I think my issues were mainly the annealing @ the weld. I tried some test pieces of different material types, still no luck. I am very satisfied with my current method.

It looks like you had a rough time with that blade. I am glad you have proven that it is not the saw. Also glad to hear you are doing better Jerry.
Also, thank you Bill for the detailed description. Things like this helps all of us when we have issues with our equipment. I also feel that blade has temper issues.

Ellery Becnel

 

I'll tell ya what Jerry... wish I had spent a few extra bucks and gotten the "brake" feature. Those cast iron wheels seem to want to go on forever after you shut the machine down *L*...

 

Thanks for mentioning the brake. I have my eye on a Laguna 14-12 and I wonder if they have that feature? Don't recall seeing it mentioned. I know the brake on my new TS is so nice compared to the "spin on forever" Delta it replaced.

 

I'm definitely not an expert at this but where I worked the made the blade for all the large band saws. The guy that did the best, who was also a welder and welded a blade for me, said proper annealing was the secret to not having the good weld fail. I watched him weld and anneal several blades and I'd say it is an art. A note he also said that he silver solders them if a a blade welder isn't available but getting the right heat is very important. All I know is that I've tried and I'll leave the welding to the welders.

 

I'm going phone Lenox tomorrow just for the heck of it, they don't owe me anything of course, but I'm just courious as to what they will say about the matter.

I want to tell them that the Bi Metal blade also broke at the weld and that while it has been re-welded, I have not installed it on the saw.

Jerry

 

Keep going ,Jerry , pretty soon it will be short enough to fit my saw, just kidding.

I like the carbide impregnated blades I use,and they are 1/3rd the cost. :smile::smile:

Herb

 

I got the 14/12 last Dec. Love the saw but it does spin on forever.

 

Thanks for the info. Their fusion table saw has a brake and it really beats waiting for the saw to stop. Wonder why they don't have that on the band saw?