Timber Wolf BS Blades

[Ed62]

Buy 3, get 1 free. I don't know what the shipping charges are, but the prices seem pretty decent. http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/spec...r_Bandsaws.asp

Ed

[dbhost]

I honestly do not recall what shipping was when I bought mine. And for me to forget what I paid for something like shipping must mean it was a non issue... I.E. cheap...

[Knottscott]

I don't recall the shipping being out of line either....if it was, I'd certainly remember. FWIW, I've been pleased with my TW blades and was impressed with the entire process.

[sweensdv]

From reading the postings on all these forums concerning TW blades, I've come away with the feeling that TW blades are a lot like chiropractors, you either swear by them or you think they're worthless. Some like that they are a low tension blade while others say they dull way to quickly. Some say that Suffolk Machinery is great while others complain about the welds on the blades they've received. I think in general that probably the truth lies somewhere in between.

[toolguy1000]

+1 on the worthlessness of timberwolf blades. four different blades in 2 sizes had misalgned welds causing blade loping. 1 lennox from iturra design and it's like i've got new band saw. timberwolf and me?, never again.

[Black wallnut]

toolguy1K I'd be real interested in what if anything Suffolk did about your defective blades as I've been happy with both the quality and service that I have received from them.

[toolguy1000]

they kept sending blades till i got to the fourth one. it was at that point i reconnected with iturra design at the suggestion of phil thien. lou sent me a 1/2" .025" 3tpi lennox blade and when i put it onthe saw,it behaved in a much more acceptable manner. here are two videos that have the t-wolf first and the lennox second:

t-wolf: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrxBP8YBKYM notice the lopiing?

lennox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67s4qtbxHsk the difference in saw behavior was due entirely to the lennox blaade and nothing else.

matter of fact, i have a 1" and a 1/2" t-wolf blade still in their packages. i got tired of them telling me that it couldn't be the blades, but after inspecting the lennox from iturra, i'm beginning to see what a properly welded band saw blade should look like. suffolk was very nice and i believe they wanted to be truly accomodating, but the blades just didn't perform. haven't had the time to back track whether i got them from suffolk directly or from woodcraft or rockler for a return. i wanted to like the t-wolf blades, they just wouldn't let me.

[LCHIEN]

Toolguy, I think you posted the wrong link for the 2nd video with the lennox blade - you maybe meant this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AacXG4D8AWc

[Whaler]

I for one have never had a problem with a Timber Wolf blade and the folks at Suffolk are great to deal with.

[toolguy1000]

LCHIEN.. they are the same blade, saw and day. the video you linked was without the table. the one i linked was to show, via a nickel test, how much smoother the saw ran once the lennox blade was installed. the resaw portion was for iturra design...i wanted their impression of the resaw cut quality as i inch towards getting the saw to perform as i believe it is capable of performing. there is a portion of the first video, about midway through, that shows how much the front rail was vibrating as the saw ran with the TW blade. FTR, i was very surprised by my experience with TW blades. this being my first BS, i had no axes to grind with anyone. suffolk tried hard to be helpful. their blades just didn't work out for me.

[Andrew Benedetto]

Bought several blades from them. Excellent CS, had a 2 y.o. 3/8" 105" blade that had a twist in, never used it until now, she sent me a new one, NC. The other 4 blades are fine. I an pleased at their service and would buy from them again, anytime. Maybe the carbide are better but they are overkill for me and I like having the lower cost so I can have a variety. Suffolk also sells carbide. I would buy from them if I wanted a carbide blade. I think the claims of bad welds are not typical from my experience and you have to figure people are going to post complaints way more than praise.

[rawdawgs50]

Toolguy-

That sucks about your experience with TW. There welds to me are great.

Maybe I caught something in the videos that has no relevance to the blade but it appears to me that the tracking, and not the blade itself is to blame....A blade should not have caused the saw to shake...especially a smooth weld.

I did notice in the video that another member posted that the tires were swapped out for what looks like brand new red poly tires with the lennox blade on it.

I don't know if you did this before or after the vids you posted but that alone would make all the difference.

Anyways, either blade manufacturer is exemplary and you could not go wrong with a blade from them. I truly believe what happened with you was an isolated case...and if you did swap the tires before installing the lennox we would all like to know-

[toolguy1000]

rawdawgs50... the welds were apparently the issue. i had changed the original rubber tires to urethane tires and reinstalled the TW 1/2" blade hoping that would correct the issue (BTW, i think i was the poster who confirmed the tire change you referenced). same blade loping and saw vibration. removed T-wolf and installed iturra supplied lennox blade and the result is the nickel test video i posted. between the last t-wolf blade and the iturra blade, the only difference in the saw was the application of the lennox blade. didn't even adjust the tracking with the upper wheel. frankly, i was surprised that a blade change alone would have that profound an effect on the saw, but seeing is believing. as i stated, i wanted to like the t-wolf blades adn suffolk was very accomodating. for some reason, they just didn't work for me. for those who have had better experiences with them, i sincerely hope they continue working for you.

[Bruce Cohen]

Either I'm blessed or extremely unobservant, but I started using Timber Wolf blades when I got my Rikon 14" deluxe BS and that was when it first became available. Been using nothing else ever since and considering how critical I am about cut quality (I mainly do nothing but re-sawing), I have never experienced any problems with Suffolk's blades. I will try a Woodslicer soon just to see how they work.

Bruce

[cgallery]

I'm just gonna say that every single time I've seen Toolguy's problem on various forums, it has always been w/ TW blades, and has always been rectified when swapping to another brand of blade.